Jade Fire Gold(112)
A special shout-out to Mike Lasagna—the book community is so lucky to have you. Another shout-out to Prissi @prissanthemum, I’m so amazed by your dedication to your cosplay of Ahn and I’m floored by your talent.
Writing is often a solitary process, and one that’s full of self-doubt. So naturally, I’ve to thank everyone who was there from the start. Thank you for sticking with me through this wild ride.
To Cindy Pon, my utmost gratitude for taking those difficult, early steps so that authors like me have a path to follow. To Thao Le, the first publishing professional who made me realize that maybe I could write a publishable book after all. To my Pitch Wars mentor, Akemi Dawn Bowman, for giving me the opportunity to learn how to tear apart a draft to find its true heart and create a better, fuller story from the process.
Thank you to #the21ders, you’re an incredibly talented and kind group, and I’m so lucky to be debuting with you. To Anna Bright, Shannon Price, Leigh Mar, Lily Meade, thank you for being so supportive through the years. A special thank you to Alexa Donne, for your insight. And to Rachel Griffin, for your constant encouragement.
To Jade Fire Gold’s early readers, back when it was unimaginatively titled The Life Stealer (lol), or when it was A NOUN of NOUN and NOUN (I know, I know), or when I titled it Orange Juice and Fries out of equal parts despair and terrible humor—thank you for your feedback and encouragement. Judy I. Lin, Roselle Lim, Gabriela Martins, Victoria Lee, Grace Li, Hannah Whitten, Nafiza Azad, and Meredith Ireland: I love that you’re all thriving and can’t wait to hold your current and future books in my hands. To Lori M. Lee, Amparo Ortiz, Emma Theriault, Rosiee Thor, Sarena Nanua, Sasha Nanua, Rebecca Coffindaffer, Ciannon Smart, and Kristin Dwyer: Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge with me. Meredith, Roselle, Axie Oh, Akshaya Raman, thank you for letting me whine about debutitis and for all your sound advice.
To Carrie Gao, for sending me the best art, for listening, and for being a solid human being. To Eunice Kim, for all the memes and laughs. Hopefully, we got to have dessert together again by the time this book is out. To Anissa, I’m so blessed to have you as a friend. You’re one of the sweetest and most badass people I know. I hope we get to hang out in person someday soon!
To Andrea Tang and Allison Senecal, thanks for all the late night (early morning?) screaming and crying, and for brightening up my life during this freaking panorama-panini-pandemonium thingie. Please stay hydrated -wink-. To Han (hold han best friend), Haley, and Zeba, my anchors in the turbulent sea of publishing. To Gina Chen, since you’re reading this in October, are you still in love with bacon hmm??? (I told you I was going to do this ha! Thanks for the shenanigans.)
To Deeba joon, my voice of reason in trying times, a deep, heartfelt thank you to you. To Rosie, your friendship, invaluable advice, and incredible humor has kept me afloat. To Swati, you showed me what determination and grit means and you never fail to lift me up. To Julie Abe—instead of making a bad taekook joke, I’m just going to say, borahae.
To Bangtan Sonyeondan, because why not? Your music got me through my darkest times and continues to be my writing background soundtrack. Namjoon, thank you for the genius that is mono.; your lyrics will stay in my heart. Strong power, thank you. Everyone, stream “Epiphany” for good skin.
Thank you to Joan, the wisest of them all. You’re an inspiration.
Em, you said I had to include your name so here it is ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ. But seriously, thank you. Thank you for randomly barging into my DMs yelling about Hamlet. Thank you for listening to my rants, for putting up with my incessant angst and whining, for reading all my awful (and sometimes good?) words. Thank you for happily jumping into the BTS hole with me without a second thought and thank you for your honesty. Most of all, thank you for being you.
Shen-Ru, Bettina, Claire, Karen, and Fiona: I can’t believe we’ve known each other for half our lives. OMG l?o le!
Darian, my brother from another mother, you finally get to read this. You better like it. To Fi, I’m so glad we get to grow old together (^_^).
Hsing, Mimi, Kevin, and Chey: thank you for welcoming and supporting me. To Mama and Gong Gong, I was able to write this story because of you. I hope you’re proud of me. To my mother, for making sacrifices so that I didn’t have to.
To Z, for your morning cuddles and annoying meows, and for being excellent company whenever I write. Even though you’re a little brat, you’re the cutest thing in the world.
To C, (&).
About the Author
Courtesy June CL Tan JUNE CL TAN writes science fiction and fantasy inspired by her childhood in multicultural Singapore, where she was raised on a diet of classic books, wuxia movies, caffeine, and congee. When she is not writing, she can be found wandering the streets of New York City in search of everyday mysteries and miracles. Jade Fire Gold is her first novel, and you can find her at www.junecltan.com.
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Advance Praise for Jade Fire Gold
“An epic adventure!”
—ELIZABETH LIM, New York Times bestselling author of Spin the Dawn and So This is Love “A spectacularly crafted world that breathes new air into old mythology. With gripping storytelling, June CL Tan has brightened up YA fantasy.”
—CHLOE GONG, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights “Epic in every sense of the word, Jade Fire Gold is a fantasy as beautiful as it is sweeping.”