The Smart One (30 page)
If a writer is extremely lucky, she finds a smart, patient and generous friend willing to read through her messy first drafts. And if that friend happens to be Myfanwy Collins, a gifted writer and insightful reader who appreciates commercial and literary fiction with equal enthusiasm, it’s like winning the lottery.
My embarrassment of riches doesn’t stop there. I have a cadre of writer friends who buoyed my spirits through the roughest months, believed in me more than I ever dared hope, and inspired me with their own brilliant work. This list includes Mark Ebner, Kathy Fish, Susan Henderson, Jordan Rosenfeld, Robin Slick, Maryanne Stahl, and many others.
To the friends I made online who offered their support—including my buddies from the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, the talented authors in the Girlfriends’ Cyber Circuit, and the astounding women at CafeMom—my respect, affection, and gratitude.
Heartfelt thanks to the professionals who gave their valuable time to fill the sizeable gaps in my knowledge, including Barbara Bauer, Detective Robert Edwards, Deborah E. Franklin, Charlie Goldberg, M.D., Lee Goldberg, David Kud
row, M.D., Gary Levine, Lisa Palmieri, Detective Lieutenant Kevin P. Smith, Susan Sternberg, and Nicole Wiedenbaum. Any factual errors in this book reflect my own artistic license and not the quality of information I got from these fine folks, the true smart ones.
To the world’s most patient and gentle editor, Carrie Feron, my thanks for believing in this book through all its drafts, and for offering such wise counsel along the way. Your guidance in helping this work take shape is beyond compare.
To the dynamic duo, Andrea Cirillo and Annelise Robey, you are my foundation. If they awarded agents medals for endurance, loyalty, and encouragement, you’d win in a clean sweep.
And finally, to Max, Ethan, and Emma, who outsmart their mama every day of the week, and to Mike, who will always own my heart, all of my love.
A former advertising copywriter,
ELLEN MEISTER
left the business world behind to raise a family and chase her fiction-writing dreams. She lives on Long Island with her husband and three children. This is her second novel.
www.ellenmeister.com
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Cover design by Laura Klynstra
Cover photograph by Lisa Hubbard/Jupiterimages
Cover photograph by Polka Dot Images/Jupiterimages
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE SMART ONE
. Copyright (c) 2008 by Ellen Meister. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition (c) JUNE 2008 ISBN: 9780061873195
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