ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I, like most of you, hardly ever read the acknowledgments portion of a book. In the past, when I bought a book, I just wanted to get to the meat of the thing and see what I could drag out of it—either intellectually or entertainment-wise—and didn’t care about what the author thought about those who helped put it all together. Then, of all things, I wrote a book.
Now, I read the acknowledgment of every book I purchase. Why? Because having gone through the trials and tribulations of writing, editing, arguing, planning, researching, rewriting, screaming at a monitor, and restarting the whole thing all over again, I understand why they’re so important. I know what it means when the writer says he or she “couldn’t have done it without fill-in-the-blank.” Trust me, if it’s written there, then the author truly means he or she couldn’t have done it without them. My “fill-in-the-blanks” deserve more than just a mention in an Acknowledgments section because they really did make the book possible, and I most assuredly couldn’t have written it without them, but this will have to do for now.
First off, I’ve got to tip the hat to Tim Green and Stephanie Evans at McGraw-Hill Education. Once again, they provided me the chance to do something I dearly love: talking/teaching about something I have a real passion for. Tim’s incessant desire to drag me into more and more writing projects brought this one to light, and I can’t thank him enough. Hopefully, he can bug others into another project or two, and he’s really going to have to: We still haven’t enjoyed a cold adult beverage together yet.
Although Stephanie didn’t need to beat me as much this go-around (which I know she was looking forward to when I agreed to this project and probably deeply regretted once we started it), she still provided the guidance and governing presence any project of this size needs. If you’ve read the opening to the companion All-in-One CEH book, then you know how much regard I have for her. She’s one in a million, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to work with her, laugh a little, and call her friend.
Lastly, I can’t thank our technical editor, Brad Horton, enough. Brad makes a difficult process—technically scrubbing everything to make sure it’s all in good order—not only bearable, but downright fun. His edits were spot on, and were always designed to make this project the absolute best it could be. But he did it in such a way that I couldn’t wait to read the criticism. I’ve never been the target of biting sarcasm expressed in a SQL query before, and I loved every minute of it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you my friend—you are, without a doubt, the best.
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