Writing Black Convicts taught me a lot about patience and value of time. Prior to this book, the longest I’d spent on a project was two years. I rewrote the manuscript three times over the course of 6 years! As much as I wanted to be done with it two years into writing, I had to get out of my own way and trust the process. I’m glad I did. The version that exists is stronger than earlier drafts, and while six years is a long time to commit to a project, the process of working with the dead changed my life. The dead aren’t in a hurry, and being in communion with them requires A LOT of patience. But there’s a magic that surfaces when they are ready to speak. Knowing what I now know about working with colonial archives, I’d approach the process differently in the future. Archives hold so much, and the process of restituting lives is taxing —not just mentally, but emotionally and physically.