Possession (41 page)

I had some archaeological assistance from my friend, writer Robin MacPherson, but the majority of the archaeological information came from another writer friend, Rhiannon Held. There is a real-life Washington State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and Rhiannon was able to help me with information about that office’s work and responsibilities on the tunnel and seawall projects. I was thrilled she had the time to look over the manuscript and to assist me with it—the line “It’s not all whips and fedoras” is one I borrowed from her. And she was still kind enough to let me slip her into the story, even though I had to demote her to monitor.

I also had a lot of help from Dr. Martha Leigh of Swedish Physicians about eye damage from oil paint (as well as help from my minion, Thea Maia) and the facts about persistent vegetative states, which are, in fact, extremely rare. I probably fudged the facts here and there by accident, but I tried to keep them as true to the real world as possible while still telling a good story.

Here and there I had to tinker with reality to make it fit my story; I have to say that anything I got wrong with this or any other detail of fact, personality, or history is all my own fault.