The Pharos Objective

Acknowledgments

This is the part of the book that I like to think of as the author’s Oscar acceptance speech. It’s our chance (and obligation) to thank everyone who’s ever touched our careers, nurtured our souls, flexed our literary muscles and given us hope that our Olympian-sized dreams might actually have a chance of coming true someday.

And since for more than one reason I can’t go all Jack Palance on you and do a set of one-armed push-ups, I’ll follow the typical tradition and give well-earned thanks to a bevy of folks without whom I’d still be lost in a mountain of rewrites and half-finished dreams:

To Tim Schulte and the Variance team for seeing the potential in my little slush pile submission, and to Shane Thomson for helping improve the work and creating such an excellent final product. To my agent, Hannah Brown-Gordon, for taking a chance on me and jump-starting my career.

To Tim Powers, KD Wentworth and all the classy people at The Writers of the Future organization for all the wisdom they impart. And to Nancy Kress and my hometown writing group heroes at Writers&Books for their endless encouragement.

To my parents, for their unfailing support, advice and inspiration (and all those early-morning emails that begin with, “Here’s a story idea…”). And of course to my wife — my eternal muse and most-appreciated critic. You’re all indispensible.

And finally, a shout-out to the dedicated people at the Sodus Bay Historical Society who run and maintain the Lighthouse Museum at Sodus Point. Thanks for the history lessons, the technical explanations and for patiently answering a myriad of research questions. If one warm summer day you find yourself up that way, grab a delectable cheeseburger at Zoot’s, eat at the picturesque bayfront park, then walk off the calories with a climb to the top of the lighthouse and enjoy the view.

Okay, okay, I hear the orchestra cueing up. Time for me to shut up, exit stage left and let the show begin.