After the long hours of solitude writing this novel comes the moment when it must see the world. Many thanks to my first readers Robyn Barker, Michelle Barraclough, Imogen Lambert and Catherine Szentkuti, who each provided important insights that have flowered in the final text, but most of all for telling me they loved it!
Thanks also to my agent Tara Wynne for representing me, encouraging me and introducing me to the wonderful folks at Pan Macmillan. Quite a team has worked on this novel. First and foremost, my thanks to Commissioning Editor Haylee Nash, for the leap of faith it takes to sign up for an unwritten novel. No pressure there, Haylee! And on the journey with us were the editorial team, Ariane Durkin, Jodi De Vantier, Danielle Walker, Julia Stiles and Deonie Fiford. Each have added unique insights and a firm hand to make this book the best it can be. Any faults are all mine. Pan Macmillan’s publicity, marketing and sales teams have done an astonishing job in getting The Fence on the radar and into readers’ hands. Thanks in particular to Tracey Cheetham, Charlotte Ree and Alex Christie. Your enthusiasm is infectious.
Writers need other writers to buoy them when the going gets tough and self doubt threatens to flatten you. We’ve all been there and we’ll all be there again. Long emails and the odd spot of lunch with Carol Baxter have been essential confidence boosters. Faith has been restored by chats at writers’ festivals with all manner of peers. And none of this would have happened without my four years with The Hoopla crew, especially Wendy Harmer, Jane Waterhouse and Caroline Roessler, who gave me a chance, championed me and made me a better writer.
But in the end, writing is not for the faint-hearted, for the glory or for the money. Without my self-declared one-man patron of the arts, my husband Paul, I can’t imagine finding that most precious of gifts, the time to write. Thanks to all my children for their enthusiastic support. In the middle of all this, we’ve moved to the country where there is plenty of fresh air, space to roam and miles and miles of fences. Not to mention an awfully big garden. The perfect environment for storytelling.
And lastly, to everyone who has bought this book, borrowed it from a library or recommended it to a friend, thank you. Without readers, writers would be whistling in the dark.