Property of the State (22 page)
Read Property of the State Online
Authors: Bill Cameron
Many of the locations in
Property of the State
are real, including Mount Tabor Park and Pioneer Courthouse Square. Stately Huntzel Manor, alas, is not. I placed the house in a spot on the edge of Mount Tabor Park which is in fact only a hillside. Uncommon Cup and Katz Learning Annex are also made up, though Katz is modeled
very
loosely on some actual schools in the Portland area. Uncommon Cup is not unlike many of the independent coffeehouses found throughout the city, including the Rain or Shine Coffee House in Southeast Portland where much of the novel was written.
A couple of times Joey mentions SWAT. The Portland Police Bureau doesn't use the term SWAT, but rather SERT, for Special Emergency Response Team. Joey says SWAT because it's the more familiar term to most people and essentially refers to the same thing. And, in any case, despite his brushes with law enforcement, Joey hasn't had to deal with SERT himself. At least not yet.
Many characters in this book are named for people who've inspired me: writers, readers, and friends of extraordinary kindness, talent and insight. The characters are
not
based on these real life people. Rather, I've borrowed their names (first or last) as a way to show my respect, admiration, and affection. Given some of what happens in these pages, you might think I have an odd way of saying, “I like you.” Nonetheless, my affection and respect are genuine and heartfelt
.
This book wouldn't have happened without the critical eyes of Andy Fort, Candace Clark, Corissa Neufeldt, and Theresa Snyder. More than once they chewed through drafts and gave me the business, and the book is better because of it.
Thank you to Brett Battles for being a great friend and listening to me whine at length by phone and in person during some of the rockier moments of the writing and revising.
Huge thanks go to Ellen Larsen for loving Joey, and for guiding him and me both to the finish line.
As always, thank you to the Shark, Janet Reid, for sticking with me and helping make this book happen. It remains and honor and a privilege to be counted among the Chum.
And of course I couldn't do this without the love, support, and endless patience of my lovely and brilliant wife Jill. Thank you, sweetie!
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