Acknowledgements
Writing a novel is a solitary process but nevertheless one that requires the author to ask much of many people.
I could not have indulged in the journey without the constant support and encouragement of my wife, Gail. From day one, she has been there as a sounding board for ideas, a reviewer of drafts and an enthusiastic supporter of the project. The book is dedicated to her, with love.
I am also eternally grateful to many others who have helped me on my way. In the early days, my old friend and colleague, Dr Bob Bramley CBE, former Chief Scientist of the UK Forensic Science Service and the first Custodian of the UK National DNA Database, helped me to get my head round DNA and legal procedures. Then, much later, he read through the entire book and provided me not only with very positive feedback on the story, but also put me straight on many DNA-related matters. I am indebted to him, but I will say at this point that I didn’t always take his advice and therefore any deviations in the story from what might happen in the real world are entirely my responsibility.
Once the first draft was finished, I prevailed upon my good friends Anne Mensini Foster and Sanford Foster who diligently dissected the grammar and spelling on every page and gave me huge and wonderful feedback. Anne also put me straight on a number of art-related matters. They both worked tirelessly, devoting many hours to the task. Simple words cannot express my gratitude to them.
Thanks for editing, and for very positive comments, are also due to my son-in-law, Simon O’Reilly – the fastest copy editor in the East!
The first few chapters were read in a draft form by Carol Jessop in Mtwapa, Mombasa, and Cedric Harben in Città di Castello, Italy. Thanks to both for encouragement at an early stage, and thanks also to Cedric for the loan of James R. Banker’s fascinating book: The Culture of San Sepolcro during the Youth of Piero Della Francesca, Pub: University of Michigan Press.
Several others have kindly read through the book in draft form and all were very positive in their comments. Thanks go to Sian Bramley; my sister, Jill Pemberton; Sarah Barnes; my daughter, Lea Woodward; son-in-law, Jonathan Woodward; and Jill Harrison. Jill Harrison also wore her Art History academic’s hat as she read it. Thanks, Jill, for our discussions and your input.
My daughter, Lea, and my son, Daniel, have both drawn on their considerable business and marketing expertise to help me get the book out there, and thanks to Lea’s computing skills and her husband Jonathan’s design talents, I also now have a great website. It was also through Lea that I was introduced to Joanna Penn of www.thecreativepenn.com. After an hour’s very fruitful consultation, Joanna convinced me what several others had already tried to tell me: less is more! The result is this considerably reduced and much tighter version of the original draft.
The cover design is by Derek Murphy of www.creativindie.com and the final proof-reading was diligently carried out by Linda Davy in Hong Kong.
One of the fun things of writing a book such as Rare Traits is the research. I have mentioned one invaluable book already, but thanks are also due to my good friends Messrs Google, Google Earth and Wikipedia who make it possible to explore almost anywhere from the comfort of whatever desk I am sitting at. Like so many millions of people in the world who daily access their boundless information, I thank their creators for their inspiration.
I have borrowed the names of various friends and family members as the characters were created, in particular, the names of my five grandchildren: Lily, Phoebe, Frank, Digby and Mali. To them I say that I hope if one day you read this book, you will be amused, even though your namesakes in the book are in no way meant to be like you.
Finally, I should like to thank the characters in the book who all came to life for me as they appeared. Some were very strong and virtually took over creating their accounts, kicking me off my chair and taking over the keyboard. I am very attached to all of them and I hope I have done their lives justice.
David George Clarke
Rare Traits is the first part of the Rare Traits Trilogy. News on progress and availability of part 2: Delusional Traits and part 3: MurderousTraits can be found at
www.davidgeorgeclarke.com
Rare Traits (The Rare Traits Trilogy Book I) Page 42