The Grave Robbers of Genghis Khan (32 page)

After seven books, there are a great many people to thank.

The most important people to thank, of course, are my wife and three children. It’s not easy being married to a writer or having one as a father. Perhaps, one day my own kids (like the children of poor Enid Blyton) will write a book about what an ogre I was. (And if you do, then remember this: I did my best for you.)

Now I have to thank three people who are excellent agents but, more importantly, even better friends. These are Robert Bookman at CAA, and Caradoc King and Linda Shaughnessy at AP Watt. These people are the nearest thing I have found to powerful but benign djinn who can help to make a writer’s wishes come true.

I should also like to thank everyone at Scholastic USA, of course, many of whom I didn’t get to know by name. I should especially like to thank Dick Robinson, Ellie Berger, and the wonderful Lisa Ann Sandell, who was my very patient
and long-suffering editor, and the charming Charisse Meloto.

Thanks are also due to the talented Barbara Marcus, the brilliant Jean Feiwel, the loyal Richard Scrivener, the delightful Jo Hardacre, and my fellow in lunch, Amanda Punter. To each of them I say, “Best wishes to you all.”

I should like to thank Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and Nina Jacobson at Dreamworks for all their help and kindness.

But most of all, I must thank you, my readers — readers of all ages — many of whom have written to me with good ideas and kind words. The best thing about writing for children is the letters and e-mails from readers who almost invariably never write unless they have something nice to say. Apologies for not answering all of you. I’m a hopeless correspondent, as many of you will know by now. So thanks, guys. Warmest regards to you all.

P. B. KERR
was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he developed a lifelong love of reading. Although the Children of the Lamp books are P. B. Kerr’s first for children, he’s well known as the thriller writer Philip Kerr, author of the Berlin Noir series, including, most recently,
Field Gray
and
If the Dead Rise Not
, as well as the acclaimed novels
A Philosophical Investigation
,
The Grid
, and
The Shot
, among others. Mr. Kerr lives in London with his family.

Copyright © 2011 by Thynker Ltd.
Cover art © 2011 by Petar Meseldžija
Cover design by Elizabeth B. Parisi

All rights reserved. Published by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.,
Publishers since 1920.
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First edition, November 2011

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eISBN: 978-0-545-38801-6