The conversation between Leccy and his lawyer, Tommy McGregor, about Nathaniel’s birth certificate is accurate at the time of writing.
All other flaws are mine alone.
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Acknowledgements
Writing a novel is mostly a solitary undertaking, but a writer needs help along the way to the title’s birth. So, in no particular order:
The author C. M. Taylor mentored me during the final stages of drafting and helped me keep focus on the story.
Many thanks also, to all the editors, book doctors, agents and publishers that Harry Bingham, CEO of Jericho Writers summoned to the stage at the numerous Festivals of Writing I attended in York. I wasn’t the brightest of students, but enough mud stuck to the wall.
Thanks to “Big Jim” for his honest review of an early revision of the story – and for his insight of the Scots legal system. Afterward, I embarked on a re-write which eventually surfaced the story you have just read. I commend to tender writers the benefits of beta-readers as a method of shaking the deadwood from your gnarly tree well before publication.
Thanks to my editor, Abby Parsons, for her skill, dedication and points of order when my prose got a bit too colloquial.
Thanks also to Cherie Chapman for her wonderful cover design.
Snippets from two song lyrics appear at a critical point in the story.
All the Girls Love Alice, ©copyright Elton John and Bernie Taupin, from the 1973 vinyl double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Awaiting permission.
Matchmaker Matchmaker, by Sheldon Harnick and Lewis Bock Jerrold. ©Jerry Bock Enterprises, Trio Music Co., INC. From the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof. Awaiting permission.
Finally, to the unsung heroes who supported me through long days and longer nights. To Ruth, who encouraged me with motivation, love and coffee from the furthest reaches of the garden.
To my daughters, Sarah Hughes and Kirsty Wilson, for just being there, for helping me not talk about writing stories during the dark days of pandemic – and at all other times.
To dogs, Angus, Betsy and Sam, and to cats JB (now deceased) and Jeff all of whom can’t write and only care about where their next ball is coming from. This title is dedicated to my grandchildren, Boyd and Lexi Hughes, who are too young to read the story anyway.
Wilson B, February 2021.
Edinburgh
About the Author
I live in Edinburgh, Scotland and have been writing novels for the past nine years.
You can connect with me on:
https://wilsonsmillie.com
https://twitter.com/WilsonSmillie
https://www.facebook.com/wilson.smillie
Also by Wilson B Smillie
A Wife Worth Dying For
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A Wife Worth Dying For Page 34