To all the people who were thanked in the 1996 edition of Dark Debts: you remain thanked, and just as enthusiastically, but for present purposes I am going to limit myself to the people who are specific to this version of the book. First on that list is my editor, Jon Karp, who has endured my lack of writing (for him, anyway) for decades and who said “yes” immediately when I approached him with the idea of a new version of my novel for its twentieth anniversary. That is the kind of support he has always shown for Dark Debts, since the day it first crossed his door. My second phone call was to my literary agent, Bennett Ashley, who was thrilled with the idea of another go at it, and once again kept me from doubting myself at every turn.
There are new priests to thank this time around, who have spent a lot of time over the years helping me dissect Catholicism and put it back together again, and it is because of them that I now have (in my humble opinion) a more mature understanding of my faith. They are: Fr. Sean Raftis, Fr. John Brown, S.J., and Fr. Christopher Gober. There is one more priest who has helped me more than words could adequately describe and to whom I owe a tremendous debt, both personally and professionally. He wishes to be thanked cryptically. There you go, Father. My friend Joe Garcia should also be thanked under this heading, even if he missed his calling. And thank you to my dear friends Barbara Nicolosi-Harrington and Norris Harrington, Steve Skojec, and the others (you know who you are) who are helping me survive the daily insanity of this age.
I have more family members to thank this time around: I am always grateful to Brian and Christine Walker, for taking me in as family when I showed up out of nowhere. I would never be able to accomplish anything without the love of my life, my husband Chris, taking up the slack and offering his much-valued (even if I don’t always show it) opinions. Our son, Caleb, put up with a lot of being chased out of the room while I was working under a tight deadline. And, as my daughter Julianne Marie Bull would no doubt love to tell you, I ignored way too many of her phone calls from three thousand miles away, in order to get the book done on time.
I am grateful to everyone at Simon & Schuster for their hard work and the beautiful results. I spent the most time with Megan Hogan, publishing assistant, who is an incredibly patient and kind person. Laura Cherkas, my copy editor, did an amazing job. Nothing got by her. I am also grateful to: Cary Goldstein, VP and Director of Publicity; Anne Tate Pearce, publicist; Richard Rhorer, VP and Associate Publisher; Ebony LaDelle, Marketing Manager; Kristen Lemire, Managing Editor; Lisa Erwin, Senior Production Manager; Ciara Robinson, Senior Production Editor; Jackie Seow, VP and Executive Art Director; Alison Forner, Associate Art Director. I am often asked why writers need publishers in the year 2016. I offer this work as an answer.
And, one more time, I am grateful to my sister, writer extraordinaire Barbara Hall, for the day she said, “Just shut up and write the damned thing.”