by Lewis Shiner
Thanks to my swing dance teachers: Richard Badu, Wesley Boz, Debbie Ramsey, and Jason Sager.
At the American Tobacco Campus, I owe big thanks to Valerie Ward, Gerry Boyle, Brooks Ladd, and Reyna Upchurch. At the Durham VA Medical Center, Hal Hummell helped enormously. Thanks also to George Robinson at the Brookwood Inn and Leslie Klingner at the Biltmore Estate.
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In addition to those mentioned above, the most important of the dozens of books I studied were: Durham’s Hayti, by Andre D. Vann and Beverly Washington Jones; Durham County, by Jean Bradley Anderson; Blood Done Sign My Name, by Timothy B. Tyson; A Generosity of Spirit and From Seed to Harvest, a two volume history of RTP by Albert N. Link; The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America, by Wyn Craig Wade; The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory, by Claudia P. Roberts, Diane E. Lea, and Robert M. Leary; and Johnston County: Its History Since 1746, by Thomas J. Lassiter and T. Wingate Lassiter. The Durham County Library’s microfilm collection of the Carolina Times, Durham Herald, and Durham Sun were invaluable.
I used Zora Neale Hurston’s Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica, and Milo Rigaud’s Secrets of Voodoo, among other sources, for the vodou ritual I describe. Robert Farris Thompson’s Flash of the Spirit was also essential.
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Big thanks to Willard Spiegelman at Southwest Review and Steve Erickson at Black Clock, who published excerpts and provided crucial and timely momentum. Extra-special thanks to Bill Schafer, who first bought an excerpt for his Subterranean magazine, then went on to publish the entire book. Gail Cross, his designer, gave freely of her time and expertise in helping me through my first book design job. My dear friend Lesley Gasper first provided an insightful critique of the manuscript, then went on to be my copy editor.
Friends and loved ones carried the biggest load. First and foremost, thanks to Orla Swift, my partner in dancing and in life, and to Marshall Terry, teacher and friend, who has given me years of love, faith, and wonderful examples of what the best writing can do.
Many friends read the manuscript in various stages and gave excellent advice, most of which I had the sense to accept. Thanks to Arch Altman, Jim Blaylock, Richard Butner, Howard Craft, Margaret Downs-Gamble, Ralph Earle, Mariana Fiorentino, Karen Fowler, Barbara Gilly, Art Hoffman, John Kessel, Eduardo Lazarowski, Alicia Rico-Lazarowski, Doris Levy, Jack Levy, Tom Serafini, Carol Stevens, and Dave Stevens. Thanks also to Mike Autrey, Tom Clark, Jeff Downey, Sylvia Pfeiffenberger, Barry Shelton, and all the many others who urged me on.
By Lewis Shiner
NOVELS
Outside the Gates of Eden
Dark Tangos
Black & White
Say Goodbye
Glimpses
Slam
Deserted Cities of the Heart
Frontera
COLLECTIONS
Heroes and Villains
Collected Stories
Love in Vain
The Edges of Things
Nine Hard Questions about the Nature of the Universe
About the Author
Born in Texas, Lewis Shiner is a musician, rock music journalist and award-winning author, writing across genres. He has published six short stories collections and eight novels, including Glimpses, winner of the World Fantasy Best Novel Award.
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