It was confirmed that Malcolm Carter was overseeing the sale of Moile R&D to one of Tom Crane’s companies. In a news article, Crane stated that he wanted to buy the company because it was his quest to preserve the clean water that was left. That sounded great, but his true intentions were suspect. I also still wondered if Malcolm had been complicit in Jack’s murder.
“Still no word from Mike?” Sue asked.
“No, unfortunately.” Mike had flown to Seattle with us and said he was going to go visit his mom for a while. Mike bottled up his emotions, so what happened in Florencia could take him a long time to deal with. I’d e-mailed him twice but hadn’t heard back. Sue and I both wanted to support him. Hopefully, he’d write about what had happened, even if it was only for his own therapy. “But that’s Mike. Remember he disappeared for a year last time. It’s just the way he is.”
“Okay, I’ll try not worry so much about him.” Sue sipped her beer.
My publisher had informed me that my initial book sales were going well, and they wanted me to go on a book tour. Sue and I decided to take them up on the offer, as it meant we’d get to go back to Europe in September.
“We need to do some work tomorrow,” Sue said.
“By we, you mean me.” I managed a smile.
“This place is inspiring.” Sue had written almost every day since we’d arrived. She’d posted her side of our experience and what we’d learned in Colombia on our website. Traffic to the site was steady and increasing. There was also more interest from independent media, and she’d had three phone interviews because of it.
I, on the other hand, had only edited her words and not written any of my own. I hadn’t decided if I was going to go the nonfiction route or write a sequel to my first book. I’d start the outline tomorrow and then figure it out. I agreed with Sue that Christina Lake was an inspirational place.
I gazed out over the reflection on the water and sighed. If only Dr. Elles had lived to see what his work had done to so many lives. Would he have been able to stop it? He was likely rolling in his grave.
“What are you thinking about?” Sue asked.
“Just remembering Dr. Elles.”
Sue reached out and took my hand in hers as we watched the sliver of orange sun disappear over the mountain.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have really enjoyed writing the Dark Seed Trilogy; so much that I left a couple of threads at the end, just in case I want to continue the story at a later date. The characters have become a part of me, and it’s hard to let them go.
I would like to thank the following people for their guidance, expertise and encouragement:
Authors Scotty Schrier and Eve Gruschow for their strong suggestions about the direction of the story and characters. There is no way I could have written the trilogy without their help. The countless long Wednesday nights of detailed discussion and banter were informative and fun. Extra thanks to Eve for helping me with the “special scene,” and to Scotty for being able to nail each character’s accent while reading out loud;
My mother, Kathy Verigin, and my wife, Diana Carrillo, for helping me work out the kinks at the beginning of the story;
Everyone at Promontory Press for their belief in my books and hard work in publishing the trilogy;
Bennett Coles for his sage help, patience, and structural editing;
Karen Brown for her excellent copy editing and advice;
Richard Coles for his detailed proofreading;
Marla Thompson for her fantastic way of capturing the story through cover design;
Cindy Goodman for photography (and I don’t like having my picture taken);
Dr. Maria Bautista for all medical terminology and how characters would react when put in harm’s way;
Andy Prest for making Sue’s article read like a journalist wrote it, because he’s a journalist;
Nicola Freestone for advice on British law;
Neetu Shokar and Courtney Harding for help with the title;
My wife Diana Carrillo for traveling with me to all the exotic locations, so I could get a feel for the places;
And most of all, I would like to thank the readers who have enjoyed my books, pushed me to continue writing by wanting to know what happened next, and spreading the word to others about my stories.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lawrence Verigin is also the author of critically acclaimed and multiple award-winning DARK SEED and SEED OF CONTROL. His goal is to entertain readers while delving into socially relevant subjects. Lawrence and his wife, Diana, live in Vancouver, Canada.
Contact:
Website: www.lawrenceverigin.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: Lawrence Verigin
Twitter: @LawrenceVerigin
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