Acknowledgements

Writing this book been a journey full of curves, hills, and even a dead end or two. Many smart and passionate people traveled all or part of this book’s roads with me, and I’m grateful.

Nic, I appreciate your early cheerleading and valuable feedback. You helped me find the fun in writing again.

Heather, thank you for your help with British-English edits through many drafts. Your help and humor were priceless, and I’m grateful.

Anitra, thank you so much for your energetic and steadfast support. From gentle encouragement to keyboard smashes and everything in between, you’ve been my champion from the start and I appreciate the hell out of you.

Meg, your special attention to the medical aspects of this story gave me a foundation to build from. Thank you for the reads and re-reads, the diagrams and definitions. Your patients are so fortunate to have you on their side.

My Wednesday night group, Beth, Brenda, and Melissa, and now Beth Junior, you are magnificent mentors in all things heart, soul, body, and mind. Thank you for reminding me to put my swords down every now and again. I love you.

Erin at Salt & Sage Books, thank you for organizing the sensitivity edit services with patience and expertise. Heba, your sensitivity read was insightful and your suggestions improved the manuscript in important ways. Thank you.

Thank you to my team at NineStar Press. Raevyn, I appreciate your organizational expertise in managing our journey. Natasha, thank you so much for putting your extraordinary talent toward creating the cover. I am awestruck by the gorgeous face you created for the story that lived only inside my mind for years. And Elizabetta, your editorial skill is nothing short of epic. I picture you sitting at your desk, striking out unnecessary words and errant punctuation while surrounded by reference books, superhero cape on your shoulders and red marker behind your ear. You also asked important questions and made sure the story flowed with ease and accessibility. I am beyond thrilled that this novel led me to you. Thank you. (And I promise I’ll go easy on the emails and text messages in the next one.)

Amanda, our sphere is where the magic happens. Thank you for the hours, the attention, the photography experience, the humor, the red and blue pencils, the nudging, the suggestions, the patience, and the belief. And of course, thank you for the friendship, which is best of all.

And lastly, thank you to my little family, Greg and Erin. You are the heart inside my heart.