A Simple Thing (29 page)

Authors: Kathleen McCleary

BOOK: A Simple Thing

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Thanks go to many people: Joel and Margaret Thorsen welcomed me into their lives and their home and made it possible for me to get some sense of what life in a place like Sounder might really be like; I couldn't have written this book without them. Ann Rittenberg, my agent, waited, read, waited some more, read some more, made brilliant suggestions, and finally pulled out of me the book she always believed was in there, even if I didn't. My husband, Paul Benninghoff, worked hard every day and gave me the freedomâand encouragementâto write. I also owe much to Jim Maya, who first showed me the San Juans, and whose love for the islands was contagious. Every one of you is part of this book.

Thanks to Gracie Benninghoff, who read several drafts and made key suggestions, and to Emma Benninghoff, who cheered me on. I love you both like crazy.

Thanks to my mom, Ann McCleary, and to my brother, Tom McCleary, who love and support me through good times and bad, and to the person who singlehandedly sold more copies of my first book than anyone in the world, Dot McCleary.

The pieces of the puzzle didn't quite fit into place until Tessa Woodward, my editor, suggested I write a second point of view. I did, and I'm happier with it than with anything else I've ever written. Thanks, Tessa.

In addition, thanks to the many friends who read early drafts and hold me up, always: Stacy Hennessey, Debbie Alfano, Laura Merrill, Lori Kositch, Kevin and Holly Hess, Paul and Karly Condon, Sarah Flanagan, Anne Krueger, Wally Konrad, and Julia and Wiley Loughran. Thanks to the Fiction Writers' Co-op: I am so happy to be in such good company.

Finally, here's to joy, love, merriment and the incredible gift of grace. Don't know how I got so lucky, but here I am.

About the Author

KATHLEEN
McCLEARY
was born in Michigan, and has lived in Connecticut,
Virginia, Tennessee, New York, and Oregon. Her writing has appeared in the
New York Times, Washington Post, Good Housekeeping,
More,
and other publications. Her first novel,
House and Home,
was published by Hyperion in 2008. In addition to
writing, she has also worked as a bookseller, barista, and bartender. She
attended Williams College, and now teaches as an adjunct professor at American
University in Washington, D.C. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband
and two daughters.

For more information (reading group
guides), please visit www.kathleenmccleary.com

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Also by Kathleen McCleary

House & Home

Credits

Cover design by Mary Schuck

Cover photograph Â© (hammock) Stuart McClymont/Getty Images; (landscape) Feiyuwzhangjie/Shutterstock

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

A SIMPLE THING.
Copyright Â© 2012 by Kathleen McCleary. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-210623-0
EPub Edition Â© AUGUST 2012 ISBN: 9780062106247

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