by Julie C. Dao
Beside the apple tree, Jade closed her eyes, feeling the light of the thousand lanterns on her skin, and thought it was the most beautiful feeling in the whole world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As surreal as it feels to have one book published, it is nothing compared to having two books published! The journey from childhood dream to bookshelf has been an epic quest in and of itself, and I am lucky to have so many wonderful people beside me on this adventure.
I owe the first thanks to my family, most notably: my mom, Mai, for supporting me in everything I do; my brothers, Jonathan and Justin, to whom this book is dedicated and whose Vietnamese given names inspired the great warrior Tu Lam; and my cousins, Hien and Thao Tran, for making it to my Forest launch party and buying an ungodly number of copies! I love you all so much!
To my agent, Tamar Rydzinski, whose friendship, enthusiasm, and wisdom I can always rely on: knowing you are there to comfort and advise me gives me so much courage on this often frightening journey. I can’t believe it has been three years already! Here’s to many, many more together.
My lovely editor, Jill Santopolo, helped me turn a messy manuscript into a book I’m proud of (she transformed a princess into an empress, if you will!). Jill, I am so grateful for your superb attention to detail, your understanding of my vision, and your keen insight into the relationships between my characters. Thanks also go to the kind and fabulous Talia Benamy, whose savvy editorial eye helped polish the story, and to Brian Geffen, beloved friend and mentor and cheerleader, who read an early draft and offered his brilliant ideas (and also many great restaurant recommendations). Most writers consider themselves lucky to have one good editor, but I have been fortunate to have had the three of you!
Thank you to each and every person at Philomel Books and Penguin Young Readers who helped bring my work to life. Katie Quinn, publicist extraordinaire, you expertly handle every question and situation and take good care of me at busy events, and I love you for it! A million thanks to Laurel Robinson, my copyeditor; Jennifer Chung, my interior book designer; and Lindsey Andrews, my cover designer. Much gratitude to Elora Sullivan, who mailed out more stuffed animal snakes than I’m sure she ever expected to in her life, and to Rachel Cone-Gorham, Felicity Vallence, Friya Bankwalla, and all of the magnificent social media, sales, and digital marketing team members who helped shine a spotlight on my books. Thank you to everyone at Listening Library and the Penguin Random House audio team for bringing my story to life in such a beautiful way, especially Julianna Wilson, Christina Rooney, Emily Parliman, and the incredible voice actress Kim Mai Guest, who gave Xifeng such raw, stunning power and aching vulnerability at the same time.
To the teams at Roca Editorial and Roca Juvenil, and to my translator, Scheherezade Surià: I am deeply honored to have El Bosque de los Mil Farolillos in your capable hands, and grateful for your support, generosity, and patience as I do my best to recover my high school Spanish!
Thank you to my film agents, Jon Cassir and Sarah Luciano at CAA, for everything you do.
To all of the educators, librarians, and booksellers who have supported my book: I am a writer today because people like yourselves encouraged me and pushed books into my hands when I was little. May you continue to help many a writer grow up to build worlds on the page. To all of the bloggers who took photos of my books and left reviews: your enthusiasm fills my grateful heart. Special thanks to Mish of Chasing Faerytales, my #FOTLFriday hostess with the mostest; Anissa of FairyLoot, who put together a gorgeous book box for Forest; and three of the sweetest bloggers I know: Alexa from Alexa Loves Books, Kristin from Super Space Chick, and Brittany from Brittany’s Book Rambles.
Giant cookies, coffees, and hugs to Melody Marshall, Marisa Hopkins, N. K. Traver, and C. B. Lee for their fantastic notes on the early drafts of Kingdom. Thank you also to my friend Lola Alessi for reading an early draft! You all enrich my stories and my life, and I am forever grateful for you ladies.
Thank you to my ultra-supportive community of writer friends. Alison Green Myers, the most generous of friends, invited me to the workshop that changed my outlook on public speaking and introduced me to great people, including Aram Kim and Cindy Rankin. Thank you to my superstar Lucky 13s: Kevin van Whye, Kati Gardner, Rebecca Caprara, Jessica Rubinkowski, Mara Fitzgerald, Austin Gilkeson, Jordan Villegas, and Heather Kaczynski; I look forward to the day all of our books sit together on my shelves! Much love and gratitude to Stephanie Garber, Tracey Neithercott, Axie Oh, Peter Bognanni, and Tochi Onyebuchi, for commiserating with me, bolstering my spirits, and making me laugh when I need it. Thanks also go to Veronika Carter, David Alles, Kenneth Bechtel, Naima Dennis, Becky Clark, Pam Harris, and everyone in the office. I love you all!
As an Asian-American woman, I stand on the shoulders of literary giants who made it possible for my books to enter the world. Thank you in particular to Marie Lu and Cindy Pon, who have given this newbie the warmest, kindest welcome imaginable and inspired me to pay it forward.
Thank you to Joe Hisaishi, whose breathtaking music inspired every page of Kingdom.
And to all writers and dreamers, especially teens who don’t have the support they need: please keep filling those pages and believing in their worth. I want to read your acknowledgments one day.
© Jonathan Dao
Julie C. Dao (www.juliedao.com) is a proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York. She studied medicine in college, but came to realize blood and needles were her Kryptonite. By day, she worked in science news and research; by night, she wrote books about heroines unafraid to fight for their dreams, which inspired her to follow her passion of becoming a published author. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns was her debut novel. Julie lives in New England.
Follow her on Twitter @jules_writes.
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