Acknowledgements

I began writing Unsilent Heart in late 2014. It’s now 2026. Many, many people have helped me take the book through four titles and more drafts than I’m willing to admit.

Early guidance came from novelist Eleanor Limprecht, who has published four literary beauties, from Jane Richards, one of six women who writes novels collectively as “Alice Campion”, and from newspaperman (look it up, kids) Bradley Wynne, who occasionally surfaces for lunch between long periods creating vast imaginary worlds.

Next came members of the modesty titled The Best Writing Workshop. They include award-winning YA author Erin Gough, poet and translator Isabelle Li, poet Liz Allen, Mark Riboldi, and Yvonne Edgren. Thanks for the tough love and the beetroot pie.

Structural editing advice came from Deonie Fiford (Sydney), Virginia Lloyd (New York), Jackie Cangro (New York), screenwriter Keri Lee (Los Angeles) and Sydney Morning Herald journalist Tim Elliott (Sydney). If nothing else, Unsilent Heart is a well-traveled manuscript.

My sister-in-law, Brenda O’Neill, and a fellow student-then-lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney, Mark Rossiter, gave ongoing support over multiple years. Special mention to Reedsy editor and champion supporter Rob Casserly. And my deep thanks to mentor Debra Adelaide for the generous quote that graces the cover of my novel.

Dr. Adrian Gillin and Dr. Rachel Buckley provided medical advice. That said, if you recognize liver cancer symptoms in the book, consult a physician, not a novelist.

As I closed in, publishing consultants Benny Agius and Kate Larking steered the ship, copyeditor Sue Copsey refined what I thought was a finished book, Ann Weinstock designed the evocative cover and advocated for the title, and my spouse, Joyce Morgan, sighed with relief.

Lastly, inspiration for the Unsilent Heart character of Bowie came from Lochy, my Border Collie. He died in 2022 before he could read the finished manuscript. Vale, brave Lochy.