The number of friends who kept me grounded while I wrote this book are too many to be counted in these acknowledgments, so let me resort to the old phrase of “you know who you are” and say thank you. (If you don’t know if this includes you, hey, just assume it does. Thank you! You’re awesome.) Also, thank you, readers. Yes, you! You let me write for a living. How great is that? I have a house and food and pets that won’t eat me out of gnawing hunger because of you guys. I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate that. I do. I really do.

Additionally, I’d like to thank the administrators and volunteers of the 2016 edition of HawaiiCon for having me as a guest. I got a surprising amount of this novel done while I was on the Big Island of Hawaii for their convention, and I think getting as far away as humanly possible from the mainland, and its constant news feed, made a huge difference. Not to mention, you know, being in paradise. Thanks, folks.

I’ll close these acknowledgments as I usually do, by thanking my wife and daughter, Kristine and Athena. They actually have to live with me while I write these novels, and it’s not always a happy walk through the poppies. I can be cranky and snarly, especially when (as in this particular case) I get a little behind and I’m uncomfortably reminded that novels are actual work. They love me anyway, even when I only debatably deserve love, and my appreciation for them is nonending and immense. I love them more than pie and churros combined. I think you all know how much I love pie and churros. They’re even better, trust me.

John Scalzi

October 5, 2016