Authors: Zoe Marriott
The Swan Kingdom (24 page)
A smile curves my lips. In the end, I know all will be well.
Writing a book is sometimes hard, but it’s a piece of cake compared with trying to thank everyone who has helped you along the way. Nothing I say can ever express my love and gratitude to those people, but – I would like to thank:
Emil Fortune, editor, pal and all-round heck of a guy, without whom this book would never have been finished, let alone published. Yasmin Standen, for believing in me and this book, and always managng to say the right things. Hilary Van Dusen for taking on
The Swan Kingdom
for Candlewick Press, and being an utter delight to work with. Consider this the written equivalent of a big hug and kiss to all of you.
Georgie, the fabled Best Copy-Editor in the World, who made it fairly painless to see my manuscript covered in red scribbling. Steve Rawlings for cover art that literally made me cry with happiness, and Jim Bunker for wonderful ideas and beautiful hand lettering. All the rest of Walker Books whom I have met, for making me feel welcome at my first sales presentation, and kindly ignoring my tendency to babble hysterically.
The Furtive Scribblers: Barbara MG, Leah S, Holly, Susan Ang, Dr Tina Rath, and Rachel/Roccie. You are amazing people and I don’t know what I would do without you. Come the glorious day, the cakes will be on me, I promise.
Rachel Penszor, Nic Robinson, Louise Robinson and Helen Tilson for reminding me that I’m supposed to have a life beyond my laptop. Long live Pizza Night!
The Forumites of the Advanced Book Exchange for being a bunch of biblio-obsessed, wise-cracking nutjobs, just like me.
Sasha Drennan, because simple kindness is the most important and the most under-rated virtue in the world.
And most of all, thank you to my family, especially my parents David and Elaine Marriott, for putting up with me for more than twenty years. I love you.
THE SWAN KINGDOM
Zoë Marriott lives in North East Lincolnshire with her two cats, named Hero and Echo, and the Devil Hound, otherwise known as Finn. Zoë has written three books:
The Swan Kingdom
, which was longlisted for the Branford Boase and chosen as an USBBY Outstanding International Book,
Daughter of the Flames
and
Shadows on the Moon
, which won the prestigious Sasakawa Prize. She is currently working on a fourth novel,
FrostFire.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents
are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real,
are used fictitiously.
First published 2007 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 2007 Zoë Marriott
Cover illustration © 2007 Steve Rawlings
The right of Zoë Marriott to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any
means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
a catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-3553-8 (ePub)