Final Rights (36 page)

Acknowledgments

No
book is written by the author alone, and this one certainly wasn’t! My initial
interest in writing grew out of the high praise I received from Mrs. Palmer, my
twelfth-grade English teacher, who thought my book report on
Giants in the Earth
far exceeded all expectations. That same
interest was dashed to the ground by an unnamed professor at Miami-Dade Junior
College who had no appreciation at all for the feminist perspective and told me
I should focus on doing something that would earn me a living.

Many story ideas have
lived in my head for years, some for decades, but until now, this is the only
one that has actually been written. I owe that accomplishment largely to my
dear friend Tracy Coates who has believed in Tate Marlowe since I first
introduced her to Tate in 1999. It is also Tracy who told me about National
Novel Writing Month in 2005. My participation led to the birth of
Final Rights
, which then sat
untended for years.

Letting a story lie in fallow ground is familiar
to many writers, especially, I think, those who attempt to produce a finished
piece for the first time. There are all kinds of excuses: I don’t have time, I
have writer’s block, I don’t like what I’ve written, I have great ideas, but I
don’t know how to get them down on paper . . . the list goes on.

I would likely still be stewing in those
excuses if it were not for my extremely good fortune in having found Micki
Cabaniss Eutsler and the staff and editors at Grateful Steps. Over the course
of dozens of meetings, Micki read every word of my story aloud with me sitting
next to her. I saw and heard in the moment her reactions to the characters I
had created and their experiences. Her feedback is the best education I could
have asked for as a new author. Her encouragement and guidance have made this a
much better story than it would ever have been without her.

When I needed answers to questions anchored
in the real world rather than the one I was creating, I called on several
people who were gracious and helpful. The staff at Pack Memorial Library in
Asheville, NC, and Putnam Library in Nashville, MI, provided me with a wealth
of information and memories that have influenced this story. Zoe Rhine and Ann
Wright at Pack Memorial Library helped me obtain the cover photograph. My
research into the workings of real estate in Asheville led me to Annika Brock,
a local attorney, and Devorah Thomas of City Real Estate, a savvy broker and
good friend. Kathryn Scott, architect, helped create the door that sparked Tate’s
interest. Tom Ross, professor of Weather and Climate in the Blue Ridge
Naturalist Program, assisted with the destruction of Harland’s grand monument.

Over the
years of wanting to write, and then writing this book, I’ve had ongoing support
and encouragement from my family, in particular my sister, Linda Frank
Lodovice, and from a cadre of friends including Cheri Britton, Ann Paige,
Kathie Schmidt and the members of my two book clubs.

My heartfelt
thanks to all of those named here and many others who have cheered me on. And
you can expect me to be calling on you as I dive into the next Tate Marlowe
mystery!

Tena
Frank grew up in a series
of small towns in
south central Michigan before venturing off to the big cities. She spent twenty
years in Miami during which time she earned a Master’s degree in Social Work
from Barry University. She completed her doctoral coursework at Columbia
University School of Social Work in New York City and spent 16 years working
with homeless adults on the City streets. After leaving New York, she bummed
around for a year before settling in Asheville NC where she shares her home
with her best canine friend, Coco.
Final Rights
is her first novel.