by Maura Milan
He tapped it, and an image popped up. It was Ia. She must have sent it a few moments before entering Aokonic.
She looked calm, despite everything. Unwavering as always. Her eyes flashed up to the screen, a dark star in the forever night. “I’m going to keep this short,” she said with her trademark smirk.
Her voice was pure music, tuned to his heart, to his soul.
“As if you didn’t already know,” she said. “I love you.”
He didn’t want to blink. He memorized her face, her words, her everything.
It would be a photograph that he carried with him forever. And for once his memory wasn’t a curse, because all he had to do was close his eyes…
When he finished replaying the message in his mind, his eyelids fluttered open, and he was back at Aphelion. Only now the clouds above had parted, and the sun cast its light onto their cold, cold planet.
Knives took his first sip of broth, and savored it.
Yes.
That was hope.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ECLIPSE THE SKIES was a whirlwind to write. To everyone who helped me along the way, I will be screaming my thank-yous for a lifetime. And I will start it all right here, right now.
To my editors, Eliza Swift and Christina Pulles—for fangirling over my characters and finding ways to strengthen their stories. My characters owe a big debt to both of you, and I can’t thank you both enough. Thank you to Tracie, Lisa, Annette, Ellen, and the whole team at Albert Whitman for all of your amazing work and for constantly brainstorming new ideas to get this book to our readers. Thank you to Seth Fishman, Jack Gernert, and everyone at the Gernert Agency for all of your support.
To my amazing friend and writer, Anna Rabinovitch, for hanging out at cafes with me and catching up on all the K-pop gossip.
To Gabe Sachs, for constantly being a champion of my work then introducing to me to new champions, and for talking cameras with me. One day, I will get my Leica.
To my writer friends in the LA crew: Bree Barton, Bridget Morrissey, Farrah Penn, Emily Wibberley (a galaxy of gold stars for being the first person who read this book), Austin Siegemund-Broka, Marie Cruz, Aminah Mae Safi, Robyn Schneider, Romina Garber—thank you for reading and responding to my publishing emergency texts and having tea dates with me.
And to the everywhere crew: Jo Hathaway, Kristin Dwyer, Natasha Ngan, Shea Ernshaw, Parker Peevyhouse, M.K. England, Emma Berquist, Simon Stålenhag, Josefin Peters, Kass Morgan, Jodi Meadows, Stephanie Garber—thank you so much for all of your advice and support.
Immense gratitude to Leor Ram for reading an early draft and offering your wonderful perspective. To the amazing Jessika Van, thank you again for bringing your fierceness to the cover. Thank you to Ryan MacInnes, Anna Ellison, Eric Greenburg, little Nico, Isaac Hagy, Clay Jeter, Sarah Hagan, Will Basanta, Hiro Murai, Joie and the Botkin family, the Spektor family, and to all of my friends who let me talk about writing, but then also for not letting me talk about writing because sometimes it’s good to turn off for a minute.
To my family—my mom, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, nieces and nephews—thank you for supporting me and taking pictures when I sign your books. And to Thor, for your cute face!
Never-ending gratitude to all the readers, bloggers, and bookstagrammers who’ve been with me on this journey since it started. Thank you for loving these characters as much as I do.
And lastly to seventeen-year-old me, for letting yourself see and feel more than you wanted to. And to all the young people out there who are currently doing the same—the world is still a scary place, but we have to know that in order to survive it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MAURA MILAN grew up in Chicago but now resides in Los Angeles, where she works in video production. She can be found in cafes drinking green tea lattes and writing and writing and writing. In her free time, Maura enjoys watching Korean dramas, collecting K-pop gifs, and hanging out with her dog, Thor, who she believes should become a professional comedian. She received a BA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and has placed a number of short films in festivals all over the United States. She is the author of Ignite the Stars. Visit Maura online at www.mauramilan.com and on Twitter at @mauramilan and on Instagram at @mauraisdoomed.
MAURA MILAN grew up in Chicago but now resides in Los Angeles, where she works in video production. She can be found in cafes all throughout Koreatown, drinking green tea lattes and writing and writing and writing. In her free time, Maura enjoys watching Korean dramas, collecting K-pop gifs, and hanging out with her dog, Thor, who she believes should become a professional comedian. She received a BA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and has placed a number of short films in festivals all over the United States. She is the author of Ignite the Stars. Visit Maura online at www.mauramilan.com, on Twitter at @mauramilan, and on Instagram at @mauraisdoomed.