The author would like to thank the following people whose encouragement and support, from early on to completion and beyond, made the writing of this novel possible: Tom Spanbauer and the Dangerous Writers, Steve Arndt, Elizabeth Scott, Kathleen Lane, Dian Greenwood, and John Parker. Thank you to Gigi Little for bringing art out of the earth. Thanks to Mary Bisbee-Beek for her amazing publicity smarts, stamina, and enthusiasm. Thanks most of all to the ferociously talented Laura Stanfill, without whom this book simply would not be.