Treason Keep

Acknowledgments

My life is many things, but boring isn’t one of them. Despite a wedding, a birth, a book launch, two house moves, a new business and a few other rather traumatic incidents that I would rather not relive, this book was written in considerably less time than Medalon.

As always, there are the usual suspects who deserve my thanks for their unswerving faith and their high tolerance levels in putting up with me during the creation of this work. In particular, I would like to thank my children, Amanda, TJ and David for their support and for filling my life with so many distractions that I have, though sheer necessity, mastered the art of focussing on writing to the exclusion of all else. They will readily attest to this fact, although they may be surprised how often I’ve heard them lament to each other “don’t bother asking her anything, she’s writing”.

I would like to thank Stephanie Smith, Darian Causby and Midge McCall, and all the other people at HarperCollins who I have never met but who have contributed to this series, along with Lyn Tranter and Cathy Perkins at Australian Literary Management and also Sarah Endacott. Stephanie Pui-Mun Law has once again created an awesome cover and I remain one of her most ardent fans.

With my dying breath, I will be thanking Harshini Bhoola for her never-ending enthusiasm and her constant re-reading of the manuscripts, and it still won’t repay her. Thanks also to my good friend Peter Jackson for encouraging me to take a step into the unknown and my favourite sycophants, Toni-Maree and John Elferink MLA for helping me keep my feet on the ground while my head was in the clouds.