Leaving Independence (37 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It’s a sunny day in late summer. As I write in my journal I am so overwhelmed with gratitude that my heart expands like a balloon that’s been filled with a sudden burst of air.

For thirty years I held the dream of writing a novel close to my chest, revealing it to few, thinking the task too hard and myself too incapable. Five years ago I dusted off one of my ideas and began working on it . . . trying one more time. Were it not for Matt Hearn following God’s leading to introduce me to Dana Chamblee Carpenter, my friend and writing critique partner, I might have lost heart again. But Dana kept me accountable, kept me working, and pushed me to attend the writer’s conference that led to me signing with my agent.

A simple thank-you is insufficient to the depth of gratitude I feel for her, but I offer it all the same.

Others who believed in my ability to produce a book long before I believed in it myself include my mother, my husband, my two daughters, my friends Sue and Doug, and a host of other supporters and encouragers.

My mother, Joan, has been a steady force in my life—she is the woman who planted and watered my love of words by reading us quality books when my brothers and I were young.

My husband, Stan, believes in what he believes in with his whole heart. To hear him tell it, I deserve a Pulitzer.

My youngest, Shelby, was like a breath of the purest air to my writing aspirations and was a staunch supporter from early in the dusting-off stages. And Jordan, who doesn’t compliment lightly, said Hoke was hot.

My friend Sue Richardson was one of the first to fan the flames of my writing dreams.

Doug Bates invited me on his radio program one Christmas when I wrote for a small-town newspaper. He passionately loves words, people, universities, and God, and he quotes poetry when I need encouragement.

That host of others I mentioned includes three friends who I am sorry to say didn’t live long enough to read my finished product. (Chris, Ellen, and Donna, I can’t wait to tell you all about it when I see you again.)

Thank you, Jennifer Fisher, for your editing help as I figured out how to tell a story. Thank you, Jessie Kirkland, for believing in me and serving as my agent. Thank you, Erin Calligan Mooney at Amazon Publishing, for seeing this story’s potential. Thank you, Shari MacDonald Strong, for serving as my editor—what a pleasant experience you made it! Thank you, Waterfall Press team, for helping me get Hoke and Abigail into the hands of readers.

To borrow from Donne, no writer is an island; we are all attached to a continent, part of the main. I now can appreciate how many talented individuals it takes to bring a book to fruition, and am deeply grateful for every moment of time and piece of input offered.

Writers are sensitive souls, seeking to let words flow in answer to a burn that can feel like a curse. Nothing soothes me . . . and perhaps you . . . quite like words. I am indebted to every writer who has strung them together well, for they have taught me about myself and about life.

I pray my own words do a little of the same for others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo © 2015 Shelby M’lynn Mick

Leaving Independence
is Leanne Wood Smith’s first historical novel. In addition to writing, she teaches for a university in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and son-in-law. Leanne believes that when something calls to you, you should journey toward it. Visit her website at
www.leannewsmith.com
for inspiration in pursuing personal and career-related dreams.