Читать книгу Here Comes the Body - Maria DiRico - Страница 8

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’m grateful to my terrific agent, Doug Grad, who found the perfect home for the Catering Hall Mysteries, as well as the perfect editor, John Scognamilio. Mille grazie to both of you! I couldn’t write this series without the priceless help of Kristen Sagona, senior event planner at Pickwick Gardens Conference Center in Burbank, California. Kristen, thank you for your infinite patience with all my questions and your boundless enthusiasm for this series. And thanks to your wonderful staff as well.

A shout-out to my fabulous partners in crime (writing) at chicksonthecase.com: Lisa Q. Mathews, Mariella Krause, Kellye Garrett, Leslie Karst, Vickie Fee, Cynthia Kuhn, Becky Clark, and Kathy Valenti. A special thank-you to Leslie for a great beta read of this book, as well as to friend and fellow mystery author Nancy Cole Silverman for her insightful notes. Thanks to Sisters in Crime (especially SinCLA), the Guppies, and my pals at SoCalMWA for the inspiration and camaraderie. Kimberly and George Taweel, thank you for letting your beautiful Sphinxy inspire Mia’s kitty, Doorstop. And as always, I’m eternally grateful to my husband, Jer, and daughter, Eliza, for their support and the sacrifices they make for my mystery writing career.

A heartfelt thank-you to my late cousins Ralphy and Pauly for the great events they supervised at Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina, and to all my Italian relatives for the endless engagement parties, weddings, birthdays, Sweet Sixteens, and yes, even funeral luncheons. I will never forget the wonderful times I got to share with you. Ti amo tutti.

And finally, I never could have written this book had I not been lucky enough to cater-waiter for Martha Stewart when she was just launching her meteoric career. If you have an early edition of her first book, Entertaining, you’ll find me standing next to her on page 29. Martha, you inspired me then . . . and you inspire me now.