ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEEP FRIED is the result of many acts of kindness by the fiercest crew in the game.

Extra credit goes to Charlotte Gordon and Connie Rothwell who said years ago that I could pull it off. Hug your teachers.

Carole Buggé, Matt De La Pena, and Alex Steele of Gotham Writers Workshop taught me my craft. If you sign up, tell them Thomas Nesbit sent you. Can’t beat their prices with a stick!

So many friends volunteered to read drafts, excerpts, even the whole beast! Let us praise these generous souls – Stefanie Alaimo, Jacqueline Basha, Lynn Chin, Jon Gingerich, K. Ross Hoffman, Christine Hutchison-Jones, Amalia Jiva, Katrina Lacey, Jane McIntosh, Sujay Pathak, Gina Quaranto, Michelle Roberts, Phil Santo, and Tom Stein.

A few went beyond the call of duty, devoting untold hours to helping me revise DEEP FRIED: Michael Abramson, Barbara Allman, Thomas F. Cook, and Carrie Ann Wharton. The Angelika Group shall survive the diaspora!

I rarely accomplish great things without thinking fondly of Christoph Bärenreuter, Thomas D. Carroll, Ruben Inion, Si-Phi Katzenberger, Justin Steinberg, and Meg Toth.

Through her encouragement, Alyssa Timin helped me get through the earliest drafts. Green mountains are always walking.

Jon Yanovsky – marketeer extraordinaire – generously offered great insight, kept my ideas in check, and navigated the wild world of Mobipocket on my behalf. Meet you at the Dike, fewl!