This is a grim book, but it wasn’t grim in the making, what with people from all over the world adding in energy and encouragement. My family were brilliant. Then, there was Julie Crisp, who was wiser and more generous than she had to be.
And what about the beta readers like Carol Connolly, Iain Cupples, and Doug of the McEachern clan? They gave up lots of time, didn’t they? And not just for The Call, but for the manuscripts that came before it too! And I don’t want to forget Carole Fleres, of course, who helped with earlier works. Thanks, guys, seriously.
I’m also grateful to the Ficklings—all Ficklings. Everywhere. But in particular to Rosie (aka “The First”), who pushed my work on the rest of the office; to David, who loves to phone with good news; to Caro, who gave me the run of her home and pretended not to be traumatized by my strange ways.
One day in July, I was introduced to the incredible DFB team in Oxford, and that’s when I knew everything was going to be okay. Professionals every one of them, and if I were a drinker, I’d raise a glass in honor of Carolyn, Bron, Anthony, Phil, and Simon, and all the rest.
I’d need lots of glasses for the editing side, since so many people chipped in. But the steady hand on the helm belonged to Bella Pearson, who gathered everything together and fired brilliant suggestions into my inbox.
Others may be completely unaware of their contributions to The Call. They include the dead poets, Amergin, Eibhlín, and Anonymous—my apologies to you all, and my sincere respect. There’s also the boarding school I attended when I was Nessa’s age, Clongowes Wood College, and the ones I attended in spirit in the company of Enid Blyton. Art helped too—the swirly heroic stuff of Jim Fitzpatrick. The first Book of Conquests I ever picked up was the one he illustrated.
Plenty donated courage to the cause when they came to readings of early versions of this book at Boskone, LuxCon, and TitanCon. The Brotherhood Without Banners showed up every time and they have no idea how much it helped to hear them say what worked or didn’t work for them.
And let’s not forget the organizers of the above cons, who work so hard every year to provide people like me with such opportunities!