Afterlife (25 page)
Authors: Merrie Destefano
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The list of people who have influenced/helped/cheered/cajoled me while writing this book is nearly as long as the book itself. People who helped transform the book into something much better than it was: my amazing agent, Kimberley Cameron; my awesome editors, Diana Gill and Ellen Leach; the brilliant cover designer, Amy Halperin, and illustrator, Gordon Crabb; Will Hinton and the rest of the HarperCollins staffâall of you deserve Warrior status. A heartfelt curtsy to both of my critique groups for performing red-pencil surgery on my behalf several times a month, whether I wanted it or not. Hugs and a round of applause for my husband, Tom, my son, Jesse, and our friend, Brad, for helping me understand the heart and soul of jazz. Kudos to the musicians who provided inspiration while I wrote every page: Coldplay, Jars of Clay, and Moby. And finally, to the person reading this book right now: Thank you. Really. I've wanted to write a story for you for a
very
long time nowâ¦
MERRIE DESTEFANO
left a 9-to-5 desk job as a magazine editor to become a full-time novelist and freelance editor. With twenty years' experience in publishing, her background includes editor of
Victorian Homes
magazine and founding editor of
Cottages & Bungalows
magazine. She lives in Southern California with her husband, their two German shepherds, and a Siamese cat. For more information, visit
www.merriedestefano.com.
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Cover art by Gordon Crabb
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AFTERLIFE
. Copyright © 2010 by Merrie Destefano. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
First Eos paperback printing: October 2010
ePub Edition © August 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-201383-5
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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