Acknowledgments

 

 

 

I got lost many times writing this book. To the people who helped get me and Rose back on track, thank you, especially those of you who joined me in agonizing over plot twists while drinking rum on a Caribbean beach. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

Many thanks to the folks at Bywater Books, who believed in this project from the beginning, and a special shout-out to my mentor, Ann McMan, whose sense of humor and sound advice helped keep me afloat toward the end there.

This book would still be foundering without the early readers who braved rough drafts, especially Alessandra Amin, Stefani Deoul, Karelia Stetz-Waters, and my fellow islanders. Your enthusiasm, honesty, and witty commentary helped me keep things in perspective. Thanks also go out to the experts who let me pick their brains about biology and submarines— the crew of “The Vegetable Boat,” who unwittingly inspired this novel— and to my parents, whose belief that there was “always money for books” (and library fines) led to this whole writing thing in the first place.

Writing is easier with a supportive spouse. Thank you, Tiffany, for believing in me, for always laughing at my nautical puns, and for helping me navigate life’s perilous straits. I couldn’t have asked for a better first mate.