"Laurell K. Hamilton - Strange Candy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

my only completed science fiction story, тАЬHere Be Dragons.тАЭ You also get the only story IтАЩve ever
written in AnitaтАЩs world that has none of the main characters in it, тАЬSelling Houses.тАЭ

I have dozens of other short story ideas, and most of them are very unlike Anita and MerryтАЩs adventures.
My unwritten short ideas are vacations of the mind. The last thing you want to do on vacation is your
normal job. So how does a girl get to a point where normal is vampire hunting, fairie princesses and
private detectives, and some of the most erotic relationships on paper? Just lucky, I guess.

THOSE WHO SEEK FORGIVENESS
This is the first time Anita ever walked onto paper for me. The cemetery in this story is based on the
cemetery where my mother is buried. It was a place I knew very well, because my grandmother, who
raised me, took me often. I guess it was inevitable that I would write about the dead; my childhood was
haunted by death. Not real ghosts, but the ghosts of memory and loss. Anita raises the dead in this story,
which was all I had planned on her doing. The idea of her being a legal vampire executioner actually
didnтАЩt hit my radar until quite late in trying to write the first book. Originally this story represented what I
thought Anita would do: raise zombies. How different things would have been if IтАЩd stuck to my original
plan. No Jean-Claude, no Richard, not much of anybody except Anita. What a bleak world it would
have been, with just Anita and me in it.

D EATH is a very serious matter, Mrs. Fiske. People who go through it are never the same.тАЭ

The woman leaned forward, cradling her face in her hands. Her slim shoulders shook quietly for a few
minutes. I passed another box of tissues her way. She groped for them blindly and then looked up. тАЬI
know you canтАЩt bring him back, exactly.тАЭ

She wiped at two tears, which escaped and rolled down flawless cheekbones. The purse she clutched so
tightly was reptile, at least two hundred dollars. Her accessoriesтАФlapel pin, high heels, hat, and
glovesтАФwere all black as her purse. Her suit was gray. Neither color suited her, but they emphasized her
pale skin and hollow eyes. She was the sort of woman that made me feel too short, too dark, and gave
me the strange desire to lose ten more pounds. If she hadnтАЩt been so genuinely grief-stricken, I could
have disliked her.

тАЬI have to talk to Arthur. ThatтАЩs my husbandтАжwas my husband.тАЭ She took a deep breath and tried
again. тАЬArthur died suddenly. A massive coronary.тАЭ She blew delicately into a tissue. тАЬHis family did have
a history of heart disease, but he always took such good care of himself.тАЭ She finished with a watery
hiccup. тАЬI want to say good-bye to him, Miss Blake.тАЭ

I smiled reassuringly. тАЬWe all have things left unsaid when death comes suddenly. But it isnтАЩt always best
to raise the dead and say it.тАЭ

Her blue eyes stared intently through a film of tears. I was going to discourage her as I discourage every
one of my clients, but this one would do it. There was a certain set to the eyes that said serious.

тАЬThere are certain limitations to the process.тАЭ My boss didnтАЩt allow us to show slides or pictures or give
graphic descriptions, but we were supposed to tell the truth. One good picture of a decaying zombie
would have sent most of my clients screaming.

тАЬLimitations?тАЭ

тАЬYes, we can bring him back. You came to us promptly. That helps. HeтАЩs been buried only three days.