My thanks to Bruce J. Friedman of the Humber School for Writers, who mentored this novel before I realized I was writing one. Thanks, too, to my agents Kris Rothstein and Carolyn Swayze, who embraced this book in its earliest form, and my editor Jennifer Hale, creative director Crissy Calhoun, publisher Jack David and the true believers at ECW Press. The Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council Writers’ Reserve and Canada Council for the Arts through the CBC Literary Prizes all ponied up funding that bought me precious writing time. Thanks also to ROOM, Accenti, Riddle Fence and Untethered for publishing stories based on early versions of several chapters.
Thanks to everyone who read drafts and offered suggestions or provided expert advice on things medical, technical or art directorial: Diane Bracuk, Chris Caswell, Lisa de Nikolits, Jake Edding, Joey Edding, Eufemia Fantetti, Rick Favro, Izzy Ferguson, Koom Kankesan, Dr. Laurence Lee, Lesley Kenny, Heather McCulloch, Maria Meindl and Susan Rynasko. Licia Canton and Jaime Rubin, thank you for your encouragement at critical moments. A shout-out to my friends from Laura Secord Secondary School, especially Debbie Luhowy, the late Kathy Hryb and Shelley Smith Passfield for sharing memories of the day her father made us think the world was about to end.
Finally, thank-you to my husband and creative partner in comic books, Ron Edding, for the love, fun and inspiration.