Besides being a great law professor and delightful colleague, Browning Jeffries is a born editor. I knew she was an expert on writing, but her immense feel for subtlety and story nuance proved a blessing and paid huge dividends in the improvement of the narrative. Much like she has done with her writing students for over a decade now, Browning sent me back to the drafting table with invaluable feedback that forced me to confront some of the weaker parts of the work. Her suggestions were universally spot on and made for a better, tighter story. Her fingerprints are all over The Murder of Sara Barton.
Tom Lacy’s real world experience as a trial lawyer was an immense help to my attempts to present the courtroom scenes with a reasonable degree of realism. Tom also made a key contribution to the story. His vigorous pushback on one particular plot point led me to reconsider a narrative element I had considered neatly wrapped up. The solution to the issue Tom raised turned into one of my favorite passages of the entire book. He is a great friend.
Joanna Apolinsky is a proofreading savant whose review of a late draft helped to clean up the final product. She even pulled up the menu from The Varsity to ensure that I had spelled “chili dogs” correctly. (I hadn’t.) Joanna also provided two story observations that immediately made their way into the novel. I’m proud to call her a colleague.
The unconditional love and support of my parents, Jim and Peggy McMillian, has been a constant throughout my life. I am a first-generation college kid who owes his success to the sacrifices made by my parents to send me to the University of North Carolina, the London School of Economics, and the University of Georgia School of Law. My mom loves to read, and I’m proud that she can now read a novel written by her son. Sadly, my dad passed away before he had that chance. I miss him every day.
Writing is a lonely endeavor and the biggest thanks of all goes to my wife Carla for putting up with me over the years that I worked on this project. Authors are notoriously mercurial, and she tolerated me with great grace. Carla also made great contributions to the development of the story. After reading an early draft, her feedback led me to excise a number of story elements that dragged down the narrative. The finished product reflects her influence, and I’m a lucky man to have been married to her for over two decades now.
Finally, many thanks to my team at Bond Publishing for their encouragement and support—especially James and Emily.
All mistakes are mine alone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lance McMillian is a recovering lawyer who gave up the courtroom for the classroom. For over a decade, he has taught Constitutional Law and Torts to future lawyers at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Lance is married to Justice Carla Wong McMillian of the Georgia Supreme Court. The Murder of Sara Barton is his debut novel.
Lance loves to hear from his readers. You can connect with him via email ([email protected]), Twitter (@LanceMcMillian), or Facebook (fb.me/LanceBooks).
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