ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’m in debt to Michael del Rosario and Kate Egan for being smart, easygoing, and all around wonderful to work with. Ray Thornton shared his memories of the civil rights movement, and Leigh Ann Rhea let me hide out at her house while I was finishing this book.

Thanks to Wayne and Tanja Miller, Darren Cox, Josh Olive, and Leslie Crow for all those late nights at Pepito’s, making a solitary endeavor feel anything but lonely.

And finally, Scott Oden, Lynn Viehl, and Holly Black have shown me not only how to face down the sometimes daunting realities of writing for a living, but also how to emerge with generosity, class, and sense of humor unscathed.

—Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream The course of true love never did run smooth.