Acknowledgments

First, thank you to my wonderful agent, Kimberly Witherspoon, who, among other things, changed my life.

Thank you to my editor, Jenny Jackson, who steered me through the murky waters with such brilliant insight and saintly patience. Nobody, but nobody, is better.

Thank you to Felicity Rubenstein, who watches over my work with such wisdom and care, and to Lettice Franklin, whose perception and support are a constant joy to me. Thank you falls short of all I mean to say, but thank you nonetheless.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the readers who read early drafts so willingly and so well: Cecile Koster, Samir Rawas Sarayji, Sofia Borgstein, Vanessa Deij, Joel Kuntonen, Vivian Vos, Cathy Cruise, David Kidd, Dana Flor, Elizabeth Cohen, Bill Roorbach, Justine Kenin, and especially Patrick Walczy.

Thank you to the editors who took a chance on chapters of this book and published them: Cara Blue Adams, Robert S. Fogarty, Linda Swanson-Davies, Susan Burmeister-Brown, and Peter Stitt. You have my deepest gratitude.

Thank you to the experts who so generously advised me on everything from statistics to origami: Jim Ohlson, Kevin Kendrick, Scott Tegethoff, Katherine Fortier, Sahjo Brown, Ekemini Riley, Sonya Dumanis, and Robert Lang. Any errors are mine alone.

Thank you to the friends who made me laugh and then let me steal their jokes: Jennifer Richardson Merlis, Jessica Hörnell, Kitty Lei Harter, Jojo Harter, and Leila Barbaro. I am forever in your debt.

Thank you to my parents, Richard and Suzanne Heiny, who never told me that my stories needed gunfights and secret caves. To my brother, Christopher Heiny, who is always there when I need him. And most of all to my sons, Angus McCredie and Hector McCredie, who taught me everything I know.