Edge of Dark

by Brenda Cooper

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Novels are born in the quiet of a writer’s head, but they are burnished in the conversations with others. I want to send out specific thanks to my first readers. Linda Merkens and Gisele Peterson are two of my oldest friends—literally. Like Chrystal and Nona knew each other from childhood, I’ve known Linda since I was about seven years old and Gisele since I was eighteen. There is a steadiness in old and true friends. Darragh Metzger has been reminding me to let my characters react to events and to remember to describe what they look like for over a decade now. She’s a fabulous writer, and I encourage people to check out her books. Two other writers who were extraordinarily helpful first readers are Christopher M. Cevasco and Jennifer Linnaea. Nancy Kress graciously took a look at my opening, and then eventually read the whole novel. Ramez Naam also read an earlier, rougher draft.

  Novels see the light of day because agents sell them to editors who make them available. Well, these days, there are a lot of paths to availability. But this novel took the traditional path and I want to thank Eleanor Wood for her constant support and Lou Anders for two roles. Not only is Lou a phenomenal editor, but he is also a really fabulous art director. The cover of the first book set in this world won a Chesley for the brilliant John Picacio, and the cover for Edge of Dark is one of the most moving pieces of art I’ve seen from well-beloved cover artist Stephan Martiniere.

  I am grateful for the support of my family, who put up with me disappearing for a week at a time to hide and work on novels or get really public and promote novels. I suspect writers are hard to live with, and writers with day jobs are even harder. I’m often not home, or if I am home, part of me is often in another universe entirely.

  And for this book, I want to say thanks to all of the people exploring transhumanism. I’ll list a few, but I’ll miss a lot. I have not met all of them. Regardless, here goes: Ray Kurzweil, Ramez Naam, Madeline Ashby, Natasha Vita-More, Max More, Charlie Stross, Gray Scott, Nancy Kress, Greg Bear, Vernor Vinge, David Brin, Bruce Sterling, John Smart . . . and there are many many more.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Brenda Cooper is the author of The Creative Fire and The Diamond Deep, Books One and Two of Ruby’s Song, as well as the Silver Ship series. Though not intended as a Young Adult novel, book one, The Silver Ship and the Sea, was selected by Library Journal as one of the year’s 100 Best Books for YA and by Booklist as one of the top-ten 2007 adult books for youth to read. The other books in the series are Reading the Wind and Wings of Creation. She is also the author of Mayan December and has collaborated with Larry Niven (Building Harlequin’s Moon). Brenda is a working futurist and a technology professional with a passionate interest in the environment.