A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe
Page 100
Acknowledgements
As the Meraladhza would say: taftika allei aiya. Thank you from my heart.
I am indebted to my wife, Amanda, who has put up with my crazy ideas, incomplete thoughts, and the frequent hiding in Spare Oom to write, and offering much-needed feedback during post-production. You’ve been the anchor I’ve always needed, and given me the drive to get things done to the best of my ability. Allei aiya, shadhisi. I love you!
I would like to give my deepest thanks to the many, many people — friends, family, coworkers, and fellow writers — who have assisted me, heard me out, or simply cheered me on as the Mendaihu Universe evolved over the course of two decades. There are far too many names to mention here, though I must definitely thank all my former co-workers at the record store and the candle warehouse, all of whom kept me moving ever forward when I began this series. It was a pleasure working with all of you during the day, and it kept me going when I wrote at night. Special thanks to Bruce Pendergast, who listened to all my weird plot ideas for nearly five years running, and never complained once! Here you go, man. It’s finally done!
Thanks to my family, who put up with my late night writing sessions in the Belfry for ten years, and with all the books and music that piled up during that time. Special thanks to my dad, Richard, who supplied me with many spiritual and religious reference books when I needed them for this series.
To Judith Tarr: many thanks to you for the wise words and relentless critiquing of my manuscripts over the last few years. Those harsh words were exactly what I needed to get even better at this crazy business of ours. To Kate Elliott: thank you for the friendship and the inspiration; it’s always a pleasure talking with you!
To Beth, who saw a very early version of this, and taught me many things about spirituality: I thank you — Peace, Love and Light to you. To Janice: we’re all in this together, us writers who love our craft even when it’s driving us crazy. Thanks for the beta reading and the friendship, and I wish you luck on your own wonderful stories! To Allison: thanks for being one of my first fans and cheering me on all this time, hope you like the final results! To Dae: my ‘little sis’ and one hell of a great gal, thanks for being awesome and cool.
Big props to Holly Lisle, Lazette Gifford and the members of the Forward Motion online community, past and present; a great bunch of guys and gals from all corners of the world and levels of profession who love to write, chat, and cheer each other on. I thank all of you for your wonderful assistance and friendship over the years. The Mendaihu Universe owes a large debt to many of you.
Lastly, as I am an obsessive music listener and collector, I would like to thank my enablers: the record stores, online retailers, and especially all the musicians whose recordings they sell, as well as all the radio and internet stations that play them, for supplying me with an unending cornucopia of sounds. Your music has given me inspiration and a soundtrack to my writing and my life, and it wouldn’t be the same without you.
About the Author
Jon Chaisson started writing science fiction in a tiny apartment in Boston after watching way too much anime and consuming most of the nearby public library’s Japanese SF section. He then spent nearly a decade in a cool basement in central Massachusetts, working on the Mendaihu Universe. He now lives in San Francisco with his wife Amanda, several books, a few guitars, and a ridiculously large music collection.
I’m online at these fine establishments. Come and say hello!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joncwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jon.chaisson.7
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joncwriter/
Walk in Silence, my music blog: https://jonchaisson.com
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/JonChaisson