The Choice

Acknowledgments

Okay, I’ll be honest. It’s sometimes hard for me to write acknowledgments for the simple reason that my life as an author has been blessed with a kind of professional stability that strikes me as somewhat rare in this day and age. When I think back to my earlier novels and reread the acknowledgments in, say, Message in a Bottle or The Rescue, I see names of people with whom I still work today. Not only have I had the same literary agent and editor since I began writing, but I’ve worked with the same publicists, film agent, entertainment attorney, cover designer, and salespeople, and one producer has been responsible for three of the four film adaptations. While it’s wonderful, it also makes me feel like something of a broken record when it comes to thanking these people. Nonetheless, each and every one of them deserves my gratitude.

Of course, I have to begin-as always-with thanking Cat, my wife. We’ve been married eighteen years and have shared quite a life together: five children, eight dogs (at various times), six different residences in three different states, three very sad funerals of various members of my family, twelve novels and another nonfiction work. It’s been a whirlwind since the beginning, and I can’t imagine experiencing any of it with anyone else.

My children-Miles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie, and Savannah-are growing up, slowly but surely, and while I love them dearly, I’m proud of each and every one of them.

Theresa Park, my agent at Park Literary Group, is not only one of my closest friends, but a fantastic one at that. Intelligent, charming, and kind, she’s one of the great blessings of my life, and I’d like to thank her for everything she’s done.

Jamie Raab, my editor at Grand Central Publishing, also deserves my gratitude for all she does. She puts the pencil to the manuscript in hopes of making it the best it can be, and I’m fortunate to have had access to her intuitive wisdom when it comes to novels. More than that, I’m lucky to call her a friend.

Denise DiNovi, the fabulous producer of A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, and Nights in Rodanthe, is my best friend in Hollywood, and I look forward to those times on the film set, simply so we have a chance to visit.

David Young, the new CEO of Grand Central Publishing (well, not exactly new anymore, I suppose), has not only become a friend, but one who deserves my heartfelt thanks, if only because I have the nasty tendency to deliver my manuscripts at the very last possible moment. Sorry about that.

Both Jennifer Romanello and Edna Farley are publicists and friends, and I’ve adored working with them since The Notebook was published in 1996. Thanks for all that you do!

Harvey-Jane Kowal and Sona Vogel, who do the copy-editing, always deserve my thanks for catching the “little errors” that inevitably crop up in my novels.

Howie Sanders and Keya Khayatian at UTA deserve my thanks for the good fortune I’ve had in film adaptations. I appreciate all that both of you do.

Scott Schwimer always watches out for me, and I’ve come to think of him as a friend. Thanks, Scott!

Many thanks to Marty Bowen, the producer responsible for Dear John. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

Thanks again to Flag for another wonderful cover.

And finally, many thanks to Shannon O’Keefe, Abby Koons, Sharon Krassney, David Park, Lynn Harris, and Mark Johnson.