Читать книгу The Cord - Stephen W. Robbins - Страница 5

A wise person (one with a long view of the good life) advised people over fifty years old to try something completely new. For me to enter the world of fiction fulfills this midlife benchmark. Outside of long-ago classroom required reading, I can count on one hand the novels I have read. Though my pastoral calling and interests bury me deep in non-fiction, the power of story has diffused a quickening ray in the basement of libraries filled with commentaries, dictionaries, and journals.

I want to thank my family for keeping me on track and cheering me on throughout this novel adventure. Ruth, Elizabeth, and Stephen, thank you for holding my hand as I stumbled into creative writing, a land that you are at home and flourish in. At your request, I do acknowledge that all characters in this story are purely fictitious, and any resemblance is purely coincidental. (As Elizabeth avowed, “Grandma, I am not Anne!”)

I also want to thank the Sparks family and Lori Shanebeck for their constructive encouragement, and Terri Garcia, Stephanie Townsend, Chris Acosta, and my mom (Beverly Robbins) for proofreading earlier drafts of The Cord. Your fresh eyes enhanced the story and saved me much embarrassment. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to Pastors Joel Fairley and Paul Langford. Your ruthless insistence that I finish the story gave me strength to write the hardest line in the book. Thank you!