S. Bear Bergman - Blood, Marriage, Wine, & Glitter

First and foremost, breaking the tradition of saving the most important or most significant thank-you for last, I have to lavish my gratitude on my beloved husband Ishai. Think of it like when the Oscar-winning actor gets his name above the title on the poster; theres really just absolutely no way in the world this gets done without himnot this book, not our amazing kid, not my well and happy life, none of it. Hes got such a big brain and such a big heart (not to mention an exceptionally nice backside) and he pitched in so many extra hours of household chores and took dozens of extra nights of kid-bedtime duty and provided innumerable pep-talksall so I could get to the part where I actually sit and write. Thank you, Mister Husband. Youre a true Badger of Honour.

Stanley, someday you will be old enough to read this acknowledgment. Thank you, Monkeyboy Lovechop, for all the gummy sharks and snuggles and sweet kisses, for doing all sorts of very wise or very cute things, and for being patient with your Papa when he couldnt play. Thanks also to Levi Jane, who remains a Very Good Dog.

My chosen family and wonderful friends were all in this with me as usual, asking questions and telling stories and prompting ideas and keeping me as close to reasonably sane as I get, as well as helping to entertain Stanley in the home stretch and being just generally as awesome as a million hot dogs. For all of these things and more as well as just plain being fan-damn-tastic, I thank Calvin Anderson, Laura Antoniou, Toni Amato, Dr John Austin, Morgan Baskin, Joseph Berman, Judy and Steve Berman, Hanne Blank, Kate Bornstein, Ivan Coyote, Dr Leigh Ann Craig, Marian Fulton, Katie Herzig, T. Aaron Hans, Laura Waters Jackson, Kate Larkin, Dr Robert Lawrence, Zev Lowe, Seth Marnin, Bobby Peck, Tori Paulman, Dr Carol Queen, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, Abi Salole, Scott Turner Schofield, Dr Zena Sharman, Karen Taylor, and Chris Veldhoven as well as the Stevens/Shapiro family, the Ware/Redman family, the Fairley/Andersen family, the Berdichevsky/Sereaki family, the super-fabulous folks of PQLF and the House of Consent.

Thanks also to my family of origin for all their support, my parents Carlyn and Michael Bergman, my uncles David Bergman & John Lessner, my grandma Rita Bergman, and my Nana, Barbara Baker. Special gratitude as ever to my brother Jeffrey Bergman and sister-in-law Lisa Bergman, plus my two high-quality nephews, their boys Levi and Samuel. Great thanks also to my in-laws, David and Diane Wallace, and my sister-in-law Bronwen Wallace.

I would be remiss if I didnt thank a few other people whose various specialties provided so much assistance: all the lovely folks at Arsenal Pulp Press, Angel Adeyoha, Deborah Frolick, Paul Petrie, Juli Rivera, Danielle Sutherland, Anne Wilson, and Rhea Wilson. A loving and also uncompromising cadre of trans women made me stop using the t-word (which you will not find in my books or out of my mouth anymore) through personal intervention or through their work, and my debt of gratitude is to Ryka Aoki, Danielle Askini, Julie Blair, Red Durkin, Andrea Jenkins, and extra much to Alexandra Rodriguez De Ruiz along with my sincerest apologies for how long it took me to come correct on that point. Im also grateful for the work of Leslie Feinberg, Anne Lamott, Julian F. Thompson, Stephen Sondheim, and Aaron Sorkin as I thought and wrote.

Last, thank you to all the wonderful audiences Ive had since the last book, who have asked me so sweetly when the words they heard on an evening of storytelling might be available to them in book form. Here you go. Thanks again.