Die for Me

All I could do was hold my breath. And wait.

Acknowledgments

THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO HELPED ME get here. I would like to thank just a few.

For the enthusiasm, trust, and know-how that turned my story into a book, I am profoundly grateful to my editors Tara Weikum and Catherine Onder. They patiently guided Die for Me into its finished form, and I am truly lucky to have worked with both of them.

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my superhuman agent, Stacey Glick, who stirred up an interest for Die for Me that surpassed my every hope. Thanks, Stacey, for believing in me from the very begi

My friends Mags Harnett and Nathalie Cousin listened to my initial idea and used superhuman self-control not to show their true feelings when I said I wanted to write a zombie love story. Thank you both.

Infinite love and gratefulness to Saint Laurent of the Bleeding Ears, aka my enormously supportive husband, who let me read the very first draft to him every day over lunch and tried to hide his disappointment that the bad guys didn’t show up in speedboats at the end. Thank you for having faith in me, mon amour.

Also up for canonization: my friend Claudia Depkin, who went above and beyond what I would have ever dared ask, enthusiastically volunteering to read draft after draft of the manuscript. Her daily comments were invaluable and her unflagging encouragement helped me persevere.

Thank you to those friends who let me hide out in their vacant homes for precious writing time: Nicolas Mercier and Paul Krieger for their beach apartment in Trouville and castle in Saintes; Cassi Bryn Michalik for her rooftops-view apartment in Paris; Guy for his home in the Loire; and my father-in-law, Jean-Pierre, and Christiane for their home-five-minutes-away-from-home.

Remerciements to my friend Mags Harnett for the several read-throughs and invaluable comments. Also to my sister Gretchen Scoleri, my friends Kim Le

Thanks to Terry Jones for legal advice. Bill Braine for brainstorming. “Olivia” for making her opinion known and for being the book’s first true fan. Melissa Randazzo for leading my own personal cheering section. And my mother-in-law, Jea

And finally, but not least importantly, thank you to the faithful readers of Chitlins And Camembert. Your constant support and enthusiasm about my writing gave me confidence that I had stories worth telling.

About the Author

AMY PLUM spent her childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, her twenties in Chicago and Paris, and several more years in London and New York. Fed up with moving, she has settled down in the Loire Valley with her handsome French husband, two mostly delightful toddlers, and big red dog Ella. DIE FOR ME is her first novel. Visit her online at www.amyplumbooks.com.

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Credits

Jacket design by mecob.org

Jacket illustration by Joha

Jacket photographs:

© Monalyn Gracia/Corbis (figure)

© Olya Smith/Getty Images (background)

Copyright

Die for Me

Copyright © 2011 by Amy Plum

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.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-0-06-200401-7

EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780062077004

11 12 13 14 15 CG/RRDB 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

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