Franklin - My Wife Wants You to Know Im Happily Married

First to my patient, supportive family, many of whom have found themselves on the pages of this book, but none more often than my wife, Melissa, and our three boys, Callan, Nolan, and Ian. They are the bright center of everything. I also thank my parents, Rod and DeAnn; my siblings, Krysti, Sherri, Joshua, Misha, Jason, and Tom; and my in-laws, Mike, Cristi, Amy, Caleb, Aubrey, Ross, Natalie, and Chad.

I am likewise indebted to many friends and mentors for their example and writing advice: Patrick Madden, Lance Larsen, Doug Thayer, Dinty W. Moore, Joan Connor, Jill Patterson, Dennis Covington, Kyle Minor, and too many classmates to list. I must also thank those who appear on these pages in pseudonymthose from my past who have the right to remain there if they wish. These are my stories, and I imagine they have theirs.

I could not have completed this collection without generous support from the English Department and College of Humanities at Brigham Young University; the English Department and Graduate School at Ohio University; and the Provosts Office, Graduate School, and English Department at Texas Tech University. Im particularly grateful to the administrators of the AT&T Chancellors Fellowship at Texas Tech for their generous funding during my PhD program, where I completed many of the essays in this book.

I would also like to thank the editors of the following publications where my essays originally appeared:

The Lifespan of a Kiss first appeared in Gettysburg Review 26.2 (Summer 2013).

Grand Theft Auto: Athens, Ohio, Edition first appeared in the Normal School 1.7 (Fall 2011).

In Their Ears and on Their Tongues first appeared in American Literary Review 12.2 (2011).

Climbing Shingle Mill Peak and How to Be a T-Ball Parent first appeared in Sport Literate 8.2 (Fall 2013) and 7.2 (March 2012), respectively.

On Haptics, Hyperrealism, and My Fathers Year in Prison first appeared in the Pinch 33.1 (Spring 2013).

Call Me Joey first appeared in Waccamaw (Fall 2010).

Houseguest first appeared in Mid-American Review 35.1 (December 2014).

Language Lust first appeared in Florida Review 35.2 (2010).

Working at Wendys was the grand-prize-winning essay in Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers, edited by Matt Kellogg and Jillian Quint, and originally published in 2006. Reprinted by arrangement with Random House, Inc.

Finally, the three haiku appearing in the last chapter of this book are from The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bash, Buson, Issa and Other Poets, translated by Sam Hamill, 1995 by Sam Hamill. Reprinted by arrangement with The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Shambhala Publications Inc., Boston MA . www.shambhala.com.