Ashen Winter (Ashfall)

Robinson, and Zack Robinson for patiently answering my questions about autism and for suggesting numerous changes to Ashen Winter —I couldn’t have brought Ben to life without you.
•  Joseph E. Boling for training with his extensive collection of pistols and shotguns.
•  Terry Farley for teaching me the rudiments of operating an M4 carbine, Uzi submachine gun, and Remington 300 sniper rifle.
•  Fred Ropkey of the Ropkey Armor Museum for allowing me to crawl all over and under his beautifully restored M35A2 and for loaning me its operation and repair manuals.
•  Helen-Louise Boling and Josh Mugele for their help on medical questions.
•  Ray Liwosz for his pharmaceutical expertise.
•  Ken Bandy for training on shortwave radio operation and his wife Carol for putting up with me while I kept asking “just one more question” an hour after dinner was on the table.
•  Aubrey Wesson for advice on the properties of propane, natural gas, and BLEVE explosions.
    Thanks to my critique group, the YA Cannibals (Shannon Alexander, Lisa Fipps, Robert Kent, Jody Sparks, and Virginia Vought), for making Ashen Winter take months longer to write than I anticipated. The extra time was worth it.
    Thanks to Karen Brissette and Kathrina Senft for their cheerleading of Ashfall and helpful comments on the Ashen Winter manuscript.
    Thanks to everyone associated with Tanglewood Press and Publisher’s Group West for making my first publishing experience a wonderful one. I particularly appreciate Rebecca Grose for her superbly well-organized book tours and Erin Blacketer for making my life easier. Above all, thank you to Peggy Tierney. She never loses sight of why we do this—for our readers.
    On that note, thanks to all my readers. Your enthusiasm buoys me when I begin to sink into the dark water of self-doubt.
    Thank you to all the booksellers, librarians, and teachers who’ve helped Ashfall connect with its readership. I dedicated Ashen Winter to my mother partly in your honor: she was a teacher before I was born, a librarian while I grew up, and is now a bookseller.
    Thank you to the people of Iowa and Northwest Illinois who have been so welcoming during my three research trips to the area. I’ll be back soon.
    And most of all, as always, thank you Margaret: my wife, first reader, best friend, and true love.

About the Author

    Photo by Larry Endircott
    Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really glad this writing thing seems to be working out.
    Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. Ashen Winter is his second novel. His debut, Ashfall , was named one of the top five young adult novels of 2011 by National Public Radio, a Best Teen Book of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews, and a New Voices selection by the American Booksellers Association.
    Connect with Mike at www.mikemullinauthor.com .