by Erica Waters
“Hey, y’all, we’re awful glad to be here,” Cedar drawls into the microphone, playing up his accent. “We’re going to start out with a bluegrass favorite, “Shady Grove,” which also happens to be the name of our pretty little fiddle player here.” He smiles at me, little red hearts floating over his head, and I can’t help but smile back. The crowd loves it—we haven’t even played a note and they’re already whistling and stomping.
Once we start playing, I scan the crowd, looking for my family. I spot Orlando’s parents first, sitting with Cedar’s mother and Sarah’s father. Mama, Aunt Ena, and Honey are in the third row, and Honey’s sitting in Mama’s lap, singing along, her eyes locked on me. The seat next to them is empty, and though I know he’s gone on to his rest, I imagine Daddy sitting there, his eyes teary with pride, his honey-gravel voice mixing with our music.
Daddy’s absence is a hole in the world, and it’s always going to be that, no matter how many years go by. His memory is starting to bring me more comfort than pain, though, like the music he taught me to play.
Bluegrass lyrics are almost always about death, loss, and unrequited love, but the music—the noise we make with our banjos and our fiddles—is joyful. The dead are always with us, even after their ghosts move on, but it’s the life pulsing through our veins that makes the music.
The fast, bright, twanging noise of bluegrass comes from Sarah’s shy dimple and Cedar’s sly smile, from Kenneth’s raucous nonsense and Rose’s sailor-worthy swearing. It comes from the wonder Orlando feels when he holds a butterfly in his hands, lovely and delicate as a dream. And today it comes from the joy that surges up in me as I watch my baby sister’s golden hair swirl in the Florida wind, her eyes as blue and bright as the September sky, her whole life stretching out before her.
Bluegrass might be full of ghosts, but it’s the life in it we love.
Acknowledgments
Getting a book published in today’s crowded market involves a mysterious combination of talent, hard work, and good luck. Much of it boils down to connecting with the right people at the right time. I’ve been so fortunate to connect with some incredible people, without whom Ghost Wood Song would only be a file on my computer.
First, I have to thank my literary agent, Lauren Spieller, and my editor, Alice Jerman, who both helped shape this book into what it is today. Lauren, you are a fierce champion, and I’m so honored to have you in my corner. Your nitpicky line notes nearly killed me, but they made this book shine. Alice, your enthusiasm and love for Ghost Wood Song made slogging through those last rounds of revisions totally worth it. Thanks also to Clare Vaughn, Megan Gendell, Alexandra Rakaczki, and the rest of the HarperTeen team, as well as everyone at Triada US Literary Agency.
The person who did some of the heaviest lifting on this book is my Pitch Wars mentor, Lisa Amowitz, who convinced me to gut the whole manuscript and rebuild it into something much stronger. Lisa, thank you for believing in my writing and for giving so much of yourself to bring Ghost Wood Song into the world. Thanks also to my Pitch Wars 2017 class, for your camaraderie and excellent advice.
Many brilliant, big-hearted people offered me encouragement, help, and insight on my publication journey. I’d especially like to thank a few professors who made a difference in my life: my mentors and friends, Rickey and Anna Cotton, as well as Dr. Sandy Hutchins, who believed in my creative abilities before I did.
So many friends, family members, and fellow writers have read and provided feedback on Ghost Wood Song and my other manuscripts. Thank you to Lauri Sellers, Kara San Joaquin, Cayla Keenan, Kit Rosewater, Wendy Heard, Melinda Waters, Kathy Orzechowski, Jane Beasley, Anne Alesch, Chandrika Achar, Em Shotwell, Hannah Whitten, Allison Ziegler, Christine Doeg, and Candice Conner. Thanks also to my Nashville writer pals Logan Malone and Anna West, who make sure I leave my writer’s cave at least once a week. A special shout-out to Rob Jackson, who helped me track down exactly the obscure old murder ballad I needed for an important scene. If I listed everyone else whose help I’m grateful for, I’d run out of pages. So if you are one of those generous people who has offered me your time and insight, thank you.
I have to give enormous thanks to my spouse, John, who not only patiently talks me through my plot problems, but also makes sure I have health insurance. Thank you for giving me the space, time, and encouragement I need to make books for a living. I love you.
Finally, I want to thank my parents. Daddy, you were always so proud of me and I hope you’d be really proud of this book too if you were here to read it. Momma, your example of strength and persistence helped me to become a person worth being proud of. Thank you for my life and for all your love.
About the Author
Photo by Amelia J. Moore
ERICA WATERS grew up in the pine woods of rural Florida, though she now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She has a master’s degree in English and works as a university writing tutor. When she’s not writing books, you can find her hanging out with her two dogs, Nutmeg and Luna, and forgetting to practice her banjo. Ghost Wood Song is her first book, and you can visit her online at www.ericawaters.com.
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Praise for Ghost Wood Song
“What a gorgeous, creepy gem of a book. Ghost Wood Song weaves a captivating spell you won’t want to break.”
—CLAIRE LEGRAND, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn and Sawkill Girls
“Strikes the perfect balance of atmospheric chills, dark familial secrets, and a yearning for the warm comforts of home.”
—ERIN A. CRAIG, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows
“A high and lonesome love song to family, to place, to music, and to love itself. It will make your heart dance.”
—JEFF ZENTNER, Morris Award–winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
“These haunted pages are full to bursting with intricate family dynamics, a nuanced queer romance, and a crescendo of an ending readers won’t see coming.”
—ROSIEE THOR, author of Tarnished Are the Stars
“Ghost Wood Song is a dusky, haunting daydream of a debut that hits all the right notes.”
—DAHLIA ADLER, author of Under the Lights and editor of His Hideous Heart
“When you finish, you’ll want to turn back to page one and start all over again.”
—AMANDA LOVELACE, author of The Princess Saves Herself in This One
Books by Erica Waters
Ghost Wood Song
The River Has Teeth
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Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
GHOST WOOD SONG. Copyright © 2020 by Erica Waters. 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Cover art © 2020 by Alix Northrup
Cover design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell
Library of Congress
Control Number: 2020933580
Digital Edition JULY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-289424-3
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-289422-9
2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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