A Phoenix First Must Burn

by A Phoenix First Must Burn (retail) (epub)

  JUSTINA IRELAND is the author of Dread Nation, a New York Times bestseller and an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten selection. Her other books for children and teens include Vengeance Bound, Promise of Shadows, and the Star Wars novel Lando’s Luck. She enjoys dark chocolate and dark humor and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, dog, and cats in Maryland. You can visit her online at justinaireland.com.

  DANNY LORE (they/them) is a queer Black writer/editor raised in Harlem and currently based in the Bronx. They’ve worked in comic and gaming shops since the beginning of time. They’ve had their short fiction published by FIYAH, Podcastle, Fireside, Nightlight, EFNIKS.com, and more. Their comics work includes Queen of Bad Dreams for Vault Comics, Quarter Killer for Comixology, and James Bond for Dynamite Comics in December 2019. They have short comics in Dead Beats and The Good Fight. They edited The Good Fight anthology and The Wilds (Black Mask comics). They live with their amazing wife and doubly amazing cat.

  LEATRICE “ELLE” McKINNEY, writing as L.L. McKinney, is a poet and active member of the kidlit community. She’s an advocate for equality and inclusion in publishing and the creator of the hashtag #WhatWoCWritersHear.

  Elle’s also a gamer, Blerd, and adamant Hei Hei stan. She spends her free time plagued by her cat—Sir Chester Fluffmire Boopsnoot Purrington Wigglebottom Flooferson III, Esquire, Baron o’ Butterscotch, or #SirChester for short. The critically acclaimed A Blade So Black is her debut novel, and A Dream So Dark is its sequel. Find her on Twitter @ElleOnWords, Instagram @ll_mckinney, and Facebook at ElleOnWords. Learn more about her by visiting her website, llmckinney.com.

  DANIELLE PAIGE is the New York Times bestselling author of the Dorothy Must Die series, the Stealing Snow series, and the graphic novel Mera: Tidebreaker. In addition to writing young adult books, she works in the television industry, where she’s received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and currently lives in New York City.

  REBECCA ROANHORSE is a Nebula and Hugo Award–winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her short fiction has also been a finalist for the Sturgeon, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. She is the author of the Sixth World series, which includes Trail of Lightning (selected as an Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Library Journal, and NPR best book of 2018, and a Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Award finalist) and Storm of Locusts. Her middle grade novel, Race to the Sun, is part of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. She also penned Resistance Reborn as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker series.

  Her short fiction can be found in Apex Magazine, New Suns, The Mythic Dream, Hungry Hearts, and various other anthologies. Her nonfiction can be found in Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons, and How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation (Macmillan). She lives in northern New Mexico with her husband, daughter, and pups. Find more at rebeccaroanhorse.com and on Twitter @RoanhorseBex.

  KAREN STRONG is the author of Just South of Home. A graduate of the University of Georgia, Karen is a STEM advocate and worked in the information technology industry for several years as a software engineer, systems analyst, and technical writer. She now spends her early mornings writing fiction. You can visit her online at karen-strong.com.

  ASHLEY WOODFOLK has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor of arts in English and works in children’s book publishing. She writes from a sunny Brooklyn apartment, where she lives with her cute husband and her cuter dog. Ashley is the author of The Beauty That Remains and When You Were Everything.

  IBI ZOBOI is the New York Times best-selling author of two novels for young adults, Pride and American Street, a finalist for the National Book Award; as well as My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, her middle grade debut, and a forthcoming biography for young readers about science fiction pioneer Octavia Butler. She also edited the anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America. Ibi holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives with her family in New Jersey.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I often talk about how A Phoenix First Must Burn is, in so many ways, a book of my heart. Putting this anthology together was a dream fulfilled; I am so grateful that it exists. I couldn’t have done it alone as it wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of so many people.

  First and foremost, many thanks to my family. Especially to my parents, who ensured that young me had stories about people who looked like me, who taught me to love myself, my skin, and my body. Who time and time again pushed me to believe in myself, to actualize my dreams. Daddy, thank you for saying that I didn’t have discipline but that I did have talent I shouldn’t waste and, if I wanted my dreams to come true, I’d have to set aside the time to ensure they did. That conversation changed everything. Special love to Granny and Papa and Uncle Kokayi for always asking about my writing. And, of course, love and gratitude to my siblings: Kamau, Zakiya, Aissatou, and Kaira. You’re the ones I do this for.

  Thank you so much, Pete Knapp and Kendra Levin. Pete, you believed in me at a critical time. Thank you for putting your all into developing and selling this project, for cheering me on at every stage. Kendra, your editorial guidance was invaluable. To be an editor working with another editor in the way that I did was a remarkable experience. You taught me so much, and without you these stories wouldn’t shine as brightly as they do. Thank you to Alexandra Machinist and Hillary Jacobson for taking me under your wing. I feel like you’re my fairy godmothers, and I really appreciate you looking out for me and this project in the ways you have. Same to Aneeka Kalia and Dana Leydig. Aneeka, you worked on this project from the beginning and when you and Dana became team editorial, I knew this book would be in the best of hands. Thank you.

  Thank you to Ken Wright, Vanessa DeJesús, Felicity Vallence, Christina Colangelo, Caitlin Whalen, Brianna Lockhart, Venessa Carson, Kim Ryan, the copyediting team—Marinda Valenti, Krista Ahlberg, Janet Pascal, and Abigail Powers, I cannot thank you enough!—and everyone else at Viking Children’s Books and Penguin Teen who championed this book.

  To the contributors without whom this book would’ve never existed, thank you for trusting in me and for writing some of the best, boldest, and bravest stories I’ve ever read. Special thanks to Dhonielle Clayton and Ibi Zoboi for all the advice on putting the anthology together. And to Dahlia Adler and Elsie Chapman, who also talked to me about their own experiences editing anthologies.

  To my friends who supported me in so many ways, thank you for always believing in me—especially Arvin Ahmadi, who cheered me on as I wrote my own story on a steady diet of the best chocolate croissants Paris had to offer. Cristina Arreola, thank you for your support and hosting the cover reveal; Akshaya Raman, who got all my late night/early morning panic texts; Adam Silvera for having such a great eye re: all things cover related (phoenix books for life); and my #LiteralBlackFriends, who are always there to cheer me up, encourage me, bandage me (literally) when I’ve fallen, and share bad recorder covers of songs (I’ll never get the Jurassic Park one out of my head . . . thanks).

  And, finally, to the bloggers, the bookstagrammers, booktubers, librarians, booksellers, and teachers who have been cheering and posting about this book from the beginning, thank you. Last but never least, to all the readers—thank you for the love, for ensuring with your support that stories like these continue to exist in the world. I hope you’ve enjoyed these stories of my heart.

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  tail) (epub), A Phoenix First Must Burn