And everyone I couldn’t name, appreciate you all the same!
You helped produce this novel
The writer’d like to thank you
for a wonderful debut
You helped produce this novel
I had to write it
But you had to tighten it
Now on to writer friends, Codex, contests—to the end!
Grayson, Laurie, Michael U., Amanda Forrest in there too.
Rebecca R. M.K.H., Lisa Shapter, Keffy K.
Anaea, Maya, Stephen G., Tomas M., John Murphy
Bill Ledbetter, Michelle M., and all the judges for JBM
Tina Gower, Annie B., Thomas K. with Rachel C.
Andrea Stewart, Anthea Sharp, helped brainstorm with lots-o-heart.
Martin Shoemaker, Gwendolyn Clare, just for both being there.
Hold on, I’m not done. Still so many writers, son.
Mike Resnick (writer dad), W-o-t-F in the bag
Kevin A., Tim Powers, David Farland, many hours.
K.D. Wentworth, rest in peace, may sci-fi never die!
You helped support this writer
She’d like to thank you
for each new breakthrough
You helped support this writer
I had to write it
But you helped to brighten it
One more verse, almost through (then you can . . . buy book two!)
Tolkien’s hobbits, Tanith Lee, Dan Simmons, L’Engle’s key
Brice McPherson, Kraig Olejniczak, why don’t your names rhyme?
Ferrett Steinmetz—doesn’t know me—but blame him for this song.
Everyone inspired this writer
She’d like to thank you
For making each great day new
Everyone inspired this writer
You didn’t stop her
So she wrote a whopper!
Everyone inspired this writer
She’d like to thank you
For making each great day new
Everyone inspired this writer
You didn’t stop her
So she wrote a whopper!
*Continues to hum as she strolls off into the distance.*
Okay. I’m done. No really, you can take your mental fingers out of your mental ears now. In all seriousness, I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. You all did amazing work, gave constant support, and made my journey to this point a wonderful one. Here’s lifting a glass to many more books—with many more joyful acknowledgements pages—to come!
About the Author
MARINA J. LOSTETTER and her husband, Alex, live in Northwest Arkansas with two Tasmanian devils. No, wait, those are house cats. Marina’s original short fiction has appeared in venues such as Lightspeed, InterGalactic Medicine Show, and Shimmer Magazine. When not writing, she loves creating art, playing board games, traveling, and reading about science and history. Marina often shakes her fist at the clouds on Twitter as @MarinaLostetter, and rambles on her blog at www.lostetter.net. If you stop by her website, don’t forget to sign up to be a newsletter recipient.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
noumenon. Copyright © 2017 by Little Lost Stories, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Chapter 3, “Balance” was originally published in 2014 on Baen.com. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Harper Voyager and design are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers LLC.
first edition
Cover design by Owen Corrigan
Cover art by Steven Messing
Title page image by Christopher Barrett/Shutterstock, Inc.
Digital Edition August 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-249785-7
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-249784-0
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Noumenon Page 40