“Behold,” Dr. Gloria said. For that was the angel’s name.
“You are such a fucking drama queen,” the scientist said.
“I told you I would be with you always,” Dr. Gloria said. She stepped down from the rock and flexed her wings. In her hand was a notepad bursting with hundreds of pages.
“That trick at Edo’s,” the scientist said. “That thing with the sword? I know why you did it.”
“What trick?” the angel said innocently. She blew some snow from the top page on the pad.
“What do you have there?” the scientist asked.
“Oh,” the angel said. “I’ve been working on a book of parables.”
—G.I.E.D.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge that I am a lucky man.
For example, I have in my corner the agent Martha Millard, whose enthusiasm for this book when it was nothing but a synopsis got me fired up to write it.
I am extremely fortunate to have David Hartwell as my editor. He was an early supporter of my short stories, and then insisted that I send him the early chapters of this book. Somehow he saw some potential for a novel despite their disheveled state. He introduced me to the fine people at Tor, including Alex Cameron and Marco Palmieri, who helped put this book together.
The right books fell into my hands when I needed them. I’m indebted to the work of the neuroscientists Antonio Damasio, V. S. Ramachandran, and Oliver Sacks, as well as to that of the philosophers and scientists Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Wegner.
This book wouldn’t have been completed without three retreats that came along at the best possible time, in the company of the right people, in three inspiring locations. The book was begun on a beach on the Atlantic, with C. C. Finlay and the Blue Heaven crew. The final sprint on the first draft took place in a cabin in the Poconos, alongside Matt Sturges and Dave Justus. The second draft was completed within spitting distance of the Pacific, at Patrick Swenson’s fabulous Rainforest Writers Retreat.
But I am especially lucky to have such great friends and family who read this book in draft form and offered advice. My thanks to these readers, in geographical order from east to west: Kathy Bieschke, who lives right here in our home; Gary Delafield, Elizabeth Delafield, and Mary “Gold Star” McClanahan in State College, Pennsylvania; Kevin McCullough Wabaunsee of Chicago, who shared his experiences working in a neuroscience lab, including the secrets of rat sacrifice; Kurt Dinan in Hamilton, Ohio; Dave Justus and Matt Sturges in Austin; and Nancy Kress and Jack Skillingstead in Seattle. Adam Rakunas, in far-off Santa Monica, not only read the book, he allowed me to rustle the miniature bison from his story “Oh Give Me a Home” and shrink them to apartment-sized critters.
In a surprise twist, the best copy editor on the planet, Deanna Hoak, moved to my little town so we could go over the manuscript in person.
Finally, Kathy, Ian, and Emma put up with me when I was distracted and missed me when I was gone.
See? Damn lucky.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
AFTERPARTY
Copyright © 2014 by Daryl Gregory
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Getty Images
Cover design by Base Art Co.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Gregory, Daryl.
Afterparty / Daryl Gregory.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7653-3692-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-2928-2 (e-book)
1. Drug abuse—Fiction. 2. Science fiction. I. Title.
PS3607.R48836A69 2014
813'.6—dc23
2013025194
e-ISBN 9781466829282
First Edition: April 2014
Afterparty Page 32
