My family—my wife, Dolores, my daughters, Jane and Lucy—will always head the list of people to thank. They have created and continue to create the space to allow me to make books. What books ultimately mean in this world is a big topic, and a more important one every day, but it all begins with family, not just the writer’s, but the reader’s, too. I thank all those readers who spent time with these stories, and their families for making that possible.
To Claudia Gabel, my enthusiastic and hardworking editor, Katherine Tegen, for her enthusiasm and faith in the series, for Alana and Ro and Lauren, and everyone at HarperCollins who has been involved in bringing these stories, so beautifully presented and published, to light—my undying gratitude. Also, to the expert copyediting of Andrea Curley, whose good humor and exactitude on this book made making-things-up so pleasurable. Thank you, all.