Distant Heart (20 page)

Authors: Tracey Bateman

Special Thanks

My family: Rusty, Cat, Mike, Stevan, and Will. You give me grace and space to do what I do. Thank you for so graciously sharing my dream. I share each of yours as well.

Mom, as always, your support means everything to me.

Chris, Kevin, Kristianna, and Kaleigh Lynxwiler. God breathes his goodness through you. Your commitment to Christ constantly inspires me to check my heart. I love each of you as cherished family members. Thank you for your unconditional love, kindness, and friendship.

Cindy DiTiberio. You have great insights that I appreciate so much. You've truly made the editing process a team effort and I value our partnership. I pray that God will continue to bless you in your career and give you wisdom to continue the job He's given you to do for His glory.

The HarperSanFrancisco/Avon Inspire team from marketing to cover design to every other area that I know very little about but recognize from the results. I'm in awe of your incredible work on this series. Every detail is attended to in
such a caring manner. I'm extremely thankful that you hold my books in your hands and do everything you can to join with me to get them to the readers.

Last, but most definitely not least, my agent Steve Laube. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Thank you for understanding me, even though you may need therapy if you stick with me much longer. I'll split the cost with you.

About the Author

Tracey Bateman
lives in Missouri with her husband and four children. Their rural home provides a wonderful atmosphere for a writer's imagination to grow and produce characters, plots, and settings. In 1994, with three children to raise, she and her husband agreed that she should go to college and earn a degree. In a freshman English class, her love for writing was rekindled and she wrote a short story that she later turned into a book. Her college career was cut short with the news of their fourth baby's impending arrival, but the seeds of hope for a writing career had already taken root. Over the next several years she wrote, hooked up with critique partners, studied the craft of writing, and eventually all the hard work paid off.
She currently has over twenty-five books published in a variety of genres. Tracey believes completely that God has big plans for His kids, and that all things are possible to those who will put their hope and trust in Him.

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By Tracey Bateman

D
EFIANT
H
EART

D
ISTANT
H
EART

Coming Soon

D
ANGEROUS
H
EART

Credits

Cover design by Laura Klynstra
Cover photograph Â© Erik Almas/Workbook Stock/Jupiterimages

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DISTANT HEART
. Copyright Â© 2008 by Tracey Bateman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

ePub edition November 2007 ISBN 9780061744624

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