by Sawyer Black
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Henry Black is an asshole. He’s selfish and stubborn, and he doesn’t know when to shut up, but I like him.
Most of the time.
Every botched pick-up line. Every public stumble. Every diet that ends in failure, a chocolate-chip cookie in my hand. Shaking my head in disgust as my eyes drift to the open package, because if I’m gonna eat one, me and the cookie both know I’m gonna eat ‘em all.
That’s Henry to me. Beyond self-doubt, he is self-sabotage.
When Sean and David asked me to complete this trilogy, I jumped at the chance, even though I hadn’t read it. To be honest, I was so excited to be working with them, I didn’t even hear the pitch. I just smiled and nodded, wondering how I got so lucky. We talked about the nuts and bolts. Schedules and deadlines. Word counts. I still didn’t read it.
The time to start writing it was getting closer. I wrote a couple short stories, instead. They delivered the outlines for books 2 and 3. I decided to work on a different project. After that was done, I looked at my empty calendar, and finally ran out of excuses.
Made it harder than it had to be. On purpose. Spent a week cursing under my breath because I’m an asshole, too.
And because I see a little of myself in Henry, when I went back through the first book to unify the style and voice to match what I had written in the other two, I was tempted to make him look a little better. A little more sympathetic.
Continuing his story in the second book, I felt that same temptation.
I couldn’t do it. That wouldn’t be fair to the readers, because that’s not who Henry is. He digs deeper into the cult that ruined his life. He plots his revenge against Boothe. He follows divine instruction after finding himself in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell … and still, he is not acceptance. He is resignation.
He finds himself swept into a current that he doesn’t realize he caused, and you know what? He keeps paddling. He bitches about it, but he still paddles.
Sawyer Black and Henry Black are both assholes, but I still like ‘em. I hope you do, too.
At least, most of the time.
SB
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THANK YOU FOR READING!
Sean Platt & David W. Wright
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sawyer Black moved from editing field manuals for the U.S. Army to writing work instructions for ISO 9000 certified companies. The entire time, he dreamed of writing fiction. Needing a change in scenery, he left the technical field for a job conducting Duval Street trolley tours in Key West. Lots of sun and cigars later, his dream came true. Now he’s writing dark fiction and character-driven thrillers for Collective Inkwell. With humor and heart, Sawyer explores the depths of human behavior, shining a light on the ever-present darkness that threatens the world. He also likes puppies licking his face.
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