As ever, I have a bazillion people to thank, but I’ll restrict myself to those with the most direct impact. First up is my wife, Nats, who reads my books at least ten times during development, poor thing. She still manages to come up with excellent feedback every time, and as of yet hasn’t thumped me over the head with a rolled-up manuscript.
I am also indebted to Rebecca Dempster, Kat Urbaniak, Scott McDonald, Mick Sailor, Tom Dixon, Peter Abraham, Dani Solomon, and Andy Dunlop for their services as beta readers. If any other author needs a bunch of eagle-eyed readers who are not afraid to stick the boot in, they’re available for hire as a job lot. John Berlyne also helped with his early comments on the tone of the book, and I am grateful for this.
Finally, thanks to the readers of Apocalypse Cow who entered my competition to have their names, and in some cases appearances and quirks, used in World War Moo. They are, in no particular order: Ruan Peat, Jack Alford, Glen Forbes, James Anthony Hilton, Andy Scholz, Tim Roast, Eva Gilliam, Hannah Campbell, Scott McDonald, Peter Abraham, Tom Dixon, and Andy Dunlop. Andy Dunlop really is a competitive egg thrower and Scott is genuinely a giant with an addiction to tie-dye, which goes to show real life really is often stranger than fiction.