Acknowledgments

 

The concept for Escape came to me within hours of finishing the writing of Not My Daughter. That one had been a long haul, with lots of wonderful personal interruptions, like the wedding of my son, but I had been under tremendous work stress and was exhausted. All I wanted at that moment was to get away from my computer, turn off my BlackBerry, and … and escape from anything that required deep thought.

That was in June 2009. And I did chill out for much of the summer while I considered one story idea after another for my next book. But I kept coming back to the theme of our busy, tech-dominated lives and the fantasy of escape. In September, I posted a note on my Facebook page, asking readers where they would go if they were to pick up one day and just disappear—and the response was overwhelming, both in the number of notes and their enthusiasm. Apparently, I was not the only one fantasizing about running away.

That did it. How could I not write a book about this?

So I herewith acknowledge my readers, who were the single most important influence in the writing of this book. I didn’t use outside people for research with Escape, as I’ve done with other of my books. This one came straight from the heart.