ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks always to my readers, those who are just discovering my books and those who keep coming back for continued adventures. Because you read, I write.

Thanks also to my agent, Ethan Ellenberg, and his team. You’ve got my back, and I appreciate all that you do.

And thank you to my editor, Susan Barnes, and the whole Orbit crew, including Laura Fitzgerald, Ellen Wright, Anna Jackson, and Gemma Conley-Smith, and all the other folks who work hard to make my books happen and get them where they need to go.

Plenty of thanks as well to the wonderful folks at Arisia, Illogicon, Shevacon, Mysticon, Awesomecon, Capclave, Lunacon, Chattacon, Libertycon, Ravencon, Balticon, ConCarolinas, ConGregate, Dragon*Con, Atomacon, Philcon, Contraflow, Confluence, and the Arizona and Carolinas Renaissance Festivals, who have welcomed me as a guest author for so long—as well as the new conventions I have yet to experience. I truly appreciate the warm welcome fandom offers and the chance to participate in convention programming to meet wonderful people and give back to a community I love.

Thanks as well to my Thrifty Author Publishing Success Network Meetup group, for being an awesome group of writers. I have a blast working with you, and together we have all come so far.

Thank you to all of my author, artist, musician, performer, and reader convention friends and Renaissance Festival regulars who help me survive life on the road, to the fantastic bookstore owners and managers who carry on a valiant fight on the front lines of this crazy publishing industry, and to my social-media friends and followers, who are always up for some online mayhem.

And most of all, thanks to my husband, Larry Martin, who plays a huge part in bringing all the books and short stories to life. He’s my best first editor, brainstorming accomplice, proofreader extraordinaire, and in 2015, he’ll become official coauthor of our new Steampunk series. It wouldn’t happen without him, and I’m grateful for his help. Thanks also to my children, who are usually patient with the demands of the writing life, and for my dogs, Kipp and Flynn, who are experts at dispelling writer’s block. It takes a village to write a book, and I treasure every one of you.