Because authors never ride the trail alone, we’d like to round up a passel of good people and give them a grand ol’ thank-you from the bottom of our hearts. We’ll start with:
Our folks, Peggy and Lou and Barbara, who always made sure to keep great books on the shelves and stirred a continual passion for literature. They kept the home fires burning in the night, and encouraged us to find exceptional:
Friends and colleagues, who keep inspiring two weary cowboys to push on. Trailmates like Jim Patterson, Michael Armstrong, Lori Raborg, Alex Abrams, Brandon Hobson, AJ Tierney, Gloria Bankler, Brad Christy, Dustin Bass, Sean Easley, Kyle Sanders, Matt Knight, the amazing folks at Lewis-Clark State College, and so many more loyal pards that we couldn’t stuff all their names in a hundred saddlebags. All except for:
Shawn Chiusano, who wrote a fella’s name down one day and said, “By golly, send this man a query letter!” and so we did, and that fella turned out to be:
Brooks Sherman, our rough-ridin’, sharp-eyed Agent Extraordinaire, who never stopped cheering us on to perfection, so he could lasso a fine publisher and introduce us to:
Lauren Bisom, our novel’s first champion. She opened all the doors at Henry Holt, so we could meet:
Christian Trimmer, our head honcho and the finest editor this side of the Mississippi. Mr. Trimmer, you surely do a bang-up job. And without your wonderful bunch at Henry Holt, our novel never would’ve crossed paths with:
Alexandria Neonakis, our cover illustrator and all-around swell artist. Her remarkable work puts a true grandeur on the book, as do the humbling, heart-stirring reviews we received from:
Authors Emma Trevayne, Stefan Bachmann, and Heidi Schulz, who offered us powerful good blurbs. And since we’re gabbin’ about kind assistance, we just can’t thank enough:
All the magnificent folks of the Osage Nation and the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center. Director Addie Hudgins and cultural specialist Jennifer Tiger and Harrison Hudgins and Rebecca Brave and Vann Bighorse—everyone who contributed their time and energy to double-checking our historical and cultural accuracy and giving us incredible notes. We hope we’ve done ya proud.
Don’t scurry off yet! We ain’t quite done. We’d be scoundrels and outlaws if we didn’t holler to the world how much we love:
Our wives, Alisha and Kimberly, who stand by us every day and lift us up. And Chloe, too, the greatest stepdaughter that Brad ever did see, who shines a light from her very soul. She reminds us of another great kid, someone we couldn’t possibly forget to thank before this here book closes:
YOU, amazing reader. You’re the one this whole shebang is for. We hope you’ve enjoyed Keech’s adventure, and we’ll see ya again soon for the next leg of the journey.