ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks, as always, to my editor, Anne Groell, and my agent, Jack Byrne. I get asked sometimes about what it’s like to go through the editorial process. I don’t think Anne has ever asked me to make a change that didn’t result in a stronger book when I was done.

Thanks to my on-call science geeks, Jason Goodman, Karen Swanberg, and John “Rowan” Littell, for answering random questions. Thanks also to my friend Marc Moskowitz, who gave me some Greek language help, to Dr. Lisa Frietag for answering medical questions, and to my father for his willingness to do my offsite backups. Many thanks again to Elise Matthesen, the gifted artist whose necklaces inspired the idea of spell-chains.

Many thanks and a round of coffee to the members of the Wyrdsmiths, without whom this would not be nearly as good a book: Eleanor Arnason, Bill Henry, Doug Hulick, Harry LeBlanc, Kelly McCullough, Lyda Morehouse (a.k.a. Tate Halloway), Sean Murphy, and Rosalind Nelson.

Thank you to all of my beta readers: Dushenka Ani, Blake Bramhall, Ed Burke, Stella Evans, Michelle Herder, Sylvia Izzo Hunter, John “Rowan” Littell, Janelle Lohr, Curtis Mitchell, Lyda Morehouse, Fillard Rhyne, Bill Scherer, Corinne Staggs, and Karen Swanberg. An extra thank-you to Curtis: many things in this world were inspired by ideas that originally came from his fertile imagination.

A huge, huge thank-you, as always, to my husband, Ed Burke. As of this writing, my two daughters are almost five years old and almost two years old. People ask me sometimes how on earth I write with a preschooler and a toddler, and I have to say that a supportive spouse who is an active and involved parent is critical. Ed is a wonderful father and a wonderful husband, and he values my writing and helps me to make space for it in my life. Another thank-you (and a hug and a kiss) to each of my daughters, Molly and Kiera.