I’m currently facing the absolutely impossible task of writing the acknowledgements section that will be printed in the final pages of my book. It’s insane, because until now I never realised just how many people have been a part of this journey with me. And I really suck at narrowing the names down, since I almost feel compelled to mention every single person who has ever supported me in any way—including, like, the corner store owner down the road who keeps a steady supply of ‘Half Baked’ Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in stock. (That’s a totally justifiable acknowledgement, in my opinion.) It’s also interesting because if you start to mention relatives, you kinda don’t stop. It just steamrolls. What if, say, my great-great-great-aunty had a latent writing talent that skipped a few generations and landed squarely on my shoulders? It doesn’t matter if she never picked up a pen in her life; if her undiscovered gift is now mine, how can I not thank her for that!? So, my acknowledgements are currently about as long as my actual novel. That’s really awkward, right? But I can’t help it! I’m pretty much exactly like this: