Three Dark Crowns (32 page)

Hi there. This one was quite the odyssey. Years in the making. Lots of folks to thank. But where to begin?

With the idea, I guess. Writers are often asked where we get our ideas, and I never have a good answer. So it's quite a thrill that this time I do. Thanks very much to my friend Angela Hanson and her beekeeping pal, Jamie Miller, for having the conversation about swarming bees that started all this. The blueberry ale was also pretty good. Bees and beer, you guys know how to have a good time.

Next up, the shove from idea to writing. I have to thank my agent, Adriann Ranta, for that (and for many, many other things). When I told Adriann about this, her eyes lit up. Then she politely listened while I told her about another book I wanted to write first. She even read that one after I wrote it. But I knew she wanted this. So, thank you, Adriann, for championing 3DC back when it was a vague bit of nothing, and for
shepherding it through.

Thank you to my wonderful editor, Alexandra Cooper. You brought so much into the world of the queens. And I love your persnicketiness. That's not a word. Or is it? Whatever, you know what I mean. You are also a fantastic champion for a book to have. These queens be lucky.

Thank you to the entire book-creating team at HarperTeen: Aurora Parlagreco, designer extraordinare, and Erin Fitzsimmons, art director of legend! Olivia Russo, publicity wizard, and Kim VandeWater and Lauren Kostenberger, marketing powerhouses. Jon Howard, for more editorial excellence. The fabulous copy editor, Jeannie Ng. I am in awe of how much passion you all put into your projects. And how much you get done!

Virginia Allyn, rad map. John Dismukes, kickin' crowns. Both of these folks are such talented artists.

Thanks to Allison Devereux and Kirsten Wolf at Wolf Literary.

Thank you to Amy Stewart, who I have never met but whose excellent book
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities
helped a lot, poison-wise. Of course, I took many liberties, so don't blame her for any stretched facts.

Thank you to the novelist April Genevieve Tucholke for reading an early draft and telling me she liked it.

Thanks to the readers, the librarians, the bloggers, the booksellers, the booktubers, the book lickers (I've seen a few
of you—no shame; lick proudly).

Thanks to my parents (ready for another book-release barbecue?); my brother, Ryan; and my friend Susan Murray. Thanks to Missy Goldsmith.

And thanks to Dylan Zoerb, for luck.

Photo by Dylan Zoerb

KENDARE BLAKE
holds an MA in creative writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She is the author of
Anna Dressed in Blood
, a Cybils Awards finalist;
Girl of Nightmares; Antigoddess; Mortal Gods;
and
Ungodly
. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, have been featured on multiple best-of-year lists, and have received many regional and librarian awards. Kendare lives and writes in Kent, Washington. Visit her online at
www.kendareblake.com
.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
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Three Dark Crowns

One Dark Throne

Cover art © 2016 by JOHN DISMUKES

Cover design by AURORA PARLAGRECO

HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

THREE DARK CROWNS
. Text copyright © 2016 by Kendare Blake. Map of Fennbirn by Virginia Allyn. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.epicreads.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938986

ISBN 978-0-06-238543-7

ISBN 978-0-06-256412-2 (int.)

EPub Edition © August 2016 ISBN 9780062385451

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FIRST EDITION

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