AcknowledgementsAs always, much thanks to my family and friends: especially Gary Nelson, as always, for support, love, patience—indeed, the best of husbands; Ellen McQueen, first reader, editor extraordinaire, advice, all those talks…beloved friends, and her good, good heart; Ann Carver, the best of friends, a former Limestone College (now Limestone University) colleague, critic, and most wise; my brothers, David, Barry, and Greg, for their unfailing support; my UNCG grad school cronies, the SCOFDO Zoomers; Brady Earnhart, a good and thoughtful reader; Nancy Berman, good friend, great editor, who worked with me to improve an earlier version.
The journey of this novel, starting with a short story published in The Silver Gryphon in 2003. As I recall, Gary Turner, of Golden Gryphon Press, su
