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Preface: This is a story about becoming. It’s also a story about learning how to love, both others and yourself. As our heroine progresses through the most tumultuous year of her life, she must deal with a variety of challenges both ageless and modern. Some of these challenges are mundane but real, others are more unusual, difficult, and intense. As she deals with each challenge, she learns an important lesson not just about being a woman, but about being a person, a full-fledged adult person who can make her own way in the world.
The characters are all fictional, except for Thornton, who was my boss and did a number of the things described here.
Although this is not a story about sex, it is a story for adults because it does contain scenes of explicit sexuality. I believe each of these scenes is an important part of the story and that they help us to understand our main characters. There is no sexual violence or gratuitous sex. Because this is the story of a young adult transsexual discovering herself, there is sex between people of the same and opposite sexes (although only one at a time). This is therefore X-rated.
Some readers will find the first part of the story a little rough or perhaps edging into themes they would prefer not to read about. But if you get through that I believe you thoroughly enjoy the rest.
Acknowledgements: Writing is hard work, but being able to share that effort with others makes it more like a joy. So I would like to thank the people who helped me. Specifically I’d like to start by thanking Elaine, to whom I owe my deepest appreciation for being a wonderfully supportive and insightful friend and editor. I would like thank Lesley, who undertook the usually thankless task of proofreading much of this very long story, and who I repeatedly undermined by going back and rewriting parts she had already finished. Ellen Hayes and I would like to thank Ellen Hayes for helping me keep my eye on my target, including a crucial observation about the last part of the story that finally allowed me bring it to life, instead of making it a parody. Vickie Tern read an early version or this story (and then parts of a later one) and identified many of the discrepancies and inconsistencies that drive readers crazy. More importantly, however, she identified some of the key strong points so I could build on them. Finally, I’d like to thank Dawn DeWinter, who worked hard to help me understand what was important and what was not in the early parts of the story.
Thanks girls
Kelly Ann