Crashing Heaven (37 page)
Authors: Al Robertson
Acknowledgements
This book was redrafted many times, and along the way benefited hugely from some great early readers. So, first of all deepest thanks to Alys Sterling, Dave Clements, Neil Williamson, Nick Moulton and Zali Krishna for your very thoughtful and profoundly practical critiques.
An early version of the opening
Chapter s went through the Milford SF Writers’ workshop in 2010 – a particular thank you to Liz Williams, an inspirational presence over the years, and everyone else who was there. Huge gratitude also to everyone who’s been part of the London Cat Herd writers’ group who, over almost a decade, have taught me so much.
This wouldn’t be the book it is if I hadn’t played with the Stella Maris Drone Orchestra and Graan, who together helped me learn how to take advantage of the moment and improvise as I was going along. Danke schön, dröën böys! Thanks to Lloyd Davis and the Tuttle Club for so many excellent digital conversations. And – of course – all the inspiration from Andy Cox and all at TTA Press has been absolutely invaluable.
I couldn’t have pulled
Crashing Heaven
into its final shape without the help and support of my most excellent agent, Susan Armstrong at Conville & Walsh, and editor, Simon Spanton. And without my wife Heather Lindsley – who was there from start to end with everything from nice cups of tea to ferociously insightful critiques, always at just the right time – Rory and the rest of my family, I wouldn’t have been able to write it at all.
Thank you all.
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Al Robertson 2015
All rights reserved.
The right of Al Robertson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite
House
50 Victoria Embankment
London
EC4Y
0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
This eBook first published in 2015 by Gollancz.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN
978 1 473 20342 6
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.