So much happens between an idea and a finished book. Research. Writing. Selling. Assembling. Fortunately I had skilled and caring help all along the way.
I wanted to learn as much as I could about my characters. George Goodwin and the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Society enlightened me on Jewish life in Colonial New England, and Rabbi Mordechai Eskovitz, and my dear friend Jim Tobak, gave me a lengthy tour of the storied Touro Synagogue. The Apollo Area Historical Society directed me to Nellie Bly’s childhood home and offered a treasure trove of her time in western Pennsylvania. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was kind enough to share some of Nellie’s original letters; there is nothing quite like spending years with a character and then reading something penned with her own hand. My daughter Kate, with an eye far sharper than mine, spent several afternoons with me wandering New York City in the exact spots I would later write about. Castle Garden, Battery Park and the old Newspaper Row made particularly strong impressions.
Not all research can be done first-hand, of course, and several historians made life considerably easier for mez. I read dozens and dozens of books and articles on Nellie, Emma, Pulitzer, Jay Gould, Henry Hilton, Helena DeKay, Mary Hallock Foote, Richard Gilder and Charles DeKay. I won’t list them all here, but Esther Schor’s biography Emma Lazarus was especially helpful and prompted my first fan letter to a Princeton professor.
Some writers can crank out a polished draft without ever needing to change a word, but I am not one of them. Kate Zentall, Marc Green, Ed Stampler, Pat LoBrutto and Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman all provided excellent editorial suggestions that improved the book and made it much more readable. David Dornbusch, Helen Dornbusch and Ilene Block always let me know when I go off track, and received the book well early on. Their enthusiasm was worth hours of line edits. Finally it is my good fortune to have two voracious readers under my roof, my wife Anne and daughter Rachel. Each has remarkable strengths as manuscript readers, and together they cover a large waterfront. They also keep me humble.
I’m sure there are harder things than selling a first-time novel in today’s fiction market, but I can’t think of one right now. When I had trouble landing an agent, I asked my friend Joan Harrison for help. She introduced me to Joe Veltre, who read the manuscript and wanted to handle it. Without Joan, I’m not sure you would be reading this right now. Joe was unwavering in shopping the book and found a warm home for it at Diversion Books. The people at Diversion plunged right in, especially Sarah Masterson Hally. With all the pictures and newspaper articles and clearance issues, the book was not easy to lay out, but Sarah doggedly pushed to make the final product look as good as possible. We also had a crack copyright expert in Rachel Goldberg, who obtained all the necessary clearances.
So far I have mentioned only functional support, but three years of writing a novel, and two years waiting until it reaches a general audience, requires emotional support as well, and in that regard I am blessed. My wife and daughters are my biggest fans, with my extended family and friends a close second. I am profoundly grateful. Dedicating the book to them all is my attempt to say thank you.