After the Fire Read online

  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

  J. P. BEAUMONT MYSTERIES

  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

  Day of the Dead

  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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