The Hawley Book of the Dead
Page 36
He is tender, his bruised, scratched hands move softly on my shoulders, my face. “Ah, Reve, I have to tell it.” And he whispers his secret, that is no secret to me: “I’ve never loved anyone but you.”
I remember the last lines of the poem that has been circling in my head.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I take Jolon’s hand, close my eyes. I feel his arms encircle me. I breathe in his warmth, his good woodsy smell, feel how real and solid he is.
I don’t know what the future might hold. We may indeed have promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep. But at this moment, we have all the time in the world.
To the memory of my father, Frank Karpinski, who taught me the first lesson a writer must learn: how to love the world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
No book is written in isolation. Thanks are due to many who have helped me, who have accompanied me for hours or days or years on the road to Hawley.
Thanks first and foremost to Aimee Swift, co-founder of the Valley4Writers and my most constant companion on the write road: the best friend, critical reader, and writing buddy a person could hope for. May your books be as well loved and well tended as Hawley was by you.
To Kate Miciak, my brilliant editor, who has the truest feel for the shape of a story, and incredible patience to cultivate it. Also many thanks to Libby McGuire, Jennifer Hershey, Kim Hovey, Maggie Oberrender, Jennifer Garza, Julia Maguire, Marietta Anastassatos, Vincent La Scala, and Kathleen Lynch.
To my amazing agent, Alexandra Machinist, who pulled this book out of the slush pile and got it where it is today—in the hands of readers. You are a true superhero. And at Janklow & Nesbit, to Stephanie Koven and Michael Steger.
To my UK editor, Selina Walker, and her wonderful team at Cornerstone, especially Glenn O’Neill.
To Rick Reiken, from whom I learned that it is possible to make a living as a writer.
To the Splinter Group: Janice Sorenson, Dori Ostermiller, Michael Hoberman, and David Lovelace, who welcomed me into their homes and writing lives.
To the other co-founders of the Valley4Writers: Stephanie Greene and Elizabeth Macalester. Scribblitas rule!
Thanks to Carol Cassella and the many members of the Seattle7Writers, for inspiration and coolness. Hope we can bring your spirit to the East Coast.
To Save Your Life Writers: Karen Amerman, Carleen Fischer Hoffman, Eva Kealey, Donna Liese, Missy Haddad, and Susan Staples.
To Joy Harjo, for early encouragement, and grace. To Maribeth Fischer, for the Seaglass conference. To Carolyn Parkhurst, for being the first to tell me I could sell this book. To Jacquelyn Mitchard, for lucky #119 earrings.
Thanks to the people of the western Mass hill towns, especially to Jay McMahon, for the history of magic and the Hawley Forest. And to Jim Martin, Cummington police chief (retired), for search and rescue information.
At the Odyssey Bookshop, thanks to everyone who has worked with me, past and present: for your patience, and your insights into the book world I wouldn’t have found elsewise, particularly Joan Grenier, owner of the Odyssey, and Emily Crowe, manager extraordinaire.
I am very grateful to friends who helped me along the way: to Carlotta Hoffman, for her spectacular visual sensibility, and to Leon Caragulian, for helping me negotiate weird Las Vegas. To Tracey Eller, for great photographs. To Nancy Grossman, for keeping my chi moving. To Diane Vincent, Elisabeth Brook, Anne Chamberlain, Jeanne Russo, Peter Vanamee, and Toni Lake, for friendship, cabins, stalls, and suppers.
Many thanks to my mother, Jennie Karpinski, for always having my back. Also to my aunts, Yvonne Szarlan and Stephanie Kuc, for love and cakes.
And finally, to my husband, George E. Browne III: thank you for feeding mutts, cooking dinners, and most of all for your belief in me. You’re last on this list, but first in my heart.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHRYSLER SZARLAN lives in western Massachusetts with her family, works part-time as a bookseller at the Odyssey Bookshop, and rides her horse in the Hawley Forest whenever possible. An alumna of Marlboro College, she jogged racehorses and worked as a magician’s assistant before graduating from law school, after which she worked as a managing attorney with Connecticut Legal Rights project. She is deep into her next novel of the Revelation Quartet.
www.chryslerszarlan.com