Ten writing students from around the world were instrumental in the process of my putting together this book. They met me in Chianti, Italy, under the auspices of Minerva Education, and there they became my willing guinea pigs upon whom I tried out the material. I’m grateful to them as well as to many other writing students who have seen portions of this material over the years.
I’d like to thank the people at Trident Media Group for their unfailing support: my literary agent, Robert Gottlieb, who believed in this project from the moment I explained it to him; tech wizards Nicole Robson and Caitlin O’Beirne (cocktails at Sun Liquor once again the next time you’re in town), Dorothy Vincent, and Sulamita Garbuz. I’d also like to thank my online guru, Cindy Peterson, who manages to throw many balls into the air at once and unfailingly catches them all.
At Viking Books, I am indebted to my editor/publisher, Brian Tart, for his support and his insight into what would make Mastering the Process a better tool for writers; to associate editor Amy Sun; to editor-in-chief Andrea Schulz; to Lindsay Prevette and Shannon Twomey from publicity; to Mary Stone and Molly Fessenden from marketing; and to Alan Walker from higher education and marketing.
The combined knowledge, resources, and enthusiasm of all these people were and are invaluable to me.
Elizabeth George
Seattle, Washington
July 31, 2019