Therese: As everybody in the book world is aware because of the controversy that surrounded the publication of American Dirt, this is a fraught time for mainly white authors who are writing stories about people of color. This is not news. This didn't just start with American Dirt. It's something that has been ongoing. Because that's the case and because I knew I was taking on the possible subject of appropriation, was I going to be held to a different standard than, say, a person of color writing this story? I want to stress that I think that the standards are correct. People of color are, in most cases, right to be sensitive about the way that white authors have been, in some cases, appropriating their stories or just badly writing these stories and getting more attention than those people of color get for their books. All of that being the pool that we're swimming in right now made it so that I felt like I needed to address this head on in my author's note to help readers know that I'm mindful of those problems. I take them seriously. I wanted to make sure that I followed the advice that I got from Zadie Smith, which was to write about whatever you want about, but just make sure you do your homework. That's what that note is about.