Perdition

by R. Jean Reid

  One small strand of sunlight crept through the clouds. She stared for a moment longer, then went back to rewriting Ina Claire’s latest recipe.

  the end

  Acknowledgments

  Sitting in front of a computer trying to make words turn into worlds is never easy. (Nor are the words ever as perfect as the vision we have in our heads.) There are moments when I come home from the day job and I’m tired and want nothing more than to turn my brain off, pour a glass of wine Scotch, and read a book instead of writing one. But in those moments, I remember the coterie of readers and writers who keep me sane and focused. Yes, that would be you. Thank you.

  My writer friends, all of us who struggle to get the words on the page amidst everything else life throws at us: Carsen, Ali, Anne, VK, ’Nathan, Jeffrey, Rob, Fay, Ellen, Greg, and I know I’m forgetting some of y’all. You keep me sane, or at least aren’t bothered by my insanity.

  My partner, Gillian, for all the joy in us both spending evenings at our respective computers working on our respective books. At least I don’t have to footnote and index mine.

  There are many people at my day job who keep me reasonable—or don’t point out to me that I’m not—and are greatly understanding about the writing career. Thanks to Noel, our CEO, and to Reg, our COO and my boss for his tireless leadership and letting me run off to do book things. My staff is great and makes my job easy enough that I have time to write—Narquis, Joey, Lauren, Allison, and all the members of the Prevention Department. I would love to be able to write full time, but since I have to have a real job, I’m very lucky to have one of the best ones possible.

  A big thank you to Terri Bischoff and Sandy Sullivan for their editorial brilliance and calmness, especially about timelines. Also huge thanks to Katie and everyone at Midnight Ink for being such a great and supportive publishing house.

  About the Author

  R. Jean Reid lives and works in New Orleans. She grew up on the Mississippi Gulf coast. Perdition is the second book in the Nell McGraw series. As J. M. Redmann, she is the author of the award-winning Micky Knight mystery series.