EB ARTICLE FOR EDITOR: “EVERY PUBLISHING HOUSE has manufacturing, marketing, and accounts departments, but the heart of the business lies in the editorial function.” Tara Weikum, you have been the heart of my five books. Not only having the vision to imbue them with coherency and life but providing the love needed to make my projects grow.
EB article for agent: “The relationship that exists when one person engages another to act for him—e.g., to do his work, to sell his goods, to manage his business.” Stacey Glick, you are an agent extraordinaire, finding the perfect home for Juneau and her clan.
I will now switch to the E(ncyclopedia) P(lum), since the rest of the clan’s EB collection seems to have been destroyed by brigands.
EP for beta reader: Claudia Depkin. Also known as she-who-has-more-patience-than-the-gods. (Not that they’re renowned for their patience, but you get the idea.) Thank you for having the very first look at everything once again, for asking the right questions, and for prodding me into action.
EP for copy editors: Valerie Shea and Melinda Weigel. Thank you for correcting the SAME errors book after book, for making sense of my French-addled English (“This is not a word.”), and for finding the inconsistencies that my ADD brain flings left and right on the page.
EP for assistant editor: Christopher Hernandez, or he-who-always-finds-the-perfect-word. Chris, your suggestions for After the End were spot-on. You ask the right questions and concoct the perfect solutions. Thank you!
EP for cover artists and designers: the fine people (Ray Shappell, Alison Donalty, Craig Shields, Howard Huang, and Kelly Delay) responsible for giving After the End its awesome cover. Thank you for creating such perfect packaging for Juneau and Miles’s story.
EP for mistress-of-the-road-trip: that certain cousin who drives with you from Seattle to Albuquerque just so you can follow your protagonists’ route while taking notes on the flora, fauna, and very strange habitants along the way. Diana, wish we could do one of these every year.
EP for Wereboar Sisterhood: a group of writers who, after sharing a den for a week, discovered they were long-lost pack members. Merci, my sisters-in-taxidermy, for all the support, love, and Kleenexes.
EP for Hotel Eldorado: a hotel in the Clichy neighborhood of Paris that was the frequent habitation of Amy Plum when she needed a faraway Batcave in which to conceive the ideas behind After the End. Don’t look for the one in Idaho, but if you find it, be extra careful when making private phone calls.
EP for loyal readers: you are the reason my job is fun. Thank you for your enduring support and enthusiasm for my stories.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AMY PLUM is the international bestselling author of the Die for Me series. She spent her childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, her twenties in Chicago and Paris, and several more years in London, New York, and the Loire Valley. Now she lives in Paris and swears she’ll never move again. You can visit Amy online at www.amyplumbooks.com.