Blood Rock
Page 48
So far the arrangement has worked well. We’ve got the misuse of graffiti magic under control, have put procedures in place to keep it from happening again, and are starting to draft rules to guide us in the future. Everyone appears to be pulling their weight, and more importantly, everyone seems to be talking.
Except Nyissa. Scara’s crossbow bolt left her mute. The doctors think that they may eventually restore her voice, but until then, it serves a purpose. She comes as my escort, glares ominously, twirls her metal poker anytime anyone says anything threatening—and, when it comes up, gives Iadimus an excuse to tell Scara to leave. This happens all too often.
Everyone on the council, me included, is looking for my replacement. No one wants me heading this board permanently. But they’re all helping me find people they think can do the job. Unfortunately, while there are plenty of good candidates on paper, it’s hard finding anyone who is competent in practice, willing to take on the problem, and acceptable to everyone.
I’ve even talked to Philip about replacements, but our relationship is strained. Personally, he still resents me dumping him for Calaphase. Professionally, neither he nor Namura are happy about this new concentration of power. But we’re civil, and so, as Alex has taken on speaking for the Council of Wizards, I’ve taken on responsibility of speaking for the DEI.
Hopefully, soon, better hands will take this over. I’m not trained in law enforcement, or law, or even management. Heck, I’m only half-trained in magic or science; I’m a dropout. I’m supposed to be a tattoo artist, for goodness sake. I know I can’t keep doing this forever.
But I’m not going to go through life in the dark anymore. I’m not going to hope that if shit sweeps up on me I can clean up the mess. I have a daughter, friends, and colleagues that count on me, people that have my back, and I’m not going to let them down.
I know I can’t fix everything—the world is darker, deeper, stranger than I ever imagined. I know I can’t make my little corner of the world into heaven—but God gave me the skills to keep it from going to hell, and by God, I’m going to keep it that way.
—
I’m Dakota Frost, skindancer—and Atlanta is my city. Nobody trashes it on my watch.
(Continue reading for more about Anthony Francis)
Acknowledgements
First off, thanks to Chris Baty for founding National Novel Writing Month, during which I wrote the single largest chunk of BLOOD ROCK: if you’re interested in writing, you should try this annual challenge to write 50,000 words in November.
Thanks also to the Write to the End group (formerly the Writing Group at Barnes and Noble at Steven’s Creek) at which most of BLOOD ROCK was written. We meet every Tuesday (except the first Tuesday) of every month at Mission City Coffee; join us.
And thanks most of all to my beta readers: my wife Sandi, my in-laws Wally and Barb, and my friends in the Edge: Fred, Diane, Gordon, and Dave. The betas also included Keiko, Gayle, Liza and Betsy from Write to the End.
BLOOD ROCK was the first Nanowrimo I read on Ann Arbor’s Unbedtime Stories at KFJC; since then I’ve appeared on her show nearly ten times, including the first few chapters of FROST MOON and BLOOD ROCK over the last two summers. Thanks!
I am also indebted to my research staff: to Vandybeth, who inspired the Gentry, to William, who inspired their hideout, to Keiko, who helped refine werespeech, and my wife Sandi for inspiring the ‘Candlesticks’.
I can’t begin to cite all the books I’ve read while researching BLOOD ROCK; that would need a separate bibliography. GRAFFITI WORLD by Nicholas Ganz and GRAFFITI KINGS by Jack Stewart stick out in my mind.
BLOOD ROCK is set in a world next door, so thanks to the city of Atlanta, especially the very real restaurants I loved and made a part of the story: Manuel’s Tavern, the Flying Biscuit, R Thomas, of course Cafe Intermezzo, and many more.
BLOOD ROCK was the longest novel I’ve written to date, and it was a long hard slog to get this sprawling story under control while preserving its distinctive voice. Thanks again to my beta readers, and especially to my editor at Bell Bridge, Debra Dixon, who spent hours at Dragon*Con discussing the story and then months hammering away at it with me until we were both satisfied.
In fact, BLOOD ROCK would not be in your hands if it wasn’t for Bell Bridge Books. Thanks again to Nancy for recommending them to me, for Debra for taking a chance on me, and to Debs and the rest of the crew with putting up with me.
Finally, I want to thank you, my readers, for making FROST MOON a success. I hope you enjoy the continuing adventures of Dakota Frost in BLOOD ROCK.
—The Centaur, July 12, 2011
P.S. Thanks, Big G. You know who you are.
About Anthony Francis
By day Dr. Anthony G. Francis, Jr. builds intelligent machines and emotional robots; by night he writes science fiction and draws comic books. He received his PhD from Georgia Tech in 2000 for a thesis applying human memory principles to information retrieval; since then he’s worked on search engines, robot pets, military software, police software, and software for the CDC. Robot pets have been the most fun and currently occupy his 20% time on the Cloud Robotics team at Google.
Anthony loves exploring the collision of reality with fantasy, starting with throwing vampires and werewolves into the firmly grounded setting of the Skindancer series: Atlanta, Georgia. Anthony spent almost two decades in Atlanta before he and his wife were lured out to the San Francisco Bay Area by the Search Engine That Starts With A G. Like Dakota, Anthony dropped out of college chemistry and is a brown belt in Taido, but unlike Dakota, he doesn’t have a single tattoo.
BLOOD ROCK is the second in the Skindancer urban fantasy series, following FROST MOON and preceding LIQUID FIRE, and Anthony has plans for many more. He’s also started a YA spin-off featuring Dakota’s adopted daughter, Cinnamon. You can visit him and learn more about the world of Dakota Frost at www.dakotafrost.com.