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The truth about balloons is that you’re not supposed to let go of them, because they don’t actually float off to Heaven, they just run out of helium and come back down and damage the environment. An animal could choke on them, or they could cause pollution in the river. Uncle Greg taught me this. You’re supposed to pop them and put them in the garbage.
I let go of my handful and watch the orange and white turn into specks in the sky and then disappear.
This time, I’ll make an exception.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Gratitude sprinkles to everyone who helped this novel grow from idea to story (in no particular order):
The staff at NeWest Press—my agent, editor, Anne Nothof; general manager, Matt Bowes; book designer, Kate Hargreaves; and marketing and production coordinator, Claire Kelly.
Those who read early drafts and provided feedback along the way—Carrie Mumford, Rachelle Pinnow, Stefanie Barton, Tania Jacobs, Meghan Doraty, Henry Campbell, Nicole Blaszczak, Robin van Eck, Andrew Wilmot, Cecilia Ekbäck; Nicole Petrowski and Topher McFarlane Palumbo.
My early writing instructors—Suzette Mayr, Nicole MarkotiĆ and Helen Humphreys.
Stefanie Barton, friend/photographer extraordinare (as evidenced by author photo).
And a bunch of other people I love/who supported my writing career—my husband, David Gishler; Alyssa Adair; Ashlee Ellerbruch Young; Elena Meekhoff; my parents; Sue McDermott Taylor; Dave Taylor; Darby and Flynn Taylor; Katie Hyde; John Siddons; Tyler Hellard; Felicia Zuniga; Cherinne Banister; Ashley Sperling; Nicole Ko; Naomi Lewis; and Dwayne Clayden.
Special thank you to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants for funding the writing and revision of this novel.
PHOTO: STEFANIE BARTON
THEANNA BISCHOFF is a novelist from Calgary, Alberta. Her first novel, Cleavage (NeWest Press, 2008), was shortlisted for both the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Canada/the Caribbean), and the 2009 Re-Lit Awards. Her second novel, Swallow (NeWest Press, 2012), was shortlisted for the 2013 City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize. Theanna holds a Concentration in Creative Writing from the University of Calgary (2006) and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (2012).