It feels trite to say “this book would not have been possible without my wife,” but it’s true. Maria João Valente encouraged my dreams from the day we met, which is only appropriate since she is one of my dreams—and my tyree. Sweetie, I’m sorry I made you into a writer’s widow, but it’s kind of your own fault.
I owe great thanks to Karyn Aho, whose detailed analyses of my various drafts helped me hone this story to a much sharper edge. It sure is handy having a professional psychologist on call to make certain my character arcs stay in the realm of reason.
Behind the curtain is a team of experts and assistants who helped with critiquing, fact checking, editing, and the myriad other concerns that crop up in the production of a novel. I’m grateful for the efforts of Alma Tiwe, who speaks English as a second language but can spot a grammar error at fifty paces; Erin Saluta, beta reader extraordinaire; Rick Taylor, writing instructor and lifelong friend (and was it ever stressful to hand over my manuscript to a person I’ve known since I was six); Saskia Goedhart, whose martial arts expertise made sure the fight scene was realistic; S.N. Johnson-Roehr, my go-to person for astronomy questions; and my editor Nikki Busch, who has a thing about commas.
Extra thanks go to proofreader Cheri Fuller, who went above and beyond her task description and is living proof that there is a place in this world for compulsively detail-oriented people.
Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics gets kudos for putting together a beautiful cover despite my utter inability to describe what I wanted (I’m a wordsmith, not a graphic artist). He also spiffed up the map of Alsea, which was originally produced by my wife. A double dose of kudos goes to Maria for creating that map based only on my drawing—which consisted of two nebulous blobs for continents, a few city dots, and several pathetic mountain ranges that looked like a herd of carets.
Finally, I’d like to thank my publisher, Astrid Ohletz, for being so persistent in signing me up. It’s been a few years since I was last courted, but Astrid, you’ve got the moves.