Acknowledgements
It is indeed a privilege and an honor to publish this work – Of Emoji and Semioliteracy – as my very first ever single-author monograph! I could not have done so without the guidance of Dr. Marcel Danesi and the Brill Research Perspectives in Popular Culture editorial team. Dr. Danesi, thank you for your canonical work – The Semiotics of Emoji: The Rise of Visual Language in the Age of the Internet (Bloomsbury, 2016). I shall never tire of extolling this book as the life-changer it has been for me. Equally, sir, thank you for your wisdom, patience, mentorship, and guidance. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities I have been granted to learn from you, to write with you, and now to publish under your editorship with this BRPPC project.
I would also like to extend a special thanks to the reviewers whose keen insights pruned and fortified my work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of writing, literacy, and publishing via your valued suggestions for improvement.
To Graphic Illustrator Elijah Tan, thank you for taking these wild, creative rides with me and bringing my visions to life in the artwork you create for my commissioned emoji art projects. In our current collaboration – The Discovery of Semioliteracy, the frontispiece in this present work – you once again went above and beyond to capture the zeitgeist of the project and created a stunning piece of popular culture artwork. I appreciate you so much! Likewise, Bill Peters, thank you for serving as my sounding board on my Star Trek: The Next Generation references. Your wealth of TNG fandom knowledge is amazing!
Last but certainly not least, thank you, Ron, Desmond, and Monisa! Your love and support as a family enable me to follow my dreams of being an academic author and researcher. I love you all dearly and am thankful for your being in my life!