Necromancing the Stone
Page 28
“I like pandas,” I said, poking at the tattoo with my finger.
She slapped my hand. “Don’t do that.” She rattled off the aftercare, smearing ointment on my chest before wrapping me in Saran Wrap. After she was done, she cocked her head. “Usually, people want the good side over their heart, you know.”
It was kind of hard to explain why I’d chosen to place it where I had. I guess because the zombie Ling Tsu wasn’t a representation of evil in my mind. He was a reminder to do good, of what was right and what was wrong and how fuzzy that line might become if I let it.
I shrugged at her and put on my shirt. “I’ve got a thing for zombies.”
She snapped off her gloves. “Who doesn’t?” she said, and grinned.
Acknowledgments
I can’t believe I made it to book two. Seriously. For a little while there, I had doubts. But some excellent people helped me, so I feel they should be thanked here. To my family and friends—you are amazing. The amount of support I get is unbelievable and I can’t get over how lucky I am to have you all. There would be no silly books without you. And I think it goes without saying (but I’m going to say it, just in case) that every book is dedicated to my mother, even if her name isn’t there. She got me through college and the stress of the first book, people.
Thanks to Team Parkview and my writer friends, especially Jen Violi, Sonja Livingston, Casey Lefante, Jason Buch, Léna Roy, Danny Goodman, Abby Murray, and Jeni Stewart. Hugs and bebidas, friends. To Brent McKnight (and occasionally Melissa) for showing up and helping me make time to write. Special thanks to all my gnome-namers—Matt Peters, Leeandra Nolting, Rory McMahon, Mark Babin, Bill Loehfelm, Nick Mainieri, & Jesse Manley, just to name a few. I can’t remember who suggested what, so if I forgot you, just pencil your name in here __________. To Erika & Eric at Imaginary Trends for making such amazing T-shirts for me, and for J’romy Armstrong for helping keep that particular dream alive. Of course, great love and thanks to Devon “Porkchop” Fiene, for lots of reasons, but mostly for telling me to write faster. Tiny & Erica Crane—you know why. I have the best friends on the planet.
A special shout out to The Normal School and her fine staff—specifically Kirsten Sanft, Matt “Manbraska” Roberts, and Steven “Mansas” Church. Keep up the good work and thanks for being part of my street team. Bradley Bleeker and Aaron Carlton should get mentioned for great webpage shenanigans. I owe you some many waffles and chickens.
To the bestest agent in the world, Jason Anthony, who only complains a little about my freakish typos, mistakes, and the occasional use of made up words like “bestest.” Maria Massie for fancy tackling foreign markets for me, and of course to the rest of the Lippincott, Massie, & McQuilkin team for your continued support. Sylvie Rabineau, Jill Gillet, Valerie Mayhew, and the RWSG agency team—thanks for all your hard work.
To everyone at Holt—thanks for making this such an amazing year. A girl couldn’t ask for a better publishing experience. My editors, Reka Simonsen and Noa Wheeler, are fantastic. They send me cookies and oranges and silly emails and remind me to breathe and I couldn’t imagine two more helpful and wonderful people to work with. You two should get some sort of award for dealing with me. Lastly, from team Holt, I want to send my appreciation to Rich Deas for creating such awesome cover art for me. If I ever meet you, I will hug you, and it might be a little awkward, but you’re just going to have to accept it.
Finally, I’d like to thank all the readers, bloggers, booksellers, and librarians out there—thanks for putting my book in people’s hands, and thanks all those years for putting books in mine. Awkward hugs all around.
About the Author
Lish McBride was raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot there, but she likes it anyway. She spent three years away while she got her MFA in fiction from the University of New Orleans, and she liked that too, although the hurricane did leave much of her stuff underwater. She enjoys reading, having geek-laden conversations about movies, comics, and zombies with her friends, and of course trying to wear pajamas as much as humanly possible. Currently, Lish lives happily in Seattle where the weather never actually tries to kill you, with her family, two cats, and one very put-upon Chihuahua. She is slowly building her lawn gnome army.
Text copyright © 2012 by Lish McBride
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McBride, Lish.
Necromancing the stone / Lish McBride. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Sequel to: Hold me closer.
Summary: Six weeks after escaping from the necromancer Douglas, Sam LaCroix is under the protection of the Blackthorn pack of werewolves and fey hounds and unsure if his necromancer rival is dead.
ISBN 978-0-8050-9099-4 (hc)
[1. Supernatural—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Dead—Fiction. 4. Werewolves—Fiction. 5. Seattle (Wash.)—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M478267Nec 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011043448
eISBN 9780805097368
First hardcover edition 2012
eBook edition September 2012