Oh My Gods! has finally hit store shelves, and I am over the moon and thrilled that it’s out in the world. We have a pretty big (yet small) team, so we didn’t do an acknowledgements section in the book; I wanted to give some shout outs to the people who made this book happen. This isn’t going to be a finely crafted letter…it’s a OMG I SHOULD’VE COME UP WITH AN ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PAGE post that I’m writing on the day of release. Whoops.
First of all, thank you to Insha Fitzpatrick. Somehow between our ADHD-addled minds and our easily excited selves, we managed to put this book together and see it through to completion. I can’t imagine having done this book with anyone else…nor would I have wanted to. Insha made our babies real and gave them so much backstory and life. She’s always my friend first before all else, but I’m glad she’s at my side professionally too.
And to Juliana Moon who is an ACTUAL GODDESS. We owe this woman a month-long spa day for the work she churned out on this book. Oh My Gods! was fast-tracked and Juliana hit every deadline and was an absolute joy to work with. She nails all the expressions of the characters and GODS…ALL THE CUTE CENTAUR BUTTS EVERYWHERE JUST GIVE ME LIFE.
To Whitney Cogar, we didn’t really work with you a ton directly, but you are so loved and appreciated in the #TEAMNOCHILL family. Whitney delivered brilliant colours that made Juliana’s art pop off the page and helped set the tone and atmosphere of the story.
To Lily Kessinger: I tell her at every chance I get, but she is a goddamn amazing editor that I am beyond fortunate enough to have worked with numerous times now. The feedback she gives and the care she puts into her notes makes each story a million times better. She asks questions that will make a difference to the final product, and everything that I’ve brought to her is a gajillion times better because of her. I will forever be grateful to Lily for the opportunities that she has given me and the faith that she puts into my work. Plus Masha is the cutest grump ever.
WOW THIS IS ALREADY GETTING SO LONG. HA HA WHOOPS.
Andrea Miller pitched and launched the Etch imprint at HMH Kids. But that’s not why they’re amazing. I mean, it’s part of it but they also put so much love into designing this book, doing the lettering for us, and giving Juliana constructive feedback as she did the interiors. As an artist too, Andy made all of their notes so accessible and easily understandable, and all the effort that went into making Oh My Gods! the book it is…well, we saw it, and we love you for it.
Maria Vicente is our incredible agent who took on Oh My Gods! and three clients with less than zero chill. HONESTLY, if for nothing else, I have to thank her for dealing with us and our immediate email responses, bajillion emails and questions, and for being in our corner. We were all new to the book market side of things for comics, and Maria helped us navigate it all.
OKAY THIS IS GETTING VERY LONG SO NOW I’M JUST THANKING PEOPLE IN A MORE GENERAL SENSE BUT I LOVE YOU ALL IN LOTS OF PARAGRAPH-LENGTH WAYS TOO.
To Kirk who helped me organize my thoughts and helped me learn to plan my projects. Love you.
To my parents, to Aunt Nancy, to Oma, thank you for loving me and believing in me.
To all of my friends (oh gods oh gods I’m going to forget people but I love you all), Liz, Dani, Tory, Tate, Chris, Nicole, Amy, Sam, Steven, Andrea, Whitney, Zak, Rachel, Laura, Zoe, Jenn, Sam, Fred, Bobby, Bob, Huw, Hagai, Ned, Jeremy, Tyrell, Sunny, Bee, Ashley, Jey, Michelle, David, Grace, Shaun, Olivia, Jacquie…AHHHHH I AM PANICKING CAUSE I’VE DEFINITELY FORGOTTEN PEOPLE BUT GOSH I LOVE YOU.
I admittedly don’t see my family a ton to begin with but I grew into a far more anxious person over the last few years and became a bit of a hermit as I hunkered down on projects. I missed out on a lot of parties and get togethers with my friends, and they were beyond understanding as I went about all my business. Find yourself friends who love you no matter what and even though they know you might bail or just outright say no…they continue to invite you to stuff anyways.
I’ve missed a ton of people. I know it. But know that I am beyond grateful to you, even if you’re not on this list. If you helped me in any way over the years…I see you, I remember you, I value you.
<3 <3 <3
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!