Reached

good and right and true was part of you. That you had the blessing, gift, good fortune, perfect luck, to know someone like this, to pass through fire and water and stone and sky together and emerge, all of you, strong enough to hold on, strong enough to let go.
    I can already feel some things slipping through my fingers like sand and water, like artifacts and poems, like everything you want to hold on to and can’t.
    But we did it. Whatever happens next, we managed to help find a cure and begin a vote.
    The river looks alternately blue and green as it reflects grass and sky, and I catch a glimpse of something red swimming in it.
    Ky leans in to kiss me and I close my eyes to better feel the moment of waiting and want before our lips meet.
    There is ebb and flow. Leaving and coming. Flight and fall.
    Sing and silent.
    Reaching and reached.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE
    Throughout the Matched trilogy, I have mentioned and/or quoted from several works of art. While most of the works are attributed in the text, I wanted to include a completed list here for those who are interested in reading or seeing more of these artists’ beautiful work.
    PAINTINGS:
    Chasm of the Colorado
, by Thomas Moran (referred to as Painting Nineteen of the Hundred Paintings)
    Girl Fishing at San Vigilio,
by John Singer Sargent (referred to as Painting Ninety-Seven of the Hundred Paintings)
    POETRY:
    “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
    “Poem in October” by Dylan Thomas
    “Crossing the Bar” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
    “They Dropped Like Flakes” by Emily Dickinson
    “I Did Not Reach Thee” by Emily Dickinson
    “In Time of Pestilence, 1593” by Thomas Nashe
     
    In
Crossed,
I also mention Ray Bradbury and Rita Dove, whose work, along with that of Wallace Stegner and Leslie Norris, inspired me during the writing of this series.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    I would like to thank:
    My husband, who sees beauty in both poetry and equations, and who never fails to believe and build up;
    Our four children, who are the how and why of everything I write;
    My parents and my brother and sisters;
    Dr. Gregory F. Burton, (who generously let me use his Goldilocks/Xanthe analogy in the text, and who helped me with the immunology involved in the story) and Dr. Matthew O. Leavitt (who lent his expertise as a pathologist). Any science that works regarding the Plague, its mutation, and the tablets is due to Dr. Burton and Dr. Leavitt—the fiction is all my fault;
    Ashlee Child, R.N., who answered many questions about nursing and patient care;
    Dale Hepworth, fisheries biologist, who sent me information and photos of sockeye salmon (the “redfish” Lei tells Xander about in
Reached
);
    My cousin Peter Crandall, a commercial airline pilot, who helped me with the flying scenes in the novel, and introduced me to the Osprey, the inspiration for the Pilot’s ship;
    My ancestor, Polly Rawson Dinsdale, and the other pioneers who ate sego lily bulbs to survive hard times and inspired the use of that flower in this story;
    Josie Lauritsen Lee, Lisa Mangum, and Robison Wells, who waded through early drafts and gave valuable and empowering feedback;
    Lizzie Jolley, Mikayla Kirkby, and Mylee Sanders, who were unfailingly patient and kind with my children and with me;
    My agent, Jodi Reamer, who piloted this series from beginning to end, guiding always with gusto and good humor back to where we needed to be (and on to places I hadn’t dreamed of);
    My editor, Julie Strauss-Gabel, who served as physic and poet, nurturing the manuscript and shaping it with her unparalleled intelligence and perception;
    The wonderful team at Writers House, including Alec Shane and Cecilia de la Campa;
    The fantastic people at Penguin: Scottie Bowditch, Erin Dempsey, Theresa Evangelista, Felicia Frazier, Erin Gallagher, Anna Jarzab, Liza Kaplan, Lisa Kelly, Eileen Kreit, Rosanne Lauer, Jen Loja, Shanta Newlin, Emily Romero, Irene Vandervoort, and Don Weisberg;
    And you, the reader, for taking this journey with Cassia, Ky, and Xander, and with me.

is the author of the Matched trilogy. Before becoming a writer, she taught high school English in Utah and upstate New York. She lives with her husband and four children outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit her online at www.allycondie.com.

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