Three weeks later, I had the first draft of The Deepest Roots.
First of all, I have to thank my amazing, super-talented agent, Kristin Nelson, and everyone at Nelson Literary Agency, who make things run so smoothly and take such excellent care of authors. Kristin, thank you for taking a chance on me and my girls from Cottonwood Hollow. You took my manuscript and your excellent vision for what it could be and turned my story into a dream come true. Another huge thank-you goes to the very insightful and witty Angie Hodapp in literary development at NLA, whose maps helped me discover all the secrets of Cottonwood Hollow.
Emilia Rhodes, my perceptive and entirely awesome editor at HarperTeen, I thank my stars that my story found a home with you. Your editorial guidance and enthusiasm helped me shape this book into more than I’d imagined. Thank you for finding the beauty that I see in rural America. More gratitude goes to the rest of the HarperTeen family, including most especially Alice Jerman, who fearlessly took the reins, Alexandra Rakaczki, Megan Gendell, Jenna Stempel-Lobell, artist La Scarlatte, and everyone else who helped make my dream a reality. You people rock.
My husband, Antonio, thank you for finding that Mach 1 in an alley seventeen years ago and teaching Rome and me everything we know about cars. Thank you for encouraging me to follow my dreams, even when they seemed farfetched. Thank you for herding our small humans and ordering Chen’s takeout while I wrote this book. Thank you for the long drives so I could plot. Sorry about that time I accidentally threw your new Bluetooth headphones into the washing machine with the laundry. I was thinking about edits.
My daughters, Amira and Rosalie, sharing stories with you made me remember how much I love them, and you were the inspiration for me to begin weaving words again after years away from writing. Thank you both for cheering me on. And for bringing me leftover Halloween candy when I looked tired. None of this would have happened without you.
To my family, I am so grateful to you for putting up with my weird stories since I was a kid. Mom and Dad, thank you for the notebooks, the pencils, and the encouragement. You read everything I wrote, even the bad stuff. Sorry about that, especially for my period of apocalypse literature. Dad, thank you for driving hours on your one weekend off a month to collect the certificate every time I won an award from a kids’ short-story contest. Mom, thank you for keeping us all alive when I’m “in the zone.”
More gratitude goes to my kind and generous critique partner, Katie, who patiently gave feedback on all my manuscripts, even the ones that got trunked. I salute you with Twizzlers, my friend, and count myself lucky that we ended up officemates in grad school. My beta readers, Alexis and Rhonda, you read everything (multiple times) and always gave me honest feedback, especially about the parts that made you cry. (Cue the evil laughter.)
Many thanks to my friends, colleagues, teachers, professors, and mentors near and far, past and present, who have supported me, including, but not limited to, late-night texts and chocolate delivery. More gushing and love to the wonderful crew of writers I met via the magic of social media, especially the Electrics, the Skulls, my IG pals, and fellow mom-writers. Thank you for commiserating with me, cheering me on, and celebrating with me. Your caring messages, hilarious GIFs, playlists, and witty banter make writing not such a lonely profession.
And finally, thank you to the girls like Rome, Lux, and Mercy, who fight for each other and for a better place in this world. Thank you for being unbelievably courageous, resilient, and compassionate. I can’t wait to read your stories, too.
About the Author
Photo credit Alexis Pultz
MIRANDA ASEBEDO was born and raised in rural Kansas with a love of fast cars, open skies, and books. She carried that love of books to college, where she got her BA and MA in English, with an emphasis in creative writing and literature. A Seaton Fellowship recipient, her short fiction has appeared in Kansas Voices, Touchstone, and Midway Journal. Miranda still lives on the prairie today with her husband, two kids, and a majestic bulldog named Princess Jellybean. If Miranda’s not writing or reading, she’s most likely convinced everyone to load up in the family muscle car and hit the road.
She can be found online at www.mirandaasebedo.com.
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The Deepest Roots
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Copyright
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE DEEPEST ROOTS. Copyright © 2018 by Miranda Asebedo. 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 by La Scarlatte
Cover design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018939994
Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-274709-9
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-274707-5
1819202122PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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