The sky spun. Someone came to cut the grass. Men came to measure the property, followed by an important-looking woman in trousers with her hair cut on a geometric angle, not that much unlike mine. They measured, they argued, and houses sprouted up, first one, then two, and then more, small and sleek and odd.
The sky went still, and far above, I could see foreign stars, stars that moved, stars that winked at me, stars that shot across the sky like comets. Under the wrack and wreck of what had come before, the sky was new, and I reached for it with a yearning eager hand.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When I mentioned the idea that would eventually become The Chosen and the Beautiful to my agent, Diana Fox, she immediately said, “Stop writing that novel you’re working on and write this!” The novel that I paused is still sitting at the halfway point, but that’s not a terrible price for holding this book in my hands today, so thank you, Diana!
Ruoxi Chen at Tordotcom Publishing continues to be the sensitive and thoughtful editor that every writer hopes for, and she has championed this book from the beginning—I can’t thank her enough for this.
Everyone at Tordotcom Publishing has been so incredibly supportive. Thank you so much to Lauren Anesta, Mordicai Knode, Yvonne Ye, Amanda Melfi, Eileen Lawrence, Stephanie Sirabian, Makenna Sidle, Becky Yeager, Lauren Hougen, Greg Collins, and Angie Rao for all your care and hard work!
Thank you as well to Christine Foltzer for her artistic acumen and to Greg Ruth, who is responsible for my amazing cover. I had a good idea what Jordan looked like before I saw the cover, but when I saw it, I knew.
Thank you to Cris Chingwa, Victoria Coy, Leah Kolman, Amy Lepke, and Meredy Shipp, because you guys are honestly just lovely.
And for Shane Hochstetler, Carolyn Mulroney, and Grace Palmer, I love you guys. You know that, right? I hope you do.
I talk a lot about the selling of souls in The Chosen and the Beautiful. I’ve never thought it would be such a bad thing to do, depending on who you’re selling to.