Eternal gratitude to my incredible agent, Naomi Davis, for believing in an unknown writer who lived on the other side of the world with little experience in writing, and for working with me to hone my craft. You are wonderful and fierce, my guide and partner throughout everything with your insight, experience, and empathy.
My deepest thanks to the amazing Harper Voyager US team who I am so fortunate to work with: DJ DeSmyter, Sophie Normil, Ronnie Kutys, and the HarperCollins sales team—I wish I could name everyone! I struggled for the words to express my appreciation, but please know I am so grateful for everything.
Kuri Huang, thank you so much for illustrating the exquisite masterpiece of the US cover, and to Jeanne Reina for your inspired direction. Beyond a work of art, it’s the cover of my dreams! Special thanks to Angela Boutin, Virginia Norey, Rachel Weinick, Jane Herman, and Mireya Chiriboga for your invaluable help! And to the incredibly talented Natalie Naudus, thank you for being the voice of Xingyin, for bringing her to life.
I am also so grateful to the wonderful Harper Voyager team in the UK—Natasha Bardon, Maddy Marshall, Jaime Witcomb, Susanna Peden, Robyn Watts, and Marta Juncosa—your support means so much to me. Thank you to Ellie Game, the amazing cover designer, and to Jason Chuang for creating the stunning UK cover that I could not stop looking at, which is utterly perfect for the story.
To everyone else at HarperCollins worldwide who supported Daughter of the Moon Goddess, who helped it reach its readers, to those I was unable to include here due to timing—please know, I appreciate all you have done.
I came into publishing without knowing anyone and it was a real fear that no one would read my book. I am eternally grateful to the brilliant authors who read an early version of the manuscript: Stephanie Garber, Shelley Parker-Chan, Andrea Stewart, Shannon Chakraborty, Ava Reid, Genevieve Gornichec, Tasha Suri, and Elizabeth Lim. I cannot tell you how moved I was by your thoughtful and generous words, and I feel fortunate to have read your beautiful books.
To Anissa de Gomery, I am so glad that we connected, and for your friendship, now. Working with you is one of the highlights of my writing journey, and I am so thankful for you and your wonderful team.
To my beloved husband, Toby—my partner in life, my first reader, fiercest critic, and most valiant supporter—I am forever grateful to you for encouraging me to pursue my dreams and putting up with me as I transitioned into this new and undeniably demanding phase of my life. For looking after our kids when I was on deadline （most of 2021）， for listening to my fears when everything seemed impossible, to celebrating each milestone. I could not have done this without you.
To Lukas and Philip, for your excitement over what started out as your mum’s “crazy idea,” for your enthusiastic pictures and scrawls, your questions about my story, and—most importantly—for letting me work when the headphones were on. I love you both with all my heart.
I would not be where I am without my parents. Thank you to my mother, for your love and support, for cultivating my childhood fascination with Chinese fantasy dramas, and for letting me stay at home to read instead of going out. Those few flute and guzheng lessons weren’t a total waste! And to my father, for working so hard to give us a better life, for your love, humor, and enthusiasm for all that we did, and for giving me the books which kindled my passion for stories. I miss you, and I wish you were still with us.
To my sister, Ee Lynn, for your love and encouragement, for being there for me through the best and worst of times, and for reading my early work. To my cousin Swee Gaik, for your invaluable advice and cheering me on when I first voiced my wildly improbable dream of becoming an author. So much thanks to you and Dan!
Sonali, I will always be grateful to you for reading my terrible first draft and for giving me the courage to plunge into the daunting world of querying. Your belief in me was the spark that lit this. To Jacquie, for your unflinching support and kindness, and for being my voice of reason. I don’t know how I could have gotten through this without you. I am so grateful to have you two in my life—the best friends I could ever have asked for, my calm through the tumult of publishing, motherhood, and life.
Regretfully, I am not skilled enough to write a Chinese poem. Special thanks to Han Lihua for his beautiful interpretation of Xingyin’s couplet in the competition and for helping me to coin the perfect location names. To Yangsze Choo for her generous advice to a new author. And to Lisa Deng for her patience with my random and frequent questions, from discussing names to myths and culture.