Ascending the Boneyard (30 page)

And to those who were kind enough (or crazy enough) to read drafts and share their thoughts along the way: Austin Rist (you should be on here at least three times), Carol and John Watson, Doug Marshall, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Fran Gordon, Gwendolyn McIntyre (rest in peace, beautiful soul), Jeannie Mobley-Tanaka, Jennifer Salas, Joel Watson, Joshua McCune, Leigh Purtill, Lisa Gus, Lynne Bercaw, Missy Neal, Naheed Hasnat, Pennie Baxter, Rachel Watson, Ruth and Charlie Barshaw, Sheri Eichar, Sofie Bercaw, Susan Vaught.

Each of us must negotiate our own internal landscape of pain and struggle—and yes, the journey can be challenging, the pain can be brutal, the loneliness, the fear, the isolation can feel surreal at times. But hang tough, my friend. Find your tribe, fight for yourself, be brave, and trust that you'll come out on the other side with more of yourself than you had when you went in.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

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First Simon Pulse hardcover edition February 2016

Text copyright © 2016 by C.G. Watson

Jacket photograph copyright © 2016 by Oliver Charles/Arcangel Images

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Jacket designed by Regina Flath

Interior designed by Tom Daly

The text of this book was set in Weiss Std.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Watson, C. G.

Ascending the boneyard / by C. G. Watson. — First Simon Pulse hardcover edition.

p. cm.

Summary: Overwhelmed by a series of losses, including an accident that left his brother in a wheelchair, his father's abuse, and his mother's departure, sixteen-year-old Tosh escapes into a video game, but soon the game becomes much more real than his life.

[1. Virtual reality—Fiction. 2. Video games—Fiction. 3. Family problems—Fiction. 4. Loss (Psychology)—Fiction. 5. Brothers—Fiction. 6. People with disabilities—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.1.W415Asc 2016

[Fic]—dc23

2014049485

ISBN 978-1-4814-3184-2 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4814-3186-6 (eBook)