Acknowledgments:

A million thanks to…

My amazing editor, Martha Mihalick, both for loving that first manuscript and for seeing how it could be even better;

All the incredible people at Greenwillow, especially Virginia Duncan and Lois Adams, for helping to make it better;

The HarperCollins marketing group, especially Patty Rosati, Emilie Ziemer, and Laura Lutz, whose enthusiasm for Mistwood is so exciting;

Paul Zakris, for a jacket that makes me smile every time I see it;

My agent, Bill Contardi, for his experienced and reassuring advice;

My father, for introducing me to fantasy in the first place, and my mother, for not making him throw out all his old science fiction books;

Tzipporah and Shmuli, for providing my first experiences of conflict and high intrigue;

Tova, always my first editor;

Miriam, my web-tech and cheerleader;

Raymond and Sandra Cypess, for consistent support and encouragement;

Michael A. Burstein, for advice along the way;

Shanna T. Giora-Gorfajn, for editing and playground support;

And last but not least, to my husband Aaron, who married me just a month after I left law to try this full-time writing thing. Thank you for supporting my decision, for never acting like it wasn’t important, and for encouraging me to become a non-reclusive writer. This would never have happened without you.