Authors: Sarah Jane Stratford

The Midnight Guardian (37 page)

BOOK: The Midnight Guardian

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The typeface used for the title page and chapter headings in this book is Fette Fraktur, a German blackletter (also called a “Gothic Script”) typeface, designed by punchcutter Johann Christian Bauer in 1850. Popular in advertising, it was considered a symbol of German identity and was initially embraced by the Third Reich until it was banned in 1941, when it was decided its letterforms were
Judenlettern
(Jewish letters). Some suspect the ban was more due to the typeface being hard to read by citizens of occupied countries. It was often employed by Allied forces for use in anti-Nazi propaganda.

Acknowledgments

First, I must thank and pay homage to all my history teachersâand then apologize. I like to think that if history is written by winners, it's reinvented by fiction writers.

Of course, there are more people to thank than could possibly be mentioned here, and if I have forgotten anyone, I hope they feel free to shame me at the appropriate juncture.

On the business side, I must thank my amazing agent, Margaret O'Connor, whose patience, hard work, and awesome cheerleading continue to go above and beyond; my brilliant editor, Hilary Teeman, whose every change and suggestion were both spot-on and enlivening; and my great manager, Steve White, whose belief in me got me â¦ here!

A zillion hugs and everlasting gratitude go to: The fabulous Allie Spencer, who told me that this character and story turning around in my head couldn't be anything but a bookâthereafter, it was all systems go; the awesome Stephen Smith, who was a tireless giver of insight that brought me even deeper into the world I thought I knew so wellâand who sometimes makes me laugh till I feel pain in places I didn't know existed; the divine Christy English, who not only helped me tap back into a specific joy in the work that I'd let slide as life got in the way, but also reassured me during some dark hours that Brigit would always be my beacon; and my darling “twin,” Melinda Klayman, who is a sharp critic
but has always believed in me and knew I'd find my way even when I was well off the path.

Big thanks, of course, to my mother, who will remind me that she very kindly never asked when I was going to get a real job.

Many friends at the Writers Room in New York were a tremendous help. I have to single out Tim Kirkman and Jerry Weinstein, who took a lot of abuse and actually seemed to enjoy it. And shout-outs to Eamon Hickey, Dana Liu, Colin McPhillamy, Manjula Menon, and Tony Perrottet.

I also have to single out nitpicker extraordinaire Martin della Valle, whose patience and skill with the fussiest little niggles deserves a medal, and Amy Morton, title exploration goddess.

Others who were amazing along the way include Emerson Bruns, Katey Coffing, Amanda Kirk, Robb McCaffree, Alisa Roost, Michael Santora, Sophie Sartain, Anne Marie Schleiner, Beth Seltzer, William Shakespeare, of course, for helping make the vampires so eloquent, and, for providing endless inspiration, Stephen Sondheim. But that's another story altogether.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

www.stmartins.com

eISBN 9781429985499

First eBook Edition : December 2011

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stratford, Sarah Jane.

The midnight guardian / Sarah Jane Stratford.â1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-56013-3

1. VampiresâFiction. I. Title.

PS3619.T7425M53 2009

813'.6âdc22

2009016927