ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

S ometimes the contributions people make to a writing career—or an individual book—aren’t noticed or recognized at the time.

Sometimes people die before they can be thanked…so in the attempt to thank the right people while they can still blush and dig a toe in the dirt and pretend it was nothing, here are some of those whose words and deeds added a lot to this (and other) books. It’s not chronological. And some have died, but I can’t ignore them.

The Thursday fencing group patiently listened to chunks read aloud and asked good questions. David Watson, Beth Sikes, Allen Sikes, and Richard Moon even more patiently answered my questions about relevant technical bits. Friends in choir (yes, you)—thanks for your input and your patience. Way back, a long-overdue thanks to Marguerite Robinson, my senior-year English teacher in high school, whom we called Grendel (she wouldn’t let us refer to her as Grendel’s Mother, saying it insulted her daughter, but we could consider her Grendel). And another, almost as far back, to Katherine Fischer Drew, extraordinary medieval historian at Rice University, now retired, the first to suggest that I try writing novels. My wonderful hosts in Norway last year, and especially Heidi Lyshol, who recommended exactly the right overnight tour…she will recognize its contribution. My wonderful hosts in Barcelona probably won’t, if I filed off enough serial numbers, but the visit gave me something I needed. So did Debbie Harris and her husband. John McLean and James Summers performed a rescue at the last minute when my computer died less than a week before the book was due.

Finally, thanks are always due to my agent Joshua Bilmes and my editors—this book was begun under the guidance of one, Shelly Shapiro, and completed under another, Jim Minz. All three were invaluable, and the book would not be what it is had any of them slacked off.