I would like to thank everyone on St Mary’s for being so welcoming over the years. Particular thanks are due to my friends Linda Thomas at Porthcressa Library, talented YA author Rachel Greenlaw, Clive and Avril Mumford and Victoria Hitchens. I owe a big debt to Jeremy Brown and his multi-talented partner Kate, for inviting me to take part in the islands’ brilliant Creative Scilly Festival. Thank you also to St Mary’s Creative Writing Group for inviting me to join them in a workshop and giving me their lovely anthology, which proves just how many talented writers live in Scilly.
I am grateful to Five Islands School for letting me spend time with their boisterous and brilliant pupils, encouraging them to consider writing as a career. Thanks to the very helpful staff at the Star Castle Hotel, for allowing me to include the building in my book. The managers are nothing like those described in Pulpit Rock; the hotel is a special, luxurious place to stay.
Thanks to Teresa Chris, my agent, to whom this book is dedicated. She keeps me writing, even when gin and chocolate fail, and always leads me to the best garments when we go clothes shopping. Thank you so much to everyone at Simon and Schuster for your support, particularly my brilliant editor Bec Farrell and my kind and thoughtful publicist Jess Barratt.
My writer friends Penny Hancock, Mel McGrath, Louise Millar and everyone in Killer Women also deserve my gratitude. Thanks for picking me up whenever my confidence flags. My Twitter pals have also supported me beautifully over the years. Janet Fearnley, Peggy Breckin, Polly Dymock, Hazel Wright, Julie Boon, Jenny Blackwell, Louise Marley, Christine South, Angela Barnes, Rachel Medlock, Sarah LP and hundreds more – you are all brilliant. It’s your passion for my stories that carries me to my desk every morning, determined to write more.
Finally, thanks to my lovely sister Honor, and my long-suffering husband Dave for believing in me, right from the start.