The idea for The Waking came while I was attending a conference about the brain in Jamaica. I was led there by the science writer and friend, Rita Carter, whose excellent book Mapping the Mind became my landscape for many months. While there I met the neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick, whose fertile imagination was able to take the leap into fiction and he came up with many ideas that I gratefully plundered. Firstdraft red-pen markers who made an indelible impression are Paul Reizin, Helen Fielding, Billie Morton, David Hirst, Gary Humphreys, Harry Leech and Clare Alexander. The professionals who helped along the way are Dr Victor Amira and Dr David Drake. Much-needed enthusiasm and encouragement came from Suzan Crowley, Robin Maxwell, Cameron Spencer and the late Daz Spence.