Graveminder (30 page)

Acknowledgments

I
AM GRATEFUL TO MY DYNAMIC PUBLISHERS,
Lisa Gallagher (yes, the bar is named for you) for acquiring the book and Liate Stehlik for support along the way; to my lovely agents, Merrilee Heifetz and Sally Wilcox, for crazy enthusiasm when I was drowning in doubt; and to my editors, Jennifer Brehl for early insights (especially on Charlie’s attire and the tavern) and Kate Nintzel for kick-ass editorial notes, unflagging energy, and an amazing attitude.

I couldn’t have written this book without the aid of “Undertaker Todd” (W. Todd Harra), who answered my incessant questions about the “dismal trade,” let me read his collection of mortuary stories, and read
Graveminder
to assure that I had the details and terminology right. Thank you for everything. (Note: Any craft-related errors are obviously mine. Todd did a great job educating me, but I’m sure I’m not always the best student.)

Along with Todd, I had a slew of great friends who read the text, listened to my rambling, and otherwise held my hand along the trip. Thank you to all of you, especially Jennifer Barnes, Mark Del Franco, Rachael Morgan, and Jeaniene Frost.

Thanks to Stephanie Kuehnert for “lending” your awesome hair barrettes to Amity.

Thanks, Mum and Dad, for helping with gun shopping for Alicia (in this and the short story) and for the usual unflagging faith. You really are the best parents a person could hope to have.

And, as always, the largest debt of gratitude is to my spouse, Loch, and our ridiculously patient children. Thank you for not sealing me in the office when I was in the crazier parts of the revisions. I’m sure that took serious effort some days.

About the Author

Melissa Marr
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series of young adult novels:
Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, Radiant Shadows,
and
Darkest Mercy
. She currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her family.
Graveminder
is her first adult novel. Learn more about her at www.melissa-marr.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

A
LSO BY
M
ELISSA
M
ARR

Wicked Lovely

Ink Exchange

Fragile Eternity

Radiant Shadows

Darkest Mercy

Credits

JACKET DESIGN BY MARY SCHUCK
JACKET PHOTOGRAPH © 2011 BY MARK TUCKER

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.

GRAVEMINDER.
Copyright © 2011 by Melissa Marr. 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Marr, Melissa.

  Graveminder / Melissa Marr. — 1st ed.

    p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-06-182687-0 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-0-06-208381-4 (international edition)

 1. Dead—Fiction. 2. Grandmothers—Death—Fiction. 3. Granddaughters—Fiction. 4. Homecoming—Fiction. 5. Family secrets—Fiction. 6. Supernatural—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3613.A76872G73 2011

  813'.6—dc22

2010037261

EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780062083586

11  12  13  14  15    
OV/RRD
    10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1