Resurrecting Midnight (56 page)

I thought, Yeah. Perfect. Arizona. Great entrance. Great characters have to have great entrances. I think I learned that in Theater 101. Or I could’ve been having a conversation with an inebriated relative. All that to say I was convinced that it was time for Arizona to come back and make an appearance in the series. And once I agreed that she could have a big part in this one, Arizona loosened her grip and moved the knife from my throat and let me breathe. She was pissed that she wasn’t hired for the last book. Now that I think about it, her ass had been pissed since London. Something about getting her hair wet in the filthy Thames. And she had read
D4R
, stormed into my office, and slapped me upside my head with the book, sent my locks flying all over my head, then stood over me and demanded to know who the hell Hawks was. I smiled a little. Arizona can be a bit jealous. Anyway. Once my pulse slowed down and I saw Arizona was in the corner, waiting, knife in hand, I wiped the blood from my lip and realized that the initial idea I had for her could still work, once modified to fit the new story.

So I sipped my
mate
, then took the ball and ran with that idea.

I didn’t like Medianoche working solo. I liked the character, an aged soldier who was being haunted by his past. He needed some company. So I created The Four Horsemen. Right off the bat, I liked that league of assassins. It had a balance of old soldiers and new warriors. The group had the diversity I enjoy writing about.

Cool.

And now you’re holding the end result of a few ideas that started back in September ’08 as I sat in a rented apartment in Palermo. Oh, yeah. I rented my temporary living space from a beautiful woman named Lucia. I had landed in Argentina and had no accommodations, but Eduardo took me to a rental office in Palermo. We popped online, and as fate would have it, Lucia’s place was available. She is a wonderful woman. She had me situated in a matter of hours. She is fantastic. She made sure I had what was most important—my Internet connection. LOL. And she made sure I was able to get around in an intimidating country.

Anyway, where was I? That head injury Arizona gave me causes me to ramble.

Oh, yeah. I was on the seventeenth floor looking out the window at gray skies and rain, heater on high. I convinced myself that the location I had rented would be the perfect spot for Medianoche and his crew to have as their hideout. Every hero and villain needs a place to sleep at night. Of course I played What if? with the space. I was at Lucia’s rental for three weeks; then went back to the E.E.U.U. I took all of my notes and worked on the front end of the novel, focused on Gideon and his world. Then when I was back in the Paris of the South in February of 2009, I redid a lot with Medianoche and his crew. On that trip I stayed at the Melia, in the area called Recoleta. I spent a lot of time on subtes, riding city buses. Rode trains from Retiro to the end; took in tango shows in Capital City; observed protests at the docks; went to Palermo parks on the weekends; took a side trip to Uruguay and walked around Colonia; came back to Buenos Aires; visited museum after museum; rode a bicycle along the dirty river that people say isn’t dirty; ate grilled chicken on the boardwalk in Recoleta; read the local papers and met the locals; got a better understanding of both the city and the country.

Whew.

For a guy who can’t speak Spanish, I think I did okay.

My wallet and camera were stolen, but hey, shit happens.

Well, long story short, another novel is in the can.

Drumroll please. Time to thank my crew.

Thanks to my wonderful agent, Sara Camilli. This was another intense project for me. Bouncing back and forth to Buenos Aires to make this book happen was both exhausting and fun. I learned a lot about another country, and I learned a little about how they see the E.E.U.U. in return. This one clocked in at more than four hundred pages. I have to write a smaller book next time. This one is about the size of the first two.

But Gideon rocks!

How many more books do I have left to do? Are we there yet?

And a thousand thanks to Stephen Camilli. Dude, you rock. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to show me some of BsAs. The talk on the history of Argentina was fantastic. The parade was amazing. And the concert was great. I’ll have to catch the Frisbee tournament next time. And most of all, thanks for all of the translations.
Mi español
sucks. Sorry I had Gideon come down to BsAs and pretty much tear up everything from Retiro to Palermo. LOL.
I’ll send down a friend and a roll of duct tape. I promise to have the city repaired faster than you can read this sentence. See? Done. Everything is back as it was. Including the
villas
.

Now, off to the E.E.U.U.

Maria Pentkovski in San Francisco, once again thanks for the Russian translations! I’m trying to get Konstantin more stage time. LOL. Hope to see you again. I owe you a cup of grande coffee and an overpriced doughnut from . . . you know where.

Tiffany Pace over in Las Vegas, thanks for the initial edits. Holla!

John Paine, thanks for the first round of notes and input as this project was trying to get its legs. As usual, your insight is invaluable and your work is the best.

To my new editor, Erika Imranyi, you are awesome! Thanks thanks thanks! We finally got this one done.

Brian Tart, Kara Welsh, and everyone hard at work in publicity, thanks for everything!

To my buddies over in the United Kingdom, Kayode Disu and Mo nique Pendleton, thanks for reading these chapters over and over and over. LOL. Writing is rewriting. The best part of the entire process is when it’s just us, chatting and getting into the book. That’s the part I love the most. When the book is still raw, when it’s untitled, and no other eyes have seen it. Because we get it. We know it from the inside out. It felt like I took both of you to Argentina with me. LOL. You guys are great. You stuck around for months. And never complained. Thanks a lot. I mean that from the heart. No wonder Gideon started his adventures in London. I can’t wait to swim back across the pond and sneak by the people in Customs so I can hang out with Kamu and the gang at Poetry in Motion. That event rocks! And I have to check out Spanish Harlem!

Denea Marcel McBroom, once again, thanks for reading this and all the changes. I know you’re Arizona’s number-one fan. LOL. NOT!

Asami King in Chi-town, once again, thanks for the English-to-Japanese translation.

I have to thank the staff at the Melia Recoleta Plaza Boutique Hotel in Recoleta, my home for close to three months. All of you were absolutely wonderful. Thanks for making a stranger in a strange land feel at home. It was like being with extended family. The Friday night jazz was awesome and the room was fantastic. I enjoyed the Antigua Jazz Band. “40 Años a la Antigua.”

And big thanks to the overnight staff at the front desk for bringing their “resident writer” fruit and coffee at three a.m.; that was priceless. Peace and love and many blessing to all of you and your families.

 

Now, in case I left anyone out, here is your chance to shine.

 

I want to thank _________________ for all of his/her help while I was all over the United States and down in Buenos Aires working on this project. Without your help, insight, and wisdom, I would’ve written the book anyway, because that is what I do, dammit.
But go ahead and pen your name in so you can feel special.

 

And now for my people who speak Spanish!

Quiero agradecerle a ________________ por toda su ayuda mien tras estuve en E.E.U.U. y en Buenos Aires completando este proyecto. Sin tu ayuda, sabiduría, y visión, hubiera escrito el libro igual, porque eso es lo que hago.
Pero, dale, escribí tu nombre allí, así te sentís especial.

 

Worn, blue Adidas sweats with that trademark white stripe, blue and gray LIFE IS GOOD T-shirt, bottle of Arrowhead mountain spring water at my side.

 

Eric Jerome Dickey
15June09
7:12:46 a.m.
Latitude 34° 3’ 8” N, Longitude 118° 14’ 34” W
67°F. Overcast. Wind: N at 0 mph. Humidity: 75%

 

 

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Eric Jerome Dickey is the
New York Times
bestselling author of seventeen novels. He is also the author of a six-issue miniseries of comic books for Marvel Enterprises featuring Storm (
X-Men
) and the Black Panther. He lives on the road and rests in whatever hotel will have him.