ABOUT THE AUTHOR - REBECCA LYNN KRIMM

Becca always loved writing, and composed poetry even as a youngster. But she had many other talents. She sang, sculpted, was an avid swimmer, an excellent dancer, and a fierce competitor in sports like fencing and horseback riding. And all this dynamic energy came in a very small package - Becca weighed barely a hundred pounds and stood just over 5'2" tall. Although many adults would envy her skill with words, Becca was actually born May 15, 1979, and everything in The Flame That Wouldn't Die was written before her 17th birthday.

Although she had no drug history beyond the typical experiments with pot and alcohol of most teens, Becca was given heroin by two addicts who lived nearby. Both of them were adult men who had left her high school before Becca ever started. Both of them had criminal histories. But they were local boys, and the children and parents of the neighborhood had no idea that monsters lived among them.

Becca never even knew what was in the drug-laced cigarettes that killed her. Discarded when she became too high, she died in a home belonging to strangers who did not even call her parents or 911. Unbelievably, her killers walked out of court with probation. Their families could afford the fancy lawyers who set them free by blaming this murder on the victim. The court didn't care about corrupt police and incompetent prosecutors. But we should. Each of us pays the penalty when criminals are sent back to the community to kill our children.

Becca would have graduated high school a year early in 1996. She loved dancing, staying up all night drinking coffee with friends, and every aspect of being alive. All who knew her are devastated at her loss. None of her many friends could understand how this child of light and laughter died from a heroin overdose. She wasn't an addict. She was a wonderful daughter and a good friend who was full of plans for summer vacation and college in the fall.

No one ever more deserved a long and prosperous life. Becca's only crime was that she trusted those who meant her harm. Youngsters like Becca, who grow up with two loving parents in a small subdivision where everyone is a friend and the neighborhood kids have hung out together since kindergarten, are easy prey for predators who push death into the security of their worlds with deceit and comforting words.

Becca will never attend senior prom, marry, or fulfill the bright promise of her future. This book was published because the flame of her talent was too bright to be extinguished by her death.

This angel child is still dancing in the stars and writing heavenly poetry. But our world has lost what could have been had Becca lived a lifetime. It is an unbearable tragedy for all of us that her words are all that remain of her vibrancy and insight.

In her honor and in keeping with the indomitable spirit of Becca Lynn, Rebecca's House Publishing will award $500 to 1 of every 1000 buyers of this volume and publish the names of the lucky winners on our Website.

Watch our site for news of future books to be published by this talented young author.