In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(106)

To the extent there are any mistakes with respect to police procedure in this novel, those mistakes are mine and mine alone. In the interests of telling a story, and keeping it entertaining, I have condensed certain timelines, such as the time it takes to have DNA analyzed.

Thanks to Meg Ruley, Rebecca Scherer, and the team at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. They are literary agents extraordinaire. They have supported my work all over the world, and we’ve had fun together in New York, Seattle, Paris, and Oslo. I’m thinking an Italian book festival should be next on the list, once this pandemic has left the country of my heritage. Thanks for all your hard work negotiating all the contracts, providing me with advice on my career, guiding me through Hollywood, watching over my backlist, and being such kind human beings.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing. This is the twelfth book I’ve written for them, and they have made each one better with their edits and suggestions. They have sold and promoted me and my novels all over the world, and I have had the pleasure of meeting the Amazon Publishing teams from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. These are hardworking people who somehow make hard work a lot of fun. What they do best is promote and sell my novels, and for that I am so very grateful. During this time of sheltering in place and social distancing, they have come up with creative new ways to keep me in contact with readers through fun videos my family and I have enjoyed making.

Thanks to Sarah Shaw, author relations, who does such a terrific job celebrating my milestones. Thanks to Sean Baker, head of production; Laura Barrett, production manager; and Oisin O’Malley, art director. It’s getting redundant, I know, but I love the covers and the titles of each of my novels. I am always amazed at the ways you take care of me. Thanks to Dennelle Catlett, Amazon Publishing PR, for all the work promoting me and my novels. Dennelle is always there, always available when I call or send an email with a need or a request. She actively promotes me, helps me to help charitable organizations, and makes my travel easy. Thanks to the marketing team, Lindsey Bragg, Kyla Pigoni, and Erin Calligan Mooney, for all their dedicated work and new ideas to help me build my author platform. I hope they never stop asking, because they make each new idea a great experience. Thanks to publisher Mikyla Bruder, associate publisher Hai-Yen Mura, and Jeff Belle, vice president of Amazon Publishing, for creating a team dedicated to their jobs and allowing me to be a part of it.

This past year, when sales of my Amazon novels surpassed five million, they threw a party for me, and I had the chance to tell them in person how much I appreciated all they have done for me. I am sincerely grateful, and even more amazed by the additional million readers we have now reached.

I am especially grateful to Thomas & Mercer’s editorial director, Gracie Doyle. Gracie helps me find new ideas and new ways of telling stories. She pushes me to take stories to a depth I hadn’t initially considered. We’ve had a lot of fun at author events, and I hope we will do so again in the near future.

Thank you to Charlotte Herscher, developmental editor. All of my books with Amazon Publishing have been edited by Charlotte—from police procedurals to legal thrillers, espionage thrillers, and literary novels, and she never ceases to amaze me with how quickly she picks up the story line and works to make it as good as it can possibly be. Thanks to Scott Calamar, copyeditor, whom I desperately need. Grammar has never been my strength, so there is usually a lot to do.

Thanks to Tami Taylor, who runs my website, creates my newsletters, and creates some of my foreign-language book covers. Thanks to Pam Binder and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association for their support.

Thanks to all of you tireless readers, for finding my novels and for your incredible support of my work all over the world. Hearing from readers is a blessing, and I enjoy each email.

Thanks to my mother and father for a wonderful childhood and for teaching me to reach for the stars, then to work my butt off to touch them. I couldn’t think of two better role models.

Thank you to my wife, Cristina, for all her love and support, and thanks to my two children, Joe and Catherine, who have started to read my novels, which makes me so very proud.

I couldn’t do this without all of you, nor would I want to.