The Morrigan's Curse (24 page)
Read The Morrigan's Curse Online
Authors: Dianne K. Salerni
I WROTE THE FIRST
draft of
The Morrigan's Curse
in the winter months of 2014 while I was still teaching full-time. I had plenty of days off to work on it because Pennsylvania was hit that year by an astonishing number of snow and ice storms. When my fellow teachers heard I was writing a book with weather gods in it, they of course blamed me for the bizarre wintry mixâfreezing fog? really?âwhich didn't break until I'd finally defeated the Llyrs. Coincidence? I think not. Despite the weather, my colleagues never failed to express their support for my writing, and I want to thank all of them, especially the “purple” team: Nichole Brown, Matt Krykew, and Kelly McGuffin.
I owe thanks to my agent, Sara Crowe, and my brilliant editors, Alexandra Cooper and Alyssa Miele, who helped me take the early drafts to the next level. The design team at HarperCollins and the cover artist, Mike Heath, deserve
my unending gratitude for the eye-catching covers on all the books in the series.
I also want to thank my family, Bob, Gabbey, and Gina, for their enthusiastic support and my beta readers: Krystalyn Drown, Marcy Hatch, Katie Mills, Susan Kaye Quinn, and Maria Ann Witt. My reading students of the 2013â2014 school yearâthe very last fifth-grade students of my teaching careerâtalked me into reading them the first draft of this book so they could give feedback (and get their names listed here). Many, many thanks to my awesome students and devoted fans: Nik, Edson, Evelyn, Julian, Ava, Jasmine, Annie, Jack C., Kimberly, Omar, Brisa, Brandon, Belinda, Yareli, Aidan, Michael, Dylan, Jenny S., Tori, Liliana, Jenny B., Jacqui, Kate, Emma, Reece, Marley, Max, Jacob, J.J., Jimmy, Ethan, Rachel, Michelle, Erik, Chloe, Jackie, Lucy, Lauren, Sophia, Maggie, Matt, Joey, Caleb, Victoria, Ricky, Caitlyn, and Jack T.
Photo by Catchlight Photography
DIANNE K. SALERNI
attended the University of Delaware, where she earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education, and then went on to earn a master's in language arts education at the University of Pennsylvania. She was an elementary school teacher for over twenty years and has also written several books, including
We Hear the Dead
and
The Caged Graves
.
The Morrigan's Curse
is the third book in the Eighth Day series. Although Dianne knows there's not really such a thing as a secret Eighth Day, discovering one would explain all the food that disappears in her house. Until then, she'll continue to blame her husband, Bob, her two teenage daughters, Gabrielle and Gina, and her dog, Sorcia. Dianne lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania. You can visit her online at
www.diannesalerni.com
.
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THE MORRIGAN'S CURSE
. Copyright © 2016 by Dianne K. Salerni. 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.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015950812
ISBN 978-0-06-227221-8 (trade bdg.)
EPub Edition © January 2016 ISBN 9780062272232
15 16 17 18 19 Â
CG/RRDH
 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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*
Elwyn Emrys betrayed the traditional loyalties of his family when he conspired to break the Eighth Day Spell.
**
Aerons were briefly allied with Merlin Emrys to avoid incarceration in Oeth-Anoeth when the Eighth Day Spell was cast. They are adversaries in the present day.
