The Curse-Maker (39 page)
Authors: Kelli Stanley
Much of the historical and archaeological background embedded in
The Curse-Maker
was inspired by research I conducted on the spot in Bath. My profound thanks to Susan Fox, Collections Manager for the Roman Bath Museum, who made it possible for me to get up close and personal with curses. This book would never have been born without your help!
I am personally blessed with an outstanding agent and wonderful friend in the person of Kimberley Cameron, of Kimberley Cameron and Associates. She is wise, dedicated, smart, talented, and simply one of the best people I've ever been privileged to know. This bookâindeed no bookâwould be possible without her guidance, encouragement, and support, and she manages to keep me sane even at the most insane moments. She is, without a doubt, a true goddess.
Truly, my
kylix
runneth over. In a time of economic despair and publishing uncertainty, my fabulous, gracious, and supremely talented editor, Marcia Markland, believed in Arcturus and the story of a curse-maker. Thank you, Marcia, for your incredible, incredible strength, and support and faith in me!
The smart, savvy, and fantastic team at Thomas Dunne/Minotaur agreed to publish the continuing adventures of what started in a small press book, and I am overwhelmingly grateful to them for allowing me the opportunity to publish two series with Thomas Dunne/Minotaur. It is a privilege and an honor to work with them, and I'd like to thank Andy Martin, Thomas Dunne, Sally Richardson, Peter Wolverton, Amelie Littell, and Matt Baldacci for their support and encouragement.
I would be lost without Kat Brzozowski, Marcia's assistant editor, who is absolutely fantastic and a constant pleasure to work with. Likewise, the talented and delightful Sarah Melnyk is a publicist extraordinare, and Hector DeJean, Bridget Hartzler, and Jeanne-Marie Hudson are phenomenal. I'd also like to thank Talia Sherer and Ben Rubinstein for their superb library outreach.
Fortuna in the form of David Rotstein has graced
The Curse-Maker
with an incredible cover. David was the cover artist for
City of Dragons,
and his genius and versatility are simply breathtaking. Thank you, David, for your inspired and absolutely beautiful work! Thanks, too, to Michelle McMillian, who rendered interior text with sensitivity and skill.
I'd also like to thank my foreign rights team led by Whitney Lee, and my film management mavens (and fellow horse lovers) Mary Alice Kier and Anna Cottle at Cine/Lit. Thank you all for believing in me!
Special, special thanks to those who took time away from busy schedules to read and blurb
The Curse-Maker:
authors Rhys Bowen, Cara Black, Heather Graham, and David Liss, as well as Poisoned Pen publisher Barbara Peters. Your support and generosity humbles me.
Profound thanks to the stores and libraries that deliver my work to the hands of readers. Thank you for welcoming me with hosted signings and reading events for both series, and special thanks to the American Library Association, Public Library Association, the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, independent mystery bookstores, and members of the American Booksellers Association for their hand-selling of my workâyou made this book possible.
Thank you to Barnes and Noble for their dedication to and support of the written word and for making my books as widely available as an author could dream, and thanks, too, to the Book of the Month Club, the Mystery Guild, and senior editor and author Jane Dentiger for championing my work.
Writing is a solitary profession, but fortunately the crime fiction field is filled with friends, from the Mystery Writers of America to Private Eye Writers to International Thriller Writers to Sisters in Crime. I'm grateful to all my colleagues and friends and fellow group members for the honor and gift of their friendship.
No book is truly complete without readers. Thanks to all the reviewers and bloggers and fans and readers who kept asking ifâand hoping thatâArcturus would be back! Thank you for following me down a dark Roman road and not giving up on Roman noir, and for taking a chance on a new subgenre and a new author. Thank you to our wonderful magazines like
Crimespree, Mystery Scene, Deadly Pleasures, RT Book Reviews, Mystery Readers International,
and all the amazing bloggers and reviewers who are key members of the extended crime fiction family, particularly the wonderful Jen Forbus and Becky LeJeune. Thank you to the reviewers who selected my work to read, whether in a newspaper or a magazine or for a blog. Special thanks to reader Patrick Thornton, whose incredibly generous gift helped me finish a deadline, and my devoted friend and reader MaryJane Smith.
Finally, let me thank some people in my personal life. My dear friend Sam “Kiyat” Siew enables me to keep writing and living in San Francisco, through his help, dedication, and accounting skills. Thank you, Kiyat!
My family enables me to keep the dream alive and to keep pursuing it.
They are the real heroes, and it is to them I owe everything I do.
From my Polish mother, who is the most precious person on earth, to my father, the Kentucky coal miner's son ⦠you've graced me with strength and values and I've tried to use them in a way that will make you proud. I love you both.
And for Tana ⦠you are the one who knows how the pieces fit together. Thank you for keeping the key.
A
LSO BY
K
ELLI
S
TANLEY
City of Dragons
Nox Dormienda
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group.
THE CURSE-MAKER
. Copyright © 2011 by Kelli Stanley. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
ISBN 978-0-312-65419-1
First Edition: February 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-9303-6
First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: February 2011