THE FIRST PERSON I need to thank—profusely—is my wife, Kim. I can’t list everything she did to help make this a reality, but it ranges from the direct to the indirect, the spiritual to the physical, the emotional to the mental. She read multiple drafts of this book, helped with comments and editing, took care of the baby while I wrote, supported me in difficult financial decisions, and believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Without her this book may never have been finished—and it certainly wouldn’t be anything like it currently is.
I also want to thank my family. First, my mom and my dad. Aside from the fact that I literally wouldn’t be alive without them, they spent my lifetime nurturing, caring, supporting, and challenging me. I mightn’t have a love of books and writing if it weren’t for my mom, and I would have made a much bigger mess of starting a business (which is really what self-publishing is) if it weren’t for my dad’s knowledge and coaching. This is to say nothing of the confidence and perseverance I learned from both of my parents. You shaped who I am. I don’t want to forget my brothers, Tee, Zeke, and Eli, and my sister, Lilly. Thank you for being you, for making me think and imagine, for making me laugh.
This book wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for my friend Zac, and I mean that very literally. Conversation with him planted the story seeds that became this world and this novel. He also read much of the early drafts and provided extremely valuable feedback. Zac, you directly contributed to my insanity, and I thank you. I hope you enjoy being a background evil robot.
Thanks to my writing group, currently Tanner, Alex, and Erica, but once also including Kim and Zac. Meeting with you every week inspires me to keep writing, to write a lot, and to write well; your feedback helps to directly improve my characters, stories, worlds, and prose; your writing inspires me to try to create something as good as you; and, of course, I love how much you all make me laugh. I look forward to buying the first copies of your first published novels the day you all publish them, and I hope that day is near.
I also want to thank Sarah and Emily, previous members of my writing group. I don’t remember if you two read the earliest drafts of this novel before you left—though I’m pretty confident Sarah did—but you read and commented on other things I wrote. Your feedback helped shape my path as an author.
Not enough thanks and praise can go to Looseleaf. Any mistakes you find in this book are my fault, not theirs. Thanks to Kristy for being willing to take me on, for being my teacher at BYU well before I wrote the first word of this novel, and for applying a sharp eye and keen mind to my book. Thanks also to Faralee for your amazing line editing and believing in this project enough to prioritize it over certain other important projects—when Kristy told me, inwardly I was exploding with joy. Outwardly I was my usual awkward self, and quite drained from the convention. I doubt the importance of the moment, for me, translated well at the time.
For any other hands at Looseleaf that touched this book, hands that I might not know their owners, thank you.
I also want to thank my many friends who volunteered to help copyedit this book. A particular shout out goes to Erin, who just jumped in and went to work. Thanks as well to Anne, Sarah, Daniel, Dallin, Toree, Mark, Shamoy, Jake, Brandon, and Linda.
For the incredible art that gave me shivers, thanks to my artist, Hannah King. And for the great work on mixing and cleaning up the audio for the audiobook, thanks to my audio man, Mike Michelsen.
With all the names I’ve mentioned, I’m confident that I missed someone, or several someones, and to them I apologize, and also extend sincerest thanks.
I want to thank my brother-in-law, Carson. You might be surprised to be in here, if you ever see this—you never read the drafts of the book, commented on it, or even expressed any interest in science fantasy (that I’m aware of ). But you shared simple advice that stuck with me: when taking a chance on yourself, do your best and just move forward—if there’s no risk of embarrassing yourself, you took too long and missed opportunities. I might have poorly paraphrased the actual quote, but you reminded me that life is best lived by doing. It was one of several kicks in the pants that I needed to take a chance.
Finally, thank you, whoever you are, for picking up this book and giving it a try. Whatever your experience—though I did my best to ensure it will be an excellent one—I can’t thank you enough for giving this book a chance.
Copyright © 2023 by David Ludlow
Boo Ludlow 