Dear Reader,
This book is a perfect example of how a single, simple idea explodes into an involved project. It started off with a prompt in a writer’s group several years ago. At first, Audrey was a patient in a mental health facility. I described the scene outside her window. Then I decided to take the prompt and write a short story. The more I tried to contain the characters and the plot, the more difficult it was for me to write. I handed it off to my beta reader who smiled at me when I admitted it was a novella, not a short story.
When she returned the manuscript, I had decided that I would flesh out the story. And since readers enjoy a series more than a stand-alone novel, I included the gambling ring through the first three books. Then came the titles. With the titles, I had to cho
