It isn"t often a writer gets to say “Thank You” twice in the same text. Yet, when presented with that opportunity more than four years after The Patriot Joe Morton first appeared in print, I looked back over who made this book possible, what went into the words on this page, and I realize again the touch of insanity it takes for a writer to sit down and write a novel. In spite of the author"s work, a book is as much a collaborative effort as a well-performed symphony. The composer pens the music and, occasionally, conducts its premier. More times than not, though, someone else conducts—a new artist. And in no case can a composer perform all parts of a symphony himself. There are dozens of musicians—flutists, trombonists, percussionists, even several individuals devoted to the maligned Fren
