Kristen Britain - Green Rider

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Table of Contents

ALSO BY KRISTEN BRITAIN:

Green Rider
First Riders Call
High Kings Tomb

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Book dreams do not become reality without the support and inspiration of several special people whom I wish to thank:

Cheryl Dyer, who insisted I read The Lord of the Rings at a young age, leading to my discovery of other authors and their tales, and eventually inspiring me to craft tales of my own. Cheryl is my steadfast friend, sounding board, and first reader. Her support so early on was essential, and still is today.

Terry and Jeri Goodkind, for their friendship, hospitality, chairs, and... well, they know. Terrys quest for excellence in his own work, and his high standards of quality in all aspects of his life, continually inspire me.

My agent, Anna Ghosh, for championing a green writer, and for her hard work in finding the right home for this book.

My editor, Betsy Wollheim, and assistant editor, Debra Euler, for their enthusiasm and patience, even after the die had been cast.

Keith Parkinson, for the beautifully rendered cover art.

Author John Marco, for comparing notes and sharing advice, and for listening with empathy to my harangues about noisy upstairs neighbors and squirrels (sometimes one and the same).

Author Lynn Flewelling, for sharing with me advice and her experience in this mind-boggling world of publication.

Batwing and Percival, who imitate office equipment all too well (paper shredder and paper weight respectively) and offered me companionship during the long and lonely efforts of writing a novel-length manuscript. They keep me humble.

And finally, Karigan Gladheon, for shouldering her way into my life and sweeping me along on one heck of a Wild Ride.

For my parents

INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

How can it be that my first novel, Green Rider, was published a whole decade ago? Where has the time gone?

Well, the time has gone to wherever it goes and it has been quite a journey. Im ten years older while my main protagonist, Karigan, has aged only a few years. Id say thats unfair, but considering the adventures and trouble Ive put her through? Im surprised she hasnt stepped off the page to swat me on the head.

Ten years is quite a span of time, but my relationship with Karigan goes back farther still. Did you know she was once male and just a minor character in another book I was trying to write? After I switched her gender and gave her a new name, she looked around the place, decided the story should be hers, and took it over. Green Rider was born and my life has not been the same since.

When I started writing Green Rider in the early 1990s, I was a seasonal park ranger and decided to stay on part-time at Acadia National Park in Maine to see what it was like during the winter (cold, stormy, beautiful, quiet). I had also grown tired of being forced to move from park to park every three to eight months in order to remain employed full time. My ulterior motive, however, was to take a stab at writing a novel. Id completed a novel during my teens and I wanted to see if I could do it again, this time challenging myself to create a publishable result, and thus achieving a lifelong dream.

The writing of the book was wonderful fun. I worked out plot points and details while hiking, bicycling, and walking in Acadia. The parks ecology and landscape, from the forests to the geology, became the model for the setting of the book.

That winter, I remember sitting at my 80/88 XT Magnavox computer with my kitten, Batwing, purring on my lap, and the wind howling outside. The snowdrifts were up to the windows. My apartmentmate, Kate Petrie, was there only on weekends, and in the evenings would listen to all I had written during the week. She was the first to enter the world of Green Rider other than myself.

After I finished the first draft, the inevitable revisions and rejections followed, with more revisions and rejections, and... you get the picture. I was fortunate to receive some guidance and inspiration from a fellow islander whose first fantasy novel had just been published, a guy named Terry Goodkind. I didnt appreciate back then just how big he was going to geta mega bestsellerI was just thrilled to find someone in the neighborhood who had written and published a fantasy novel. Yeah, there are a bunch of other famous people around here, but they dont necessarily write, and certainly not in my chosen genre.

Eventually the book was in good enough shape that Anna Ghosh of Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency agreed to represent it. I remember that night following our phone conversation, periodically sitting up in bed and declaring in the dark: Ive got an agent! It was probably followed by gleeful cackling. Im sure after a few repetitions of this the cats (by this time Percy had joined my household) were wondering just what the heck kind of human they were living with and could they leave, please, to live with a normal person.

A couple months later Betsy Wollheim of the legendary DAW Books offered to publish the book, an offer I accepted. The date was November 6, 1996: Election Day, with a presidential contest in the offing. It was wild to think my book would be joining the ranks of authors I had read for years: Jennifer Roberson, Tad Williams, Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff, and more. DAWs authors dominated my bookshelves then, and still do now.

Several months later Betsy called me for the first time. I happened to be home from work with a cold and in a bit of a stupor from medicine, but I had the presence of mind to jot notes. She used words like commercial and hard-cover and we talked about the cover art. It was definitely a WOW! conversation. I used to joke with a coworker when I was stepping out of the office to take a message if New York called. Now New York had really called!

As for the cover art? My dream artist, Keith Parkinson, was hired. (By now, as a result of all my euphoria, the cats definitely wanted to catch the next boat out of town.) One of the most exciting stages of production for me is seeing the art, and Keiths was spectacular, capturing the story, the scenery, and the feel of my book. It possesses a luminous quality that, in my opinion, sets it off from other books on the shelves. Sadly, this hugely talented, funny, kind man passed away in 2005, but I was so fortunate to have his art grace two of my covers.

I could go on endlessly about the process, but the important thing is that after an agonizing wait of two years, Green Rider was finally published and my little story, as I thought of it, made its way into the world, hopefully to be picked up and enjoyed by readers.

It was. I heard back from grandmothers, retired police officers and Marines, who loved the book. I heard from young people and people from across the country. Green Rider went backpacking across Europe and was taken to the Middle East. I was told it helped people through hard times, just as other books had helped me. Eventually the book was published abroad and soon I heard back from folks from all over the world.

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