In the interest of privacy, I’ve changed the names* or identifying characteristics of various individuals. That said, this is a work of nonfiction. The events and experiences detailed herein are true. I did, indeed, do one scary thing every day for a year, never cheating by skipping a day. Initially I planned to write about all of them, but it soon became clear the book would be a trillion pages long and likely to induce stupefaction. So I’ve chronicled the highlights, occasionally compressing or altering the timeline.
* This is really quite a challenge, by the way—coming up with fake names for forty people. Once you know someone’s name it’s nearly impossible to imagine them having any other name. (Also, that I was able to resist giving the rare obnoxious character an unbecoming name—like Dick—shows a great leap in personal growth.) Individuals whose names and characteristics weren’t changed for purposes of discretion include Jessica, Chris, and Bill, who’ve never been discreet in their lives.