Sleeping Beauties

AUTHORS’ NOTE

If a fantasy novel is to be believable, the details underpinning it must be realistic. We had plenty of help with those details while writing Sleeping Beauties, and we are enormously grateful. And so, before we leave you, here’s a tip of our Red Sox caps to some of those who helped us find our way.

Russ Dorr was our primary research assistant. He helped us with everything from RVs to facts on how quickly kerosene degrades. He also made valuable contacts for us in the world of women’s incarceration and corrections. Because we needed to visit a women’s prison—get boots on the ground, so to speak—our thanks to the Honorable Gillian L. Abramson, Justice, New Hampshire Superior Court, who arranged a field trip to the New Hampshire State Prison for Women in Goffstown, New Hampshire. There we met Warden Joanne Fortier, Captain Nicole Plante, and Lieutenant Paul Carroll. They took us on a tour of the prison and answered all of our questions patiently (sometimes more than once). These are dedicated corrections officers, both tough and humane. It’s quite possible that the situation at Dooling Correctional might have been resolved peacefully if any of them were on staff—lucky for us they weren’t! We can’t thank them enough.

We also want to express our gratitude to Mike Muise, a corrections officer with the Valley Street Jail, in Manchester, New Hampshire. Mike passed on lots of good info on intake procedure at police stations and prisons. Officer Tom Staples (retired) helped us furnish the armory at the Dooling Sheriff’s Office with a fine supply of weapons.

We conceived of the shaky ground on which Lion Head Prison was built from our reading of Michael Shnayerson’s superb nonfiction chronicle Coal River.

Where we got it right, thank those folks. Where we got it wrong, blame us… but don’t be too quick to do so. Remember that this is a work of fiction, and from time to time we found it necessary to bend the facts a little to suit the course of our story.

Kelly Braffet and Tara Altebrando gave us enormously helpful readings of an early, much-longer version of the novel. We are much obliged to them.

Thanks are due to all the folks at Scribner, and in particular to Nan Graham and John Glynn, who coedited the book with tireless efficiency and panache. Susan Moldow lent moral support. Mia Crowley-Hald was our in-house production editor, and we are grateful for her hard work. Angelina Krahn did a wonderful job of copyediting a long and complex manuscript. Katherine “Katie” Monaghan is the tireless publicist who worked to get news of the book out there. Stephen’s agent, Chuck Verrill, and Owen’s agent, Amy Williams, both supported us through this long effort and worked together as if they had been doing it their whole lives. Chris Lotts and Jenny Meyer sold the foreign rights all over the globe, and we thank them for their efforts.

Steve wants to thank his wife, Tabitha; his daughter, Naomi; and his other son, Joe, known to his readers as Joe Hill. Owen wants to thank his mom, his sibs, Kelly, and Z. All of them understand the difficulty of the job, and made time for us to do it.

Last but hardly least, we want to thank you, sir or madam, for reading our novel. We appreciate your support more than words can say, and hope you enjoyed yourself.