Buzz! Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies

This book would have consisted entirely of blank pages had it not been for the guidance and assistance of my agent, editor, and friend Cecelia A. Cancellaro of Word Creative Literary Services. From mentor to editor, to advocate to cheerleader, it’s hard to overstate how valuable Cecelia has been to me. Her unflinching faith, artful strategies, and keen editing eye have made her a powerful partner. She is a literary alchemist.

Special thanks go out to Jennifer Danforth, William Wahlgran, and Spencer Smith for their help in the early days of the manuscript; to Jonna Kwiatokowski for her wonderful learning objectives and student discussion questions; and to coding wizard Jennifer McFadden for making my midnight mumblings and napkin sketches into the magic of the brief sensation- seeking survey on my website.

A hat tip to all the people I interviewed, wrote about, or quoted. There were many who weren’t mentioned specifically in the book but who really helped me to think about high sensation-seeking and who transformed the tables, graphs, and statistics of research studies into the reality of how people live their lives every day. Thank you all for being so generous with your time and allowing me to look into your lives.

The team at Cambridge is truly exceptional. Thanks go to Emily Watton, Grace Morris and especially to my commissioning editor David Repetto whose patience is only exceeded by his encouragement and good nature.

I also want to thank the many scientists whose works are described, cited, and synthesized in this book. I’m especially thankful to Marvin Zuckerman, the father of sensation-seeking.

I’m grateful to Jack Hardy, Debbie Woog, Teddy Ottaviano, Michael McGloin, Susan Ashmore, Sharon Lewis, Jennifer McGee, Molly McGehee, Shira Miller, DJ VanCronkhite and of course my parents, Bill and Eugenia Carter. There are many other people and organizations who have been important in this process. Thank you all for relentless support, encouragement, and reassurance. It absolutely made a difference.

Eve Howard • Ceclia Bolich • Adam Forrester • Shannon O’Daniel • Chris Burrows • Ken Anderson • Douglas Hicks •