First and foremost, I think it’s tremendously important to thank the trans community for the impact they have had on me during the course of writing this book. Many of my closest friends are trans, so it made sense that my protagonist would be supported by his trans best friend, too. What I didn’t expect, however, was the extent to which the trans community would become targeted during the course of writing this book. It inevitably shaped the narrative. As much as I wish trans kids could live a life of unashamed queer joy – which had been my original hope for Chase – I know that oftentimes that just isn’t the case. The sad reality is that there are villains like Tiffany out there in the real world, so I hope at the very least these pages are a safe place to see those villains get what they finally deserve.

I’d like to extend my particular thanks to Luxeria Celes, who acted as my sounding board for the trans storylines within the book, and to our brilliant sensitivity reader, The Mollusc Dimension, for their thoughtful feedback on how to make the diverse characters within the book as authentic as possible. I can never speak for the most marginalized members of our community, so thank you for helping me to show my support instead.

My next thanks go to my brilliant editor, Ben Horslen. For many reasons, this book was by far the most difficult to write (if you don’t like headaches, don’t try to write about time loops), but Ben was the constant calm within my storm. He contributed so much to this wonderful book – it was his idea to give Cameron an evil twin! – and I can’t express my gratitude enough. Authors take far too much credit – the work is often an even split, and if it didn’t mean I’d have to share the royalties, I’d probably insist his name be on the cover too.

Thank you also to the wider team at Penguin. It was always my dream to see the little penguin on the spine of one of my books, and the fact you’ve made that happen not once, but twice, is more than I could have ever hoped for. Jess Mackay, Josh Benn, Emily Smyth, Tanzim Kamali and Faith Young, thank you so very much.

Of course, my wonderful literary agent, Ella Kahn, played more than a small part in making that happen too. She’s without a doubt my biggest champion. No idea is ever too extraordinary – if I’m passionate about it, she’s passionate about it too.

And then to H.L. Gibby, for that stunning jacket. All I can say is that I really hope people *do* judge this book by its cover. Thank you for binding my words with your beautiful art.