We have homes in two places that we both love, Tucson and Seattle. In Seattle people who hear me being interviewed on the radio or television recognize me by my laughter—the same laughter that was totally absent from my earlier life in Phoenix. I went to Seattle in July 1981 as a single parent of two children. In 1985, after marrying again, I added a husband and three more children. Through the years we have been blessed with six grandchildren and a number of very spoiled dogs.
There are times when I feel a whole lot like a modern-day Cinderella, but the poems in this book, the ones I took with me to that widowed retreat back in 1985, were vitally important to this happy ending. If some of my readers are struggling with similarly tough issues, I hope they’ll find hope and inspiration here.
I’ve come a very long way since 1980, when I wrote “The Collector” and thought that the best I could hope for in life was to collect trading stamps.
As I prepare this third edition of After the Fire for publication, it’s early spring 2013. When my editor asked me to make some revisions, I was shocked to discover that the file containing the original version of this book was still on some long-ago PC rather than on my current MacBook Air. So, for the past two days, I’ve spent hours dictating both the poems and the accompanying essays, word by word, into my iPad. I’m hoping I’ve caught all those pesky auto-corrects, but I’m not sure. I have to say, Siri isn’t much of a poet.
In the process I have been both surprised and gratified to learn that the poetry I wrote starting forty years ago still speaks to me, and I trust it will speak to others as well. The events portrayed in these poems may have happened in the distant past, but the benefits of those challenging experiences are present with me every day of my life. Living through tough times and learning the lessons they had to teach are what made me the person and the writer I am today.
I had a chemistry teacher who told me once, “All steps are necessary; no steps may be skipped.” That’s as true of life as it is of chemistry, and After the Fire is a book full of steps not skipped.
About the Author
J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and four interrelated thrillers about the Walker family. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle and Tucson.
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Also by J. A. Jance
JOANNA BRADY MYSTERIES
Desert Heat
Tombstone Courage
Shoot/Don’t Shoot
Dead to Rights
Skeleton Canyon
Rattlesnake Crossing
Outlaw Mountain
Devil’s Claw
Paradise Lost
Partner in Crime
Exit Wounds
Dead Wrong
Damage Control
Judgment Call
Until Proven Guilty
Injustice for All
Trial by Fury
Taking the Fifth
Improbable Cause
A More Perfect Union
Dismissed with Prejudice
Minor in Possession
Payment in Kind
Without Due Process
Failure to Appear
Lying in Wait
Name Withheld
Breach of Duty
Birds of Prey
Ring in the Dead
Long Time Gone
Justice Denied
Fire and Ice
Betrayal of Trust
Second Watch
WALKER FAMILY MYSTERIES
Hour of the Hunter
Kiss of the Bees
Queen of the Night
ALI REYNOLDS MYSTERIES
Edge of Evil
Web of Evil
Hand of Evil
Cruel Intent
Trial by Fire
Fatal Error
Left for Dead
Deadly Stakes
Credits
Cover photograph © by ImagineGolf/iStock Photos
Copyright
First published in 2004 by the University of Arizona Libraries. Poems originally published in 1984 by Lance Publications.
AFTER THE FIRE. Copyright © 2013, 2004 by J. A. Jance. 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST WILLIAM MORROW EDITION PUBLISHED 2013.
ISBN 978-0-06-229397-8
EPub Edition September 2013 ISBN 9780062293985
13 14 15 16 17 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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