Black Opal (18 page)

For more information about me, visit my
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Acknowledgements

It’s harder to write this page than it is the story itself.
 

Thanks goes out to Roger Merritt for the information on brothel tokens. Your expertise was a great help. Any errors are mine and mine alone.
 

Thanks to my good friend and critique partner, Stacy Green. Your help in shaping
Black Opal
was invaluable. I am in your debt for tolerating my special brand of crazy.

Thanks to the fantastic ladies at misterio press for all your help. I’ve learned tons from y’all and can’t wait to learn more.

Special thanks to my editing team: Annetta Ribken, Jennifer Wingard, and Julie Glover. Y’all make me look good. I learn from each of you every time I work with you.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my cover artists. Kimberlee Ketterman Edgar of Dark Star Artwork deserves thanks for giving Peri Jean Mace a face. Thanks to Melinda VanLone for the excellent typography. You did way more than that, Melinda, and I am grateful.
 

I’d also like thank Holly Lisle. Without her, I’d have never had the
umph
to bring this dream full circle.
 

Thanks to my husband, my little dog, and my parents. You make this possible more than you know. Thanks for accepting all my weirdness and loving me just because.
 

Last but not least, thanks to my fans. You make doing this worthwhile.

About the Author

Catie Rhodes grew up in the piney woods of East Texas. It was a dark and shadowy world, rife with folklore and spooky tales, some of which had pretty grim endings. There wasn’t much to do underneath those tall, tall trees other than daydream and make up stories.

Naturally, Catie became a purveyor of lies and legends. Drawing on her East Texas roots, her love of true crime, and her love of the paranormal, she began writing the Peri Jean Mace Paranormal Mysteries. She writes horror shorts on those dark days and moonless nights when the shadows beckon.

Catie is also that kid your mother warned you about. She lies. She cusses. She never washes her hands after petting the dog. And she still wears checkered Vans. She lives with her husband and little dog in the overcrowded and overly noisy Houston, Texas suburbs.

Please check out these other great
misterio press
series:

Karma’s A Bitch: The Pet Psychic series
by Shannon Esposito

Multiple Motives: The Kate Huntington series
by Kassandra Lamb

Maui Widow Waltz: The Islands of Aloha series
by JoAnn Bassett

The Metaphysical Detective: The Riga Hayworth series
by Kirsten Weiss

Dangerous and Unseemly: The Concordia Wells series
by K.B. Owen

Forever Road: The Peri Jean Mace series
by Catie Rhodes

Tin God: The Delta Crossroads series
by Stacy Green

plus even more great mysteries/thrillers in the
misterio press
bookstore