Between Before and After (25 page)

Authors: Amanda Dick

BOOK: Between Before and After

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About the Author

Amanda Dick is a night-owl, coffee addict, movie buff and music lover. She also writes.

She is rather partial to dark chocolate and believes in the power of a good vanilla latte. She has a passion for the colour green (particularly in clothes and gemstones) and insists there is nothing sexier than a man in a kilt.

She spent several months traveling around Europe in her late 20’s (there’s a story there – she’ll get around to writing it one day). After ridding herself of her wanderlust, she met the love of her life (while working to pay off said wanderlust) in Edinburgh, Scotland. They moved in together the week after their first date – so yes, she believes in love at first sight. She also believes in women’s intuition and following your heart.

She writes on her trusty laptop, predominantly late at night, when it’s quiet and interruptions are few. Most of all, she enjoys writing about human behaviour – love, loss, joy, grief, friendship and relationships in general. She loves to put normal, everyday people into situations that will test their boundaries. She is passionately curious about how we, as human beings, react when pushed to the edge.

After living in Scotland for five years, she now lives back home in her native New Zealand with her husband and two children.

Her debut novel, “Absolution”, was released in October 2013. “Between Before and After” is her second novel.

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Acknowledgements

This story is not based on fact, however the idea for it came from the suicide of a close friend of my husband’s. It made me look at life differently. Suicide is such a messy event – not for the person committing it, but for those he or she leaves behind. So this story is for all of those affected by the suicide of a loved one. You are not alone. To anyone having suicidal thoughts – please, seek help. Reach out to someone. Talk about it. Save a life – your own. You’re worth it, whether you believe you are or not.

Thank you to my husband, Willie, for wearing his heart on his sleeve. Thank you for letting me in and trusting me. I love you all the more for it. Thank you for bearing with me when I zone out, and for making dinner and dragging me away from my laptop to eat it. Thanks for humouring me and for listening to me when I have an attack of the self-doubts. Without your love and support, this story would still be buried somewhere on my hard-drive.

To my wonderful, patient and inspirational children, Georgia and Cameron – keep being the amazing human beings you are. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I am really lucky enough to have kids as incredible as the two of you really are.

My amazing beta readers, Tara Horak and Danielle Lewandowski, I can’t truly express how honoured I was to have you so enthusiastically read this for me. Your feedback was superb – honest, straight to the point, and above and beyond what I expected. Without a doubt, you made this story better and you have my never-ending gratitude for that.

Thank you to Sarah Widdup from Irrefutable Proof, my Editor Extraordinaire. You picked up things that sailed past the three of us combined, and you made suggestions that told me you not only respected what I was trying to achieve here, but you wanted to make sure I did it to the best of my ability. You made the process fun and enlightening - let’s do it all again soon!

My amazing Facebook support group (my “inner sanctum”) – thank you all! You’ve all been incredibly supportive – you sat through my mood swings and my cry-baby “I can’t do it!” moaning, you gave me valuable feedback on everything from the number and nature of “acceptable” swear words in a work of contemporary fiction to whether or not the book needed a warning. You were my collective sounding board and your loyalty and support has been unwavering. I can’t tell you how many times you picked me up off the ground and got me to sit back down at my laptop and just get on with it.

Big thanks to the amazing Anita B. Carroll at Race-Point.com for this incredible cover! Your generosity and dedication has been noted and I’m afraid I’m going to be a lifetime client. I hope you’re ready for that!

Thank you to all the readers and bloggers from all over the world who loved “Absolution” and who flocked to say hello and support me. It really means so much – I hope you’ll stick around a little longer.

Playlist

Black and Blue
– Counting Crows

Gone Too Soon
– Daughtry

Firefly
– Atlas

The Thief
– Brooke Fraser

Trouble
– Coldplay

Prelude To A Kiss
– Alicia Keys

The Otherside
– Breaks Co-Op

Wish You Were Here
– Pink Floyd

Autumn
– Paolo Nutini

I’ll Be Waiting
– Adele

Future Days
– Pearl Jam