Acknowledgments
This story would never have existed without the help of my many friends on the FidoNet WRITING echo, including Dennis Havens, who asked all the right questions about faery biology; the late R. Veraa and Joe Chamberlain, who shared their experiences of living with a spinal cord injury; and my mentors Patricia C. Wrede and Pamela Dean, who taught me what it means to be a professional author and gave me hope that some day I could be one too.
I am also indebted to my fellow Bible School students Jim Horning, Matt Quasha and Angela Lepley, whose demand for new chapters kept me writing steadily until the first draft was finished; to Claire Eddy at Tor Books for taking an early interest in the manuscript; to Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine for broadening my perspective on readership and teaching me invaluable lessons about revision; to my agents Josh Adams and Caroline Walsh for believing in this book and in me as a writer; to my US editor Catherine Onder at HarperCollins for showing me how to take Knife’s story to the next level – and the next – and the next; to Kirsty Skidmore at Orchard Books for giving Knife a home in her own native country; and to all the wonderful readers, teachers and librarians in the UK who helped make Knife a bestseller there. Further gratitude is due to Steve Laube at Enclave Publishing, who has given my “faery tales” a second chance to fly in the US.
Special thanks to Alec Dossetor for tirelessly reading draft after draft and giving me comments on every one; to Liz Barr, Brittany Harrison, Teri Krenek and Sylvia Thomas, whose steadfast support helped keep me sane; to Emily Bytheway, Erin Fitzgerald, Claudia Gray, Kerrie Mills, Meg Burden, Seema G., Lisa Inman, Jerie Wills, and Paula Berman, who offered shrewd critiques and encouraging praise; to Emily Friedman and Saundra Mitchell for the delightful fan art; to Laurie R. King for fifteen years of kindness, generosity, and Mary Russell; and to my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, who are truly a never-ending Feast of Awesome.
Finally, I want to thank my husband for being a wonderful partner; my children and my extended family for putting up with my lunacy; and most of all the One who is both Author and Word, the Beginning and the End, my Lord and my God. As the hymnist Josiah Conder wrote:
Alike pervaded by His eye, all parts of His dominion lie;
This world of ours, and worlds unseen, and thin the boundary between.
R.J. Anderson