Eternally Yours

Dear Reader,

When I was little girl, I dreamed of monsters. Not nightmares dreams. I didn t care for Prince Charmings. I wanted a vampire princess to steal me away in the night, a fallen angel to sweep me up in a grand adventure, a demon to capture my soul.
Yes, I was obsessed with paranormal romance. Anything in the genre, I read it. Didn t matter if it was too mature for me. I consumed these stories. I needed them. I craved them. These stories were my lifeblood. For my twelve-year-old and later teen self, they fulfilled me, and sometimes even healed me, rather than draining me as my struggles with depression often did. There was always the next book in the series, there was always something new by a favorite author. I had to read that next thing those stories sustained me.
Why did a Black girl from Texas love monsters so much? Maybe because I felt like one. Not athletic or rich or white like most of my classmates. Not straight, no matter how much I pretended to be. At a young age, I already knew I was going to hell for being who I was, for having crushes on my best (girl) friends, so dreaming of monsters? Wanting to become one? Hoping one would save me and take me away? That wasn t as unbelievable as the idea that I d ever find my place and my people, and stop hating myself.
(Spoiler alert: I did, but that s for another story.)
By the time I reached my midtwenties, I hadn t read paranormal romance regularly in years. I had started to live my life in the real world. I had found my people and was finding myself. When I read books, yes, I loved fantastical settings and elements, but I also wanted to see my life reflected. I wanted Black girls and women protagonists and queer found families all while finding yourself and falling in and out of love.
Paranormal romance, though it made me the book publishing professional I d become, still felt overwhelmingly white, cis, and straight to me. I couldn t stop questioning if I had seen myself more, in the pages

Patrice Caldwell is a graduate of Wellesley College and the founder of People ofColor in Publishing—a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting, empowering, and upliftingracially and ethnically marginalized members of the book publishing industry. Born and raised in Texas, Patrice was a children’s book editor before becoming a literary agent. She’s been named toForbes’s “30 Under 30” media list, a Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree, and featured on Bustle’s inaugural “Lit List” as one of ten women changing the book world. Patrice’s debut novel, Where Shadows Reign—the first in a YA fantasyduology—will be published by Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan. She is also the editor of A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope.

Visit Patrice online at patricecaldwell.com, Twitter @whimsicallyours, and Instagram @whimsicalaquarian.

Praise for Eternally Yours

*"[A] swoonworthy paranormal romance anthology  . . . While most of the stories deliver well-drawn interpretations of dramatic love amid fantastical happenings, some are humorously couched in the everyday . . .  Each story is delicately infused with the creators lived experiences, and the protagonists come together in varying pairings, celebrating love across myriad gender and sexual identities."--Publishers Weekly, starred review


"Fantastical romances are as diverse as their protagonists in this collection of 15 stories by YA favorites . . . Featuring mystical beings galore, this volume is filled to the brim with enchanting fantasy backdrops and romances both straight and queer and is perfect for sampling or reading straight through. The tone ranges from soft and sweet to terrifying and thrilling, ensuring there is something for nearly every reader and mood. Additional contributors like Sandhya Menon, Adib Khorram, Melissa de la Cruz, and Anna-Marie McLemore add to the appeal. A delightful addition to the shelf of any romantic.. "--Kirkus Reviews