Dismember

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I was fourteen years old when I wrote my first novel, The Reaper (a shoddy book about a body-jumping entity and its slew of bloody victims). After Reaper, I wrote five more novels. Some of those five were readable, but none saw print—or really deserved to—until now. Although I’ve worked hard to get where I am, I can’t take all the credit; over the years, I’ve had a lot of help from many people. I’d like to take a minute to thank some of them.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for influencing, nurturing, and encouraging me. Thank you to my wife, Amy, whose faith that I would reach my goal never wavered, and my daughters, Dakota and Katelyn, who join their mommy in putting up with me on a daily basis. To my brothers and sister, Samuel, Krista, Andy, and Enoch, who are my readers and supporters. To my teachers, Karen Poulson, Diane Dickey, Alisa Boyd, Roland Merullo, Catherine Newman, Corinne Demas, Helen von Schmidt, and Justin Kimball, who each pushed me in the right direction, sometimes more than once. To my friends, Paul Reschke, Jon Lhost, and Leigh Borum, for being my family away from family. To everyone at the Amherst College post office. To Paul McCartney and Collective Soul for the music I listened to most often while writing not just this book but also the ones leading up to it. To Jonathan Maberry, who offered me advice and encouragement when I needed it most.

And, of course, to you, my readers. Thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed the book.

DP