For the teachers who encouraged me and taught me the craft: Ted Blain at Woodberry Forest School; Marshall Boswell, Cathryn Hankla, Dabney Stuart, and Jim Warren at Washington and Lee University; Trudy Lewis, Michael Pritchett, and Carol Anshaw at the University of Missouri–Columbia; and Pam Durban, David Bottoms, and John Holman at Georgia State University;
For the authors who read my early attempts at fiction and offered their time and wisdom: Peter Carey, Deborah Eisenberg, and Richard Ford;
For my fellow students and writers who helped me get here: Scott Howe, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Traci Lazenby, Mike Land, Pam Johnston, Bernadette Murphy McConville, Alison Umminger, and Tina May Hall;
For the encouragement, advice, and friendship of Jonathan Evison, and for everyone in the Fiction Files;
For Sarah Smith Chapman, for reading an early draft and making invaluable suggestions;
For Mollie Glick, Joy Fowlkes, Emily Brown, Jane Steele, Peter Steinberg, and the rest of the amazing folks at Foundry Literary + Media;
For the patience, talent, and eagle eye of my editor, Andra Miller, who took a chance on me, and to Betsy Gleick, Elisabeth Scharlatt, and everyone else at Algonquin Books for making a lifelong dream come true;
For Patti Callahan Henry, Emily Giffin, Mira Jacob, David Liss, Amanda Kyle Williams, and Ed Tarkington, whose kindness is matched only by their talent:
The only way I can thank you all and repay your generosity is to write true lines.
Thanks also to David Simpson, for answering my questions about the legal system; to John Holman (again), Tom McHaney, and Josh Russell, who served as my dissertation committee and suffered through my first novel; to my parents, David and Nancy Swann, who never once asked me if I should think about doing something else other than writing; to my graduating class at Woodberry Forest School (hope you like the Easter eggs, fellas); to Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School—particularly the English faculty and the department chairs—for cheering me on and helping to support my writing habit; and to Ronit Wagman, Wes Miller, Laura Regan, Margee Durand, Andrew and Autumn Swann, and Croom and Meriwether Beatty.
Above all, thanks to Kathy Ferrell-Swann, my first reader, editor, critic, cheerleader, and wife. I love you.