The Winter Girl (23 page)

Give me five more seconds.

Blood was pooling around my head now, cooling instantly in the sand. It was hard to believe it was mine.

I thought it might be time to picture that tree in Prospect Park. The one that burst into yellow flame a few weeks before every other one. The one where I liked to take all my shy brides.

I'm lifting my camera to my eye again and it's the bride by herself this time, doing just what I say, her husband patiently waiting for his turn, hands clasped and head bowed as if he were attending his own funeral.

I'm humbled that I had the good fortune to work with my editor, Robert Bloom, and my agent, David Gernert, and that they believed in this novel.

Matt Marinovich is the author of
Strange Skies.
He has worked as an editor at
Interview, Martha Stewart Living, People,
and
Real Simple.
His writing has appeared in
McSweeney's Internet Tendency,
Esquire.com
, Salon, Quarterly West, Open City, The Barcelona Review, Mississippi Review, Poets & Writers,
and other publications. He lives in Brooklyn with his two daughters.