Shriek: An Afterword (54 page)

As to the current whereabouts of Duncan and Janice, I must fear the worst, although rumors,
²
as rumors will, continue to flourish in the current atmosphere of paranoia and fear.

And yet, despite the strife and violence chronicled and presaged by this volume, the enduring image I have of Janice and Duncan is a peaceful one. It is, oddly enough, of Janice in that room in the Spore, calmly typing away—from the bar folks’ perspective, in a sliver of green light between the doorway and the corridor as once they saw Duncan, but farther and farther away, across green glass and green grass, and fading, fading as the light fails once more.

THE END

Thanks to my wife Ann, my first reader, who has provided invaluable comments on and support for this novel over so many years. My most sincere and heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Liz Gorinsky, my editor at Tor, who has worked so hard to make this novel as perfect as possible with her general, specific, and structural edits. This novel would be a pale shadow of its current self without her efforts. Special thanks to my other beloved
Shriek
editors Peter Lavery (U.K.) and Hannes Riffel (Germany), as well as the indomitable Jim Minz.

Thanks to everyone who read all or part of this book in manuscript form and offered their comments, including Matt Cheney, Clare Dudman, Richard Hutchinson, Jason Lundberg, Mark Roberts, Eric Schaller, Jonathan Stephens, Anne Sydenham, Anna Tambour, Jeffrey Thomas, Juliet Ulman, Robert Wexler, Elizabeth VanderMeer, Neil Williamson, Tamar Yellin, and Zoran Zivkovic. Thanks to everyone at ISD who was generally supportive or specifically helpful with regard to this novel, including Gwen Hooper, Diana Jones-Ellis, Paul Larsen, Missy Lynch, Tom Lynch, Meredith McDonough, Kimberley Mitchell, Leigh Moore, Richard Peterson, Leisa Pichard, and Scott Stratton. Thanks to Jonathan Edwards and Mark Roberts for wonderful forgeries. Special thanks to my agent, Howard Morhaim, for his guidance, advice, patience, and friendship; to Danny Baror of Baror International; and to Claire Weaver, for her tireless efforts.

Finally, huge thanks to all of the people at Tor whose meticulous attention to this book I very much appreciate, including copyeditor Robert Legault, proofreader John Yohalem, designers Peter Lutjen and Nicole de las Heras, production editor Meryl Gross, publicist Leslie Henkel, and other behind-the-scenes contributors in the sales and marketing, art, and production departments.

Over the seven years during which I wrote
Shriek,
I listened to music—an unofficial soundtrack that helped me stay focused and on task through the most difficult parts. Much of the soundtrack I listened to is listed below.

Afghan Whigs—
Gentlemen
—Mary and Duncan’s relationship

The Cure—
Mixed Up
—transitions

Dead Can Dance—
Aion
—general

In Flames—
Soundtrack to Your Escape
—war scenes

James—entire catalog—general

Murder City Devils—entire catalog—war scenes and general

Muse—entire catalog—opera scene

The National—entire catalog—Mary and Duncan’s relationship

Nick Cave—
The Boatman’s Call
—the sadder parts of Mary and Duncan’s relationship

Nick Cave—
Henry’s Dream
—war scenes

Pleasure Forever—Compilation—Janice’s dissolute parties and Festival night

Radiohead—
OK Computer
—general

Scott Walker—
Tilt
—Duncan’s underground adventures

Songs: Ohia—
Magnolia Electric Co.
—general

South—
With the Tides
—general

Spoon—entire catalog, including
Gimme Fiction
—war scenes and general

Thursday—
War All the Time
—war reporter scenes

Tindersticks—
Tindersticks
—general

Scott Walker—
Tilt
—Duncan’s underground adventures

Special thanks to The Church, whose music I listened to throughout the writing of
Shriek
—so much of it that I hear it in my head when rereading the novel.

—Tallahassee, Florida, May 1998–August 2005