The Second Blind Son by Amy Harmon

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wrote this book in the first six months of a global pandemic, and it informed the way the story unfolded. I keenly felt the desperation and hopelessness of being trapped in a world and circumstances I had no control over. When Hod pleads with Ghisla over and over to not give up, I was really talking to myself. Writing books and meeting deadlines always feels like climbing Everest to me. I love it, I’m challenged by it, but it’s hard. It’s so hard every single time. But oddly, this time around, in the midst of so much uncertainty, it became less so. Maybe it was because I put the “hard” in its proper perspective. The truth is, I’m ridiculously blessed to be able to write stories for a living, and each time I sit down at the computer to write, I am reminded of just how lucky I am. My gratitude for that truth is what I most want to express.

Of course I also want to thank my agent, Jane Dystel, and my beta reader/editor Karey White, as well as my 47 North and Amazon Publishing team—Adrienne Procaccini and Jenna Free most of all. I’ve worked with Jenna on the developmental edit for six books now, and she always makes my stories better without dispiriting me in the process. A real talent, that. My continual thanks to Tamara Debbaut Bianco, my assistant, who is faithful and steady and doesn’t seem to mind my tendency to shut out the world for long intervals. She is simply there when I need her, and I am grateful.

And for you, dear reader, I am also grateful. Thank you.