Angel Hands (26 page)

But that, mes amis, is a story for another day.

Acknowledgements

This book would never have been written without fans.

Not my fans.

The fans of The Phantom of the Opera. The people who feel the story in their souls and find their own words to explore it.

What I am trying to say is that this book could never have been written without those who read, write, love, and support fan fiction.

For ten years, the faithful at Fanfiction.net, AO3, and Wattpad have nagged, bullied, whined, praised, wheedled, and demanded progress on this story. Without them, I would never have found it within myself to finish it.

This book is yours, with all my love and gratitude.

I must also thank my amazing editorial team: Toni Michelle, who cleaned up this mess in the first place; my mother Lucy Khemka, who picked and proofread until the manuscript begged for mercy; and Denny Basenji the small, furry, non-participating member of the team whose most significant contribution was to sit around looking judgmentally at me.

No set of acknowledgements would be complete without thanking the most patient man in the world: my husband Eric. Once again, he has picked up the slack with all the things I forgot to do while in the throes of writing and editing (like…you know…laundry, cooking, cleaning, and stuff). He was endlessly tolerant of my solitary fits of Candy Crush-playing while I hashed out plot points. He went for walks with me, believed in me, and loved me through the whole stressful, semi-showering final months of writing. He’s my personal Angel of Food, Shelter, and Kindness.