One of the joys of publishing a book is being given the opportunity to say thank you to all those people who helped, in many different ways, during the creation of it. So here goes …
My editor Matilda Richards is a huge supporter of my work, and it’s brilliant to be able to talk to someone who empathises so completely not just on series direction, but also on vital things such as the correct placement of commas. Jamie Wolfendale and Maria Fallon, also of The History Press, have worked tirelessly to promote my books, and neither of them minded being contacted, probably more often than absolutely necessary, by an author who is a bit clueless about marketing.
Stephanie Tickle and Andrew Bunbury, my two best critical friends and readers, neither of them afraid to call a spade a spade, went through early drafts of Whited Sepulchres in great detail and offered many helpful insights and suggestions. The fact that they frequently came up with completely different and opposing comments about the same passages only made the redrafting process more interesting.
I’m very grateful to Sarah Jones, equine vet, for her advice on horses. My questions on how to train and ride them, and how they might react in certain circumstances, were probably fairly straightforward; the one on how somebody might go about putting down a crippled horse with only a hunting knife to hand probably less so.
My fellow historians (and fellow devotees of bacon sandwiches) Julian Humphrys and Sean McGlynn have been hugely supportive in all sorts of ways, with words of encouragement, practical advice and the sourcing of presentation and review opportunities. My non-mediaevalist colleagues at work, particularly Susan Brock, Caroline Gibson and Nick Monk, are also owed a debt of gratitude, basically for putting up with me going on and on about stuff which probably doesn’t interest them in the slightest …
Last but certainly not least, my thanks and love go to my husband James (who also added another map to his collection!) and our children. I couldn’t do any of this without you.