I have been the fortunate recipient of a number of blessings in the process of creating this series.
Dina Fishbein and Lisa Shiroff, comrades in the writing trenches, critique partners, and most importantly friends—these incomparable women push me to bring out the best in myself and my writing. My life and my work are both infinitely better as a result. I trust we will celebrate many books, theirs and mine, together.
Producing these first episodes has been a team effort. I am immensely grateful for the beautiful work of editors Denise Vitola and Lynne Cannon Menges and of cover designer Asha Hossain. I also thank the brave beta readers who shared their impressions and critiques of early drafts.
Steve Bennett appeared in my life at exactly the right moment with his wisdom and enthusiasm, joining me on this adventure and convincing me to follow my vision for publishing this series in episodes instead of novels. I am ever so grateful that he has taken me under his wing. I also thank him and his talented team at AuthorBytes for creating a website home for my series and opening the world of social media to me.
Joseph Pascarella, retired Captain of the Brooklyn Police Department, has been another unexpected and wonderful blessing. His guidance on police procedure, jargon, and “mobbed up” crime scenes has been invaluable. Any mistakes are, of course, my own.
Thank you to my friends and family for believing in me and loving me, my neurotic obsession with my fictional characters notwithstanding. I gratefully acknowledge the first readers of this work, especially those at my day job, who didn’t laugh when I told them what I was doing and eagerly demanded to see more. Thank you for being my first fans. I especially thank my mother, who taught me that every blade of grass has its own angel telling it to grow and that I should listen to that special voice.
Finally, I thank my husband and children—for your love and support, for the beauty and meaning you bring to my life, and for your humor and caution in entering my dangerous writing lair where I am prone to bite your heads off.