Seems there’s always something crazy happening the past few years, and this book had to dodge a lot of angst and problems to get into your hands, so I’m indebted to a lot of people for various chores in that respect. Many thanks to: minions Thea and Eric Maia (Thing One and Thing Two); Nancy Durham and Elisabeth Shipman; the fabulous Cherie Priest; Robin MacPherson; Rhiannon Held, who provided all sorts of information about archaeology in Washington, and the tunnel and seawall projects, as well as beta reading, advising, and being a stellar friend and wonderful writer; Mary Robinette Kowal for writer hang-outs online and encouragement in person even in the face of freakish weather and cross-country moves; Dr. Martha Leigh for medical information; Sally Harding and the whole crew at Cooke International—you guys rock; my long-suffering husband for sticking with me through all this; my totally amazing team at Roc—especially Anne Sowards and Rosanne Romanello—for continuing to make these books such a success; Anton Strout, who made me laugh at Comic Con when I wanted to scream; Paul Goat Allen, who continues to say nice things.
And to my mother-in-law, Sandra Carpenter: Thanks for being here—I love you very much.