Thank you to the dear readers for allowing me into your home. To the darling and dear Kristy (Kristy Bee) Barrett, Judith D. Collins, Kathy Shattuck, Tonya Speelman, Carla Suto, Linda Zagon, and many other readers and reading groups and bloggers who generously and tirelessly cheer on my books and others’. You are a precious gift to writers everywhere.
And I’d like to add a little honey poem for Kristy:
A Bee-auty named Kristy “Bee” Barrett
Collects each book like pollen to share it
This novel-love bee,
Is our sweetest sweet pea—
Sweet as honey and buzzing with merit!
My gratitude and love to Bry City mountain man and former lookout Ron Cole for sharing a Christmas dinner and your inspirational stories about you and your family’s historic fire-tower home. And also to dear Honey Bee for your always gracious hospitality and kind support.
Much love and appreciation to Eon Alden and Chris Wilcox and the rest of the gang for unstintingly peddling my books. I am extremely grateful to cherished booksellers and librarians, for all your dedication and passion that goes into helping my books and others’ find their way into the hands and hearts of readers.
Many thanks to the lovely playwright Amina McIntyre for sharing a meal and inspiring me with the antique courting candle at Black Acre Conservancy.
To my editors, the brilliant and hardworking book women, Shana Drehs and Margaret (MJ) Johnston. I am forever indebted to you for your sharp eyes, wisdom, and foresight, for rolling up your sleeves to make Book Woman achieve its very best—for making a good book great. My appreciation and many thanks to Diane Dannenfeldt for her exceptional copyedits, Carolyn Lesnick for her proofreading, and to the energetic and enthusiastic Sourcebooks team, for whom I am enormously grateful. Thank you, Sourcebooks, for letting me give these fierce librarians and precious, brave Blues a voice.
To my terrific Writers House agents, Stacy and Susan, who immediately championed this book and gave it their unwavering support—you are the very best a writer could ask for in agents. And, Stacy, this one is for you.
Writing is oftentimes a solitary journey, but this one was made easier by having the support of a kind and immensely talented book-woman tribe: mad love and appreciation to Joshilyn, Karen, and Sara.
Gratitude and love to G. J. Berger, my dear friend and critiquer.
Love to my beautiful and wise children, Jeremiah and Sierra, forever. To my husband and always-first reader, Joe, thank you for catching my misspellings and incorrect math and seeing me through. You are first and foremost the reader I love writing for and being with. I love you like salt loves meat, always.