Acknowledgements

 

I began writing Surviving Amelia just after my father died. Over the course of the next six years, I lost my mother. Anna Rand had been one of only three women in her medical school class. She’d carved out a career as an OB GYN for herself against all odds. She was an abortion rights activist, a radical whose political views informed my own, and a true force of nature. Anna was a voracious reader, she subscribed to all sorts of magazines including The New Statesman and I.F. Stone’s Weekly; she read nonfiction, mainly history and political science, and loads of fiction. She had a soft spot for mysteries. It’s one of life’s cruel jokes that by the end of her life, she could barely string a sentence together.

When I began to write this book, a friend said, “I don’t understand why you want to write a literary novel when you figured out how to write mysteries.” She meant well, though I took umbrage at the time. She knew how hard it was to sell a literary novel. I could sell mysteries, so why change course? Looking back, I often wished I’d been able to take her advice. But the thing is, I couldn’t. This novel was what I had to write. By the time I finished, my parents were dead, one of my closest friends was in the process of losing his own mind to Alzheimer’s way too young, and my sons had grown up and had gone off to college and real life. Write what you know, they say. Apparently I took those words a little too much to heart.

Surviving Amelia is a work of fiction and that should be apparent from the first chapter. After all, a ghost comes to life and is a main character through the course of the novel. Still, I did read several books that grounded me in reality; Letters From Amelia by Jean L. Backus, The Sound of Wings by Mary S. Lovell, Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved by Elgen M.Long and Marie K. Long, Lost in Flight by Amelia Earhart, The Fun of It by Amelia Earhart and most crucial of all, Courage is the Price by Muriel Earhart Morrissey. Humans crave certainty which is why the where, why, and how of Earhart’s disappearance has proved to be such an enduring mystery. I have no allegiance to any particular theory though the book does find her stranded on an island.

I wish I could thank all my readers. But, in truth, there were far too many, and I wrote so many drafts. I am afraid of leaving someone out and so I thank you collectively and hope you will forgive me for not naming names, thank you for reading whatever draft you read and offering such wise editorial advice, thank you for supporting me through what has definitely been a mind bending process. Most of all, I want to thank my husband David, and my sons, Travis and Cody. Having the three of you in my life gives me such pleasure. You make me feel like I truly am the luckiest woman on the face of the earth.