Acknowledgments

These stories are the work of many years and I had a lot of help with them, for which I am extremely grateful. Stephen Donadio and Carolyn Kuebler gave me invaluable, deeply appreciated support and encouragement; Meakin Armstrong, Terrance Hayes, Ronald Spatz and Chris Beha were thoughtful editors. I owe a great debt to Gail Hochman, my amazing agent. Jill Bialosky, my editor, chose, championed, shaped, and guided this book brilliantly through the editorial process; her assistant Angie Shih was smart and helpful; Nancy Palmquist did wonderful editing work, insightful and precise, on the manuscript.

Maud Casey, Howard Norman, Stanley Plumly and all my colleagues at the University of Maryland have welcomed and inspired me, as my colleagues at Cleveland State University, most especially Michael Dumanis and Imad Rahman, did before. A grant from the Graduate School of the University of Maryland and a fellowship from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts gave me time to write. As always, my family has been generous and kind and they have never once told me I really should think about doing something more sensible with my life than writing made-up stories. My dad got me hooked on science fiction early and my mom made sure that I eventually read other things as well. Joanna Mitchell gives me light and courage. Joshua Tyree remains the writer I admire most and my very favorite, much beloved husband.