Possess (26 page)

Authors: Gretchen McNeil

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Social Issues, #Dating & Sex, #Fantasy & Magic, #Horror & Ghost Stories

BOOK: Possess

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To Ginger Clark, my fearless, amazing, ballsy agent. She’s been a friend and ally, and she’s never given up on me. I count myself lucky to be one of her clients.

To Kristin Daly Rens, my wonderful editor, who understood this novel from the get-go, whose notes and vision totally resonated with me, and who loves Bridget as much as I do. Again, I’m a lucky girl.

To the entire Balzer + Bray and HarperCollins team who have been so supportive throughout this process: Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray, Sara Sargent, designers Sarah Hoy and Amy Ryan, copyeditors Kathryn Silsand and Laaren Brown, Emilie Polster and Megan Sugrue in marketing, and Allison Verost in publicity.

To the fabulous Holly Frederick and Dave Barbor at Curtis Brown, Ltd., who have worked tirelessly on behalf of this novel.

To my expansive support network of Inkies, Hopefuls, Purgies, Apocalypsies, and Bookanistas, especially Cindy Pon, Sarah Eve Kelly, Chandler Craig, Lisa and Laura Roecker, Deborah Gray, Wendy Cebula, Emily Kokie, Amy Dachtler, Yadira Taylor, Jake Gilchrist, Rachanee Srisavasdi, Tara Campomenosi, and Jessica Morgan. And of course, my comrades-in-arms, YARebels Jen Hayley, Leah Clifford, Scott Tracey, Victoria Schwab, Hannah Moskowitz, and Karsten Knight.

To a group of readers whose collected awesomeness surpassed all expectations—Jen Hayley (again), Courtney Allison Moulton, Amy Bai, Debra Driza, Mónica Bustamante Wagner, Jennifer Donahue, Sue Laybourn, ChristaCarol Jones, Nadine Nettmann, Juliette Dominguez, Rebecca Burrell, L. K. Herndon, Tracey Martin, Bryn Greenwood, Lisa Brackmann, Laurel Hoctor Jones, Shveta Thakrar, Karen Latham, P. J. Hoover, Kiki Hamilton, Keely Parrack, Holly West, Jill Myles, Rachel Hunter, Kitty Chiu, and Mark Uhlemann, who also gets some credit for the title.

To the amazing Pixie Spindel of Pixie Vision Productions, who made magic happen with that author photo.

To my “other” family at Cirque Berzerk, who have been endlessly enthusiastic about my “other” artistic endeavor. Rock on.

To Carrie Policella, boss and friend, who always turned a blind eye when I was writing on the clock.

To Roy Firestone, my brother from another mother, without whom I would surely be completely insane. He’s my rock, my sounding board, my dog sitter, my happy hour partner, my reality check, my cheerleader, and clearly the best friend a girl ever had.

To Peggy McNeil, my mom, who raised me to believe that I could do and be anything I wanted. I’m not sure she was thinking “opera singer–
circus performer–writer” at the time, but it all worked out.

Much love.

About the Author

Gretchen McNeil
is a former coloratura soprano, is the voice of Mary on G4’s
Code Monkeys
, and currently sings with the L.A.-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. She is a founding member of vlog group the YARebels—where she can be seen as “Monday”—and is an active member of the Enchanted Inkpot, a group blog of YA and middle-grade fantasy writers.
POSSESS
is her first novel. You can visit Gretchen online at www.gretchenmcneil.com.

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Credits

Front cover: Portrait: © 2011 by Selina Kolokytha;

Trees: © 2011 by natures-desktop

Jacket design by Sarah Hoy

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McNeil, Gretchen.
   Possess / Gretchen McNeil. — 1st ed.
     p. cm.
   Summary: Enlisted to help in dangerous cases of demonic possession, a teenaged exorcist discovers a race of part-demons intent on raising their forefathers to the earth in human form.
   ISBN 978-0-06-206071-6 (trade bdg.)
   [1. Demoniac possession—Fiction. 2. Demonology—Fiction. 3. Exorcism—Fiction. 4. Racially mixed people—Fiction. 5. San Francisco (Calif.)—Fiction. 6. Horror stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.M4787952Po 2011

2010050507

[Fic]—dc22

CIP
AC

11 12 13 14 15 LP/BV 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

About the Publisher

Australia

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Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

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Canada