Researching the well-lived life of Nancy Harkness Love was a privilege. I’m very grateful for many expert readers who combed through scenes in order to make the details solid. Thanks to author Chalon Linton, who was able to give me feedback on military details. Thanks as well to author Julie Wright, who found ways to enhance Nancy’s character. My daughter Kara, who was relegated to being my sounding board since she is also a pilot, came with me on a couple of field trips in search of specific information. One of those locations was the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas.
We also visited the Hill Aerospace Museum in Roy, Utah, and met Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Carl William Shepard Jr., who graciously agreed to read the flying scenes in the book. His additions and clarifications were valuable, and I appreciated his time. My agent, Ann Leslie Tuttle, continues to be a champion of my stories, and she’s always generous with her time and feedback. Thanks to Ilise Levine, who helped me brainstorm and gather information about female aviators who have remarkable histories—there were a lot, so it took some vetting.
I’m grateful for Shadow Mountain Publishing and their support of my work. Thanks to the remarkable team, which includes Chris Schoebinger, Heidi Taylor Gordon, Lisa Mangum, Derk Koldewyn, Troy Butcher, Amy Parker, Ashley Olson, Haley Haskins, Callie Hansen, Jinho Song, and editor Samantha Millburn—whose talented and thorough editing made the manuscript shine. A special thanks to Lorie Humpherys for her proofreading extraordinaire.
Many thanks goes to several friends and authors, specifically Jen Geigle Johnson, Rebecca Connolly, Allison Hong Merrill, Mindy Holt, Taffy Lovell, Julie Daines, and Jennifer Moore. My family continues as a major support of my writing career. Thank you to my parents, Kent and Gayle Brown, and my father-in-law, Lester Moore. And of course, thanks to my husband, Chris, our children, Kaelin, Kara, Dana, and Rose, son-in-law, Christian, and our grandson, Ezra.
My final thanks goes to Sarah Byrn Rickman, whom I hope to meet one day. She is the leading scholar of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), and I own most of her nonfiction books. Her research on the female aviators of the 1940s is not only comprehensive, but she has also captured the lady flyers’ hearts and souls.