Beauty From Ashes (77 page)

Carolyn Blakemore has been my cherished friend for years longer than I’ve been a Doubleday author. She works for herself now, and if Steve didn’t retain her for me, I would. She is my ultimate judge when it comes to the often difficult construction of a big novel. Writing another one without Carolyn would be like breathing without air. You laugh at me, Carolyn, but you are “the greatest editor in the universe,” and I stand by my extravagance. Thank you. Thank you.

It is said often these days that a good agent is harder to find than a publisher. I wouldn’t know, because once I began to work with Lila Karpf, I knew I had found the best. Lila not only works hand in glove with Eileen on a zillion angles in my behalf, she knows me, believes in me, and I am of all authors most blessed to have her as my agent, my literary manager, and my friend as well. Thank you, Lila, for being you. And for being for me.

And yet another time, I empty my heart of

both love and gratitude for every reader 1049 of my work. Without you, I wouldn’t have the energy or the courage to keep going. Because of you, I am, after some rest time, beginning another book, and with every page rolled into my old manual typewriter, I’ll be counting on each one of you.

EUGENIA PRICE

St.

Simons Island, Georgia

THE END