With my first three books, I felt a bit sad at the thought that my special thanks section might not come to the attention of some of the people mentioned in it. So with Firmament: Machiavellian I had the brilliant (If I do say so myself) idea to post the special thanks on my blog, so that even those who don’t get around to reading the book could know just how much I appreciated everyone’s help and support. If anything, this is even more important in Implant because there have been so many people so strongly involved all along the way. So, for your reading pleasure, here is the special thanks section of Implant.



More than any of my other novels, Implant has been a group effort. I originally wrote the story using the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum, so I have to thank Daniel and Carrol Schwabauer for putting that amazing program together, and for their support of me and so many other young writers. But I didn’t come upon the curriculum myself–my mother found it at a homeschool convention, and she and my dad bought it for us. I didn’t go through the curriculum myself, either. I did it with my sisters Hope and Faith, and they, along with my sister Patience and my brother Jacob listened as I read the snippets of the first draft aloud. They weren’t the only ones to read the first draft–my beloved Aubrey Hansen, also known affectionately as Leah, read it when it was full of holes and I’d left all the exposition out. Then she, along with her husband Joel Greene over at Penoaks Publishing, did the beautiful formatting you see before you.

But there’s more to a book than a first draft and a layout–there’s beta reading, for example. Elsa Gustafsson, Jonathan Garner, Joel Parisi, and Jeremiah Stiles all did that, and gave me their much-valued input. But Joel also did some editing on the story, especially when it came to weaponry, and Jeremiah edited the whole thing, and made me laugh a lot in the process. Then there’s the drop-down-dead gorgeous cover, designed by my sister Patience over at The Brightness Project. Add to that moral support from my brothers Noah, Adam, Elijah, and Levi, a special inspirational song from Tanner Enloe, and a lot of poking from the likes of Timothy Miegs, Katie Erickson, and Morgan Huneke, and you have the book that is now before you.

There’s more to it, of course–there’s all the years of writing courses and support from my parents, there’s all the other people who have contributed to my writing journey along the way, and there’s God, who gave me my imagination and abilities in the first place. But if I were to write down the name of every single person who has had an impact on this book–it would add a whole other chapter.

So thank you, everyone who helped. I hope you’re as proud of your work as I am.