Acknowledgements

I believe in the wisdom that when it comes to life, the journey is everything, the end nothing. So it is with a collection of stories. The glory is in the process, the writing, where the concept and characters are culled from—that part of the brain where creativity mixes with memory, where doubt meets decision, and sadness intersects with joy.

But most importantly, the journey is filled with good and generous souls—friends and family, fellow writers, editors and publishers, those who provide a shoulder to lean on, who help to hone the work, who give unconditional support every step of the way. That’s what really matters. The people by your side.

And so it is with Automatically Hip. There are many to thank, but I’ll start with Vine Leaves Press: Jessica Bell, Amie McCracken, Peter Snell, and the rest of the team for championing my writing and giving it an opportunity to meet a wider audience. And appreciation to Kara Post-Kennedy, my editor at The Good Men Project, and to similar literary warriors at Empty Sink Publishing, Smokelong Quartely, Haunted Waters Press, Work Literary Magazine, and Cigale, magazines and journals which first published stories in this collection. Gratitude also to Jack Gwaltney, who partnered with me to create several stories which originally appeared in the Word Count Podcast.

Last, and always, love to my wife, Grace, who is strong and smart and everything to me.