A Note to the Reader
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I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading this story. As an independent author, getting my name out to build an audience is one of the biggest priorities on any given day. If you enjoyed this story and are looking forward to reading more, let someone know – post it on Amazon, on your blog, if you have one, on Goodreads.com, place it in a quick Facebook status or Tweet with a link to the page of whatever outlet you purchased it from (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, etc). Good reviews inspire people to take a chance on a new author – like me. And we new authors can use all the help we can get.
Thanks again for your time.
Acknowledgments
Whenever I put one of these books out, I’m always afraid I’m going to mess it up by failing to mention someone who deserves it. Writing the book may be a solitary effort, done in a locked room after chaining myself to the keyboard, but the state it comes out in is one that is totally unfit for print, a disaster of epic proportions filled with grammatical errors, misspellings and failures of continuity both minute and massive. To my editorial squad of beta readers, I give thanks:
Shannon Garza, for not only fixing the grammar and spelling, but helping me to improve flow and clarity, and keeping Sienna on the correct emotional keel.
Robin McDermott for letting me know when I was getting too “wordy.” Or as I would put it before she corrected it, “diffuse.” She also caught lots of other errors, but this is what I get the biggest kick out of, reading her notes.
Calvin Sams always does a readthrough and provides notes, and this time is no different. Thanks, Calvin, for keeping an eye out for me!
Damarra Atkins focused on the geek aspects, as she is well attuned to geek culture and managed to even pick up on some of the more obscure references in the manuscript. And that is why I have left them in; so long as one person gets them, they stay.
Debra Wesley once more kept an eye on the technical aspects of the manuscript, letting me know when things don’t quite work the way I think they do. I know I write fantasy, but that’s no excuse for a complete departure from any sort of reality, and Deb keeps these books grounded nicely.
And what can I say about Heather Rodefer that hasn’t already been said? She’s the nicest Packer fan I’ve ever encountered, and I mean that in as complimentary a fashion as possible coming from a Minnesotan to a Wisconsinite. She is the error correction patrol, the final authority when it comes to mistakes in the manuscript. Without her, I shudder to think what horror I would be producing, and I know it would not be fit for public consumption.
Once again the cover of this work has been created by the excellent Karri Klawiter of Artbykarri.com, who I can’t say enough nice things about. She’s great to work with and always seems to come up with a fantastic idea for the covers.
The final editing duties were handled once more by Nicholas J. Ambrose of everything-indie.com. In addition to being a superb Halo player he can also fix a manuscript in record time, then make it beautifully presentable in every e-format known to humanity. And all this just weeks after Halo 4 came out – this makes him quite the wonder.
Last of all, it seems appropriate that in a book titled Family that I take an extra moment to thank mine. My extended family has been ridiculously supportive of my career, far beyond what I could have expected and miles better than what I’ve heard of other authors in similar situations. Thank you all.
Also, thanks to my mom and dad, and my kids, who have given me both the tools and the reason to use them in this field of endeavor I have chosen.
I’ve heard it put in better terms than mine that “faith is the evidence of things not seen.” My wife had faith in me when there was literally nothing to see, and believed in me enough to back my crazy play to be an independent author back when it made zero sense to anyone but me. For that (and much more), I am eternally grateful.
About the Author
Robert J. Crane was born and raised on Florida’s Space Coast before moving to the upper midwest in search of cooler climates and more palatable beer. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in English Creative Writing. He worked for a year as a substitute teacher and worked in the financial services field for seven years while writing in his spare time. He makes his home in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.