by Bob Proehl
The next part is harder, because the next part is the trick itself, and requires the magic words. If he’s off by one sound, one syllable, it will fall apart and become an ending again. He can’t rush it, because he has to get it right, but whoever speaks first, it’ll be their magic that works, so he has to hurry. He will have to be brave right now.
His mother and father are opening their mouths. Alex is not sure he has the words, and he has spent all this time trying to find them, but here now there is no time—there is a fraction of a second to step into between the ending and the beginning.
Alex closes his eyes and opens them again, and he knows in the way sometimes he knows things that the trick is going to work. The story starts here.
Acknowledgments
When this book was still a rickety draft, my wife Heather sat me down and told me it was time to quit my job at the bookstore and focus on my writing. “Take a year,” she said. “We’ll be okay.” It is a rare kind of bravery and generosity, and I am beyond lucky to be on the receiving end of it. Thank you also to Alex and Story for putting up with my times of (physical and mental) absence while working, and for understanding that I am in fact working, even on days I don’t necessarily leave the house.
This book was lucky enough to find a brilliant advocate in my agent, Seth Fishman. That he occasionally appears to have Jedi powers is only evidence of the fact that he’s worked tirelessly on my behalf, and I can’t thank him enough.
Andrea Schulz is the kind of editor one dreams about finding, one who will call you out on every lazy bullshit line in the book until it is the best possible book it can be. She is a savvy reader who is quick with the scalpel, and has extended amazing trust to me as an author to fix problems once she’s spotted them. I am exceedingly grateful that she took the book on, that she has helped me distill it down until its true heart shone through, and that she brought me with her when she became a Viking.
This book was drafted in residency at the Constance Saltonstall Colony for the Arts, and I’ve returned there multiple times to work on revisions. Thank you to the Foundation, to its amazing Executive Director Lesley Williamson, and to Connie’s spirit, which resides and resonates in the upstairs writer’s apartment.
Without the support of the New York Foundation for the Arts, I would still be schlepping books for a living. Their fellowship program provided not only necessary financial support, but vitally changed my estimation of myself as a writer. And look: public support of the arts pays off. For real!
I am indebted to Aaron Kuder, a gifted comic book artist who repeatedly made himself available for pestering “how does that work?” questions about the comics industry. Likewise to a gifted actor, Karl Gregory, who walked me through what an actor does to prepare and basically wrote the “Secret Origin of Valerie Torrey” chapter for me over the phone.
This book didn’t have a lot of readers in draft, but those who read it provided invaluable assistance and advice. They include Heather, Stephen Frug, Rob Costello, Sarah Jefferis, Scott Brown, Aimee Lehman, Billy Cote, Nancy Gossett, Scrap Wren, and Jim Rutman. Thank you all for your time and comments.
Everyone at Viking, and at PRH has been fantastic, and their enthusiasm has filled me with renewed faith about the state and future of publishing. I’m certain I will forget people here, but: publisher Brian Tart has been thoughtful and generous, and when you see the amazing endpaper illustrations in this book, please note that was his idea. When I was simultaneously searching for a title for the book and a name for my daughter, Emily Wunderlich swooped in and saved the day (with the former). She also offers to take the blame when I forget to do things like write the acknowledgments, and occasionally braves the northlands to attend David Bowie-themed dance parties. I generally consider myself pretty sharp on grammar, but Beena Kamlani’s editing at times made me cringe at my own idiocy. Everyone in publicity and marketing has been inspired in coming up with ideas for how to get the book into your hands, and they’ve been incredible to work with. Also thanks to Andy Dudley, who I have known since ages ago and has put the elbow on the other folks in sales to read this thing.
Thanks to the folks at Gernert Co. who have helped me navigate the waters of being a first-time author. Andy and Flora, thank you for making sure my family didn’t starve due to my inability to, say, correctly transcribe an account number.
Thank you to my dad, who stopped off at the comic book store every Wednesday on his way home from work with my little Post-it notes of the floppies I “needed” that week, and to my mom, who never threw any of my comics away. Even the ones that I left in a garbage bag by the back door that time. Seriously, those can go.
Last off, thank you to an impossibly long list of comic book writers and artists. This book is, among other things, a love-letter to a medium that’s been dear to my heart since I was a kid, and now stands at a cliff’s edge. From here, it can stand, safe in the fading dreams of life-long readers like me, or it can leap forward to give vast and diverse new audiences the thrill, hope, and solace it’s given me. I have no doubt that if it takes that leap, it will fly.
About the Author
Bob Proehl grew up in Buffalo, New York, where his local comics shop was Queen City Bookstore. He has worked as a bookseller and programming director for Buffalo Street Books, a DJ, a record store owner, and a bartender. He was a 2012 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Fiction and a 2013 resident at the Saltonstall Arts Colony. He has written for the 33⅓ book series and worked as a columnist and reviewer for the arts and culture web site PopMatters. Proehl currently lives in Ithaca, New York, with his wife, stepson, and daughter.
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