New Animal

develop as a writer, and I am deeply grateful. To cover designer Akiko Chan for enshrouding it beautifully.
Thank you to people I have connected with from the funeral industry and the kink community. To Sarah and Michael for showing me what true power can look like. To Annie for teaching me that fear is always temporary, however large, however furious.
To Anne O’Keefe for Alchemy, and for introducing me to the concept of a beautiful, beautiful body. To Ambika for insisting I find a guru in a place not a person. To Bellingen, maybe it was you all along. To my beloved Natalie for almost a decade of bleak humour. To my small-town boy Jordan for nights spent across the dance floor, in the blow-up pool, on the front step. To Candice for being a revolution in a body and a spiritual cosmonaut. To Ben for unfaltering support and back-up plans. To Natasha for earthy love, good advice, biscuits. To Leena for teaching me to be confident, or if that’s not possible, to be brave. To Nellie for teaching me to take up space even if there doesn’t seem to be room.
The deepest thanks go to my mother, Nicky, for model-ling how to live a life filled with creativity and spirituality in equal measure—you have singlehandedly paved the way ahead with love.
Finally, to my peach, my mountain, my darling Keith. Wherever you are is where I always want to be.