Dan Breen is back on the job as my first reader, thank goodness. The remaining mistakes are my fault, but there are significantly fewer of them than there would be without Dan's help.
Dorothy Day and my webmaster, Karen Zimmerman, archived my texts. I started to write, "I didn't blow up any computers this time," and then realized that I haven't run off the final yet. I hope I don't have to change this line when I read the proofs.
Incidentally, at least one of the reasons I haven't blown up a computer (yet) is that I went back to composing longhand when the temperatures got into the Nineties, then typed up the day's work in the evenings when it was cooler. Another alternative would be air conditioning, but I prefer to avoid that for a number of reasons. I repeatedly had respiratory problems when I worked in a climate-controlled building. Nowadays they recur only when I'm at conventions in climate-controlled hotels.
Dorothy and Evan Ladouceur were (as generally on this series) my continuity checkers. Again, the mistakes are mine; but because of my friends, I fall on my face less often than I otherwise would.
I owe a particular debt to Rana Van Name, who replaced a piece of my own very early childhood. It appears in this novel, but my debt to her goes much deeper than that.
My wife Jo continues to keep the house and yard in shape, and to feed me superbly. I'm not easy to live with, and my focus is generally on the current book. The fact that I live in a clean house is not my own doing, and I appreciate it.
My books would be different and much less good without my friends and family; so would my life. Thank you all.