After being born at an early age, I made it through the K-12 educational system (though I didn't like it). From there, I went on to pick up a graduate degree or two, travel a bit in the U.S. and other countries, and become a writer, among other occupations (all of them legal—cross my heart!). For the background of this book, though, one of the most important things about me is that I've been a lifelong admirer of strong, brave heroines who face life without flinching, and especially of kickbutt heroines: ladies who can swing a sword, handle a gun, or throw a punch; who can go toe-to-toe with a villain, look him (or her) right in the eye, and dish out justice. Growing up, I was a big fan of the ladies of Charlie's Angels and The Avengers (and before that of the comic-book adventures of Supergirl); and over the years I discovered other heroines in this mold, onscreen and in print. It's my great privilege to be married to the world's most beautiful and sexy woman, who leaps tall buildings with a single bound, catches bullets with her teeth, outruns speeding locomotives, and takes down a bad guy or two every day. (All right, she doesn't really do any of that stuff—but in my estimation, she could!) Some of her qualities went into each one of the heroines of the stories in the SGS collection, if it's only her good heart and fighting spirit; in its way, the book is my homage to her, and to all the real-life heroines out there, noticed or unnoticed. So stand tall, ladies; us guys salute you!