Elixir (36 page)
Authors: Ruth Vincent
We joined the whirl of dancers as the band played its brassy Lindy Hop. He spun me round and round, till I fell, dizzy and laughing, into his arms. Right now, planning for the future could wait. In this moment, there was only the dance, and I felt happy to be alive . . . happy to be human.
W
riting is a paradox: it is the most solitary of endeavors—yet you cannot do it alone. I will always be grateful for the encouragement, support, and dedication of the following people, without whom this book simply wouldn’t exist:
My editor, Rebecca Lucash—thank you for taking a chance on a first-time author, for your genius editorial suggestions, and for always being such a joy to work with at every stage of the process. Thank you as well to the whole team at Voyager Impulse—I may not know all your names, but I so appreciate all your efforts.
My agent, Jennifer Udden—thank you for being my champion and for always fighting the good fight. I feel very fortunate to have such a warm and wise guide as I begin my career.
My critique partners: author Amy Boyles and Michelle Dayton—thank you for all the time and energy you’ve devoted to my stories; your feedback has made them so much stronger. It’s always a delight to read your writing.
All the members of LIRW, my Long Island RWA chapter—thank you for your enthusiastic support, your savvy insights, your mentorship, and most of all your friendship—you guys are my tribe!
The other three members of the fantastic four: authors Mia Hopkins, Sienna Snow, and Susan O’Connell—from the moment we met in line at our first RWA Nationals, through all of our ups and downs along the publishing path, you gals make this journey so much more fun!
A big thank you to Detective Brent Hopkins of the LAPD, for answering my many questions about police procedure with such patience and good humor!
The real Obadiah Savage—thank you for generously letting me borrow your awesome name for my character! That said, this is a work of fiction, etc . . . etc . . . —you are not a bootlegger of fairy Elixir . . . as far as we know . . .
My cousin, YA author Claudia Gray—thank you for your excellent pointers on the writing business, and for always being the right mix of sage and snark. I feel grateful to have someone in the family who has traveled down this road before!
Paragraph LLC—thank you for providing a quiet haven, where I wrote many drafts of this manuscript, and for the silent solidarity of other working writers.
My dear friends, especially Emma Carswell-Engle, Jeannine Pitas, Anna Michalczyk, and Sarah Bitner—thank you for your support and love, and for always believing I could do this, even when I wasn’t so sure myself. My life is so much richer because of your friendship.
My friend Rebecka Himmselbach—if it wasn’t for our early “writer meetings,” I would never have finished my first manuscript, and none of this would have ever happened. I love and miss you.
The friends, mentors, and family members who have passed on: Ned O’Gorman, Elfie Raymond, and my grandmother, the original Ruth Vincent. Each of you, in your own way, loved the written word—and taught me to love it too. I know you all would have gotten such a big kick out of seeing me in print.
My parents, Jim and Rosie Vincent—I will always be grateful for your unwavering love and support. “Super Fairy” may have grown up, but some things never change. Thank you for always being my biggest fans.
And most of all my husband, Matthew Schechtman. Thank you for everything—for your brilliant brainstorming and plotting suggestions, which rescued me from many a thorny plot hole, for comforting and humoring me during the all times I was freaking out, and for always believing I was a writer, even when I didn’t believe it myself. You show me every day that real love is better than any fantasy. I love you more than words can say.
RUTH VINCENT
spent a nomadic childhood moving across the USA, culminating in a hop across the pond to attend Oxford. But wherever she wanders, she remains ensconced within the fairy ring of her imagination. Ruth recently traded the gritty urban fantasy of NYC for the pastoral suburbs of Long Island, where she resides with her roguishly clever husband and a cockatoo who thinks she’s a dog.
Learn more at
www.ruthvincent.com.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ELIXIR. Copyright © 2016 by Ruth Vincent-Schechtman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
EPub Edition MAY 2016 ISBN: 9780062466181
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062466198
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