Acknowledgments

Anyone who writes a book will tell you it’s a lot of work, and they’re right. It’s been a journey just to get to a point where I could write a book on anything, and writing itself has been an extremely rewarding experience. You wouldn’t be reading this if it weren’t for the love and support of many people throughout my life who have encouraged me to try new things, picked me up when I’ve stumbled, and given me the confidence to keep innovating.

To start, there have been my teachers through the years who noticed my love of writing and encouraged me to keep at it: my fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Rosati, who first noticed my love of writing; my seventh-grade English teacher and tennis coach, Mr. Nolan, who gave me the opportunity to continue working on my creative skills; and my tenth-grade English teacher, Ms. Kirchner, who encouraged me to publish my work. My college professors Sheila Silver, Christa Erickson, Perry Goldstein, and Daniel Weymouth all encouraged my creativity and put me on a path that combined my technical and creative abilities.

A special thank you goes out to my parents, Ward and Irene Davis, who have always stood by me and encouraged me to be myself. They gave me the freedom to grow and encouraged my efforts no matter how crazy they have been.

I’m grateful also to my lovely wife, Heather, who tolerated my long nights and weekends of typing and gave me the encouragement to keep going.