The Library at Mount Char (49 page)

O
ver the years I've received help and encouragement from more people than I have room to list. Every single bit of it was appreciated. If you don't see your name here but should, I apologize.

First and foremost, my wife, Heather, is a really, really good first reader. She sees when something isn't working and she's not scared to kick my ass until I see it too. Every writer should be so lucky.

I attended the Taos Toolbox writing workshop in 2011. That experience has been a huge influence on everything I've written since, and I recommend it unreservedly to all aspiring fantasists. I am grateful to all my fellow attendees for their thoughtful and honest feedback on the first couple of chapters. Jim Strickland, Fiona Lehn, and Carole Ann Moleti later went so far as to provide feedback on a full draft. The instructors, Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress, are gifted teachers and generous people. Thank you all.

The community of writers—internet and physical—is solid and supportive. I've lost track of the number of times that I've been given lengthy and detailed critiques by people I've never met and probably will never meet. Online resources such as
absolutewrite.com
and
sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com
have also been especially helpful to me. Check out Jim MacDonald's “Learn Writing with Uncle Jim” thread on
absolutewrite.com
in particular. There are also a lot of industry professionals out there who volunteer their expertise via blogs, interviews, and whatnot to teach aspiring writers how not to shoot themselves in the foot as badly or as often as they otherwise might.

My buddy Lt. Col. Jason Barnhill, PhD, has read every single one of my unpublished manuscripts over the years. He was polite and supportive even back when I was struggling to make the leap from soul-wrenchingly godawful to merely terrible. Thanks, dude—next time I see you, dinner's on me.

Brett Meyer and Steven Wright read and provided feedback on an early draft of the manuscript. Thanks, guys!

My agent, Caitlin Blasdell, is both a dazzlingly effective professional and also an unfailingly pleasant and gracious person. Years before I was a client, she sent me a really nice this-won't-do-but-try-me-with-your-next-one note that was enormously encouraging at the time and is still much appreciated. She smoothed out the rough edges of this manuscript and generally saved me from myself in a variety of ways. I'm lucky to know her. Thanks, Caitlin!

Last, but most definitely not least, as an aspiring writer I would occasionally daydream about what the process of professional publication would be like. The answer is: it's great. My editor, Julian Pavia, and the other folks I've dealt with at Crown have impressed me in one way or another with every single communication. Thanks, guys—it's been a privilege and a real pleasure.