Acknowledgments

A big thanks goes out to my editor, Leila Sales, for your gentle guidance. You always help me create the story I want to tell. And to my agent, John M. Cusick, for believing in me.

Thanks to my amazing friends who give advice, constructive criticism, and your eagle eyes: the Tale Blazers, Melissa Azarian, Terri King, and Jen Doktorski.

A huge amount of gratitude goes to my friend Jessamyn Huang for beta-reading Orchid and for helping me with Chinese history, language, and customs. And to my friend Sofia Del Carmen De León Maisonet for beta-reading Orchid and for your support. You both mean so much to me.

To my father for naming the Osprey. And to my mother and niece Ashley for catching some pesky mistakes and listening to me complain about story issues.

To my nephew Ethan Biggs for helping me sort out those irksome knots/nautical miles and math questions. And to my husband, Mark Waller, and friends Jeff Vargas and Doug Santiago for helping me see the guy’s perspective.

To Stawell Heard, Librarian, Acquisitions and Cataloguing for Royal Museums Greenwich, who answered my queries on the Merchant Navy and clipper ships.

Thanks to my Daisy Mabel, who turned up on my doorstep, days after I wrote Kukla into life, with her exact looks and penchant for stealing food. Sometimes I wonder . . .

And as ever, thanks to my family on both sides of the pond. You are everything to me.