Honestly, this is one of my favorite parts of writing a book, getting to pause and thank everyone who helped make it possible. I hate the myth around writing I’ve heard since growing up about the writer as a lone genius. Yes, I did the writing, but many, many, many people helped get it to the point of being the final product you’re reading now. Besides, life is short, and there are less and less socially acceptable moments—or ones that have not been co-opted by a capitalist culture to sell mindfulness (whatever that actually means)—to be grateful.

I began writing Meet Me at the Crossroads in 2018. I thought what I was writing for a long while was a part of The Women Could Fly, but it clearly was not. This novel wouldn’t have been finished so quickly if it wasn’t for the support of Hedgebrook, the Picador Professorship in Leipzig, and the University of Minnesota’s English department. I want to especially thank Kate Nuernberger, Sugi Ganeshananthan, Julie Schumacher, Krys Malcolm Belc, Doug Kearney, and Aamina Ahmad for making it very easy for me to be away for a semester. Thank you, too, to Noelle Ziersch for all her kindness and patience helping me navigate Germany; I might have left early if it hadn’t been for you. Noelle, you are brilliant.

I also need to thank the two early readers of this book, Dan Conaway and Jami Attenberg.

Dan, of course, yes, you had to. That’s your job as my agent; and, see, here I am again anticipating your arguments about why I should not thank you. But your creative and emotional insights and your ability to remind people in every situation, whenever necessary, that I am a person and not a product makes it so much easier to keep writing. Jami, you made the second section of this book so much better with your feedback. You are one of the best mentors I’ve ever had because, yes, you are my friend who wants the best for me, but you also always let me ask, “yo, is this crazy (positive)” and “yo, is this weird (derogatory)” and are immediately honest with me. Everyone, especially in the arts, needs a Jami.

Thank you to everyone at Amistad who worked on this book from Ryan Amato to Abby West to Judith Curr to Alison Cerri to Hanna Richards, but especially Paul Olsewski and Rakesh Satyal. Rakesh, your intelligence, creativity, and kindness make me a better writer. I’m lucky I’ve gotten to work with you on two books now. Paul, you are incredible at your job, and I’ll always be grateful for our correspondence during Covid. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There are also many people from Amistad/HarperCollins from production staff to sales staff to interns who made this book possible, even if we didn’t get to speak during the process.