Lisa Gardner: Say Goodbye

(We will now resume our normal operating system.)

I hope Kathy Ransom, winner of the fourth annual Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy Sweepstakes, enjoys seeing her daughter, Nicole Evans, immortalized as a Lucky Stiff. Likewise, I hope Beth Hunnicutt, winner of the Oregonian ’s “Why I Should Be a Corpse in Lisa Gardner’s Next Novel,” finds satisfaction in her fictional death, given the genuine trials she’s survived in real life. And finally, thank you to Lynn Stoudt, whose generous donation to the Gwinnett County Library entitled her to be a character in this novel (one of my first living entries!).

For those of you wishing you could get in on the action, don’t worry: The annual Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy Sweepstakes kicks off every September at www.lisagardner.com. Check it out and maybe in my next novel, you too can meet a grand end.

In closing, I would like to dedicate this novel to Jackie Sparks and the other staff members of Children Unlimited, Inc. Of all the novels I’ve written, this book is by far the most violent, and yes, it was difficult to write. I would like to tell you that the Burgerman is fictionalized, that his actions are nothing more than the warped product of my twisted imagination. Sadly, most of the information in those scenes came from true cases. The Burgermans of the world are real, and the damage they do is heartbreaking.

Which is why I am so grateful to the everyday heroes among us. People like Jackie, who, through early intervention services, child advocacy, and other programs, have dedicated their lives to helping kids. They provide the support, nurturing, and therapeutic services necessary for young lives to recover. They provide a voice for children whose fears often can’t be spoken.

Thank you, Jackie, for fighting the good fight. And thank you to all the early intervention services providers and child advocates out there, who understand that every child should be able to feel safe, valued, and loved.

Sincerely,

Lisa Gardner

Postscript

January 30, 2008

I started researching Say Goodbye in the fall of 2006, completing work on the manuscript in August 2007. Like most authors, I was grateful to finally complete a year-long project, and closed up my files without a backwards glance. Thus, I was dismayed to turn on the news the first week in January 2008 and hear that a young woman, Meredith Emerson, had gone missing while hiking Blood Mountain. Sadly, her body was discovered days later, a tragic end to a very promising life. I hope readers will understand that the fictional scenes portrayed in Say Goodbye were never intended to mimic any real world homicides, or exploit a genuine tragedy. My heart goes out to Meredith Emerson’s friends, family and community, now left to pick up the pieces.

LISA GARDNER is the New York Times bestselling author of Hide, Gone, Alone, The Killing Hour, The Survivors Club, The Next Accident, The Other Daughter, The Third Victim , and The Perfect Husband . She lives with her family in New England, where she is at work on her next novel of suspense.

Visit her website at www.lisagardner.com.