Acknowledgments

I'd like to specially thank Brett McLaughlin for his excellent job editing this book. It's rare to find an editor who knows both how to trust his authors and when to challenge them to do better.

Matt Wagner did an excellent job of representing me as the agent for this book. He also deserves acknowledgment for having the courage to follow his own destinyby setting up shop as a solo agent.

Phyllis is my hero, as well as my wife and friend. Thanks, Phyllis, for reading the chapters of this book before I submitted them, and for taking up the slack around the house and with the kids. Julian, Nicky, and Mathew bore my obsession with writing this book with extraordinary grace, although Nicky did frequently tell me that he wanted his Daddy back, and that he wanted "Daddy's book to be done" so that he could play with Daddy.

With three little boys in the house, music and a good headset are obligatory. Artists I listened to on this book include Ry Cooder, the Dixie Chicks, John Dowland, Emmylou Harris, Bob Marley, Kitaro, Mozart, Paul Simon, Seal, Bruce Springsteen, and Ali Farka Toure. These musicians are, of course, responsible for all errors and omissions in the text, while I alone deserve credit for everything I happened to get right!