Miranda Asebedo answers a few questions in today’s post about her writing and her newly released YA Contemporary novel, A Constellation of Roses. This YA contemporary beauty is now out in the world and is published by HarperTeen. This Q&A is part of her Blog Tour hosted by FFBC Tour.
Learn more about the book, read the first book and enter this international giveaway for a chance to win your finished copy below. Now, let me introduce you to Miranda Asebedo.
Miranda Asebedo, Author of A Constellation of Roses – Q&A
Q1. What inspired you to start writing and when did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve been writing since I was really little, but the first time I tried to write something novel-like was after I finished Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was probably around eleven or twelve years old. I adored the character of Jo, and I felt like I really related to her. She was a writer who loved to read, was very tomboyish, and her best friend was the boy next door, which basically described me perfectly at that age. I was SO disappointed when Jo ended up marrying Professor Bhaer and giving up writing to support his school.
So, I decided that I could write a better ending than Alcott, and I rewrote the last few chapters so that Jo and her best friend, Laurie, end up together, and they have lots of adventures around the world and she keeps writing and following her own dreams. Basically, I was writing Little Women fanfiction in a world where fanfiction didn’t exist yet.
Q2. What is/was your most and least favorite part in your publishing journey?
My favorite part of the publishing journey is meeting readers who really connect with my work. I did an event this summer where a teen reader came up with a well-worn copy of The Deepest Roots. She was too shy to say much until the very end, when she said she really loved Mercy, the quiet studious best friend of the main character, Rome, and she hoped that someday Mercy got her own book, too.
My least favorite part of the publishing journey is realizing that I have no control over anything after I write the book. I can’t control how many copies will sell, or what reviewers or readers think about it. I can only control the words at the very beginning of the process. After that, it’s all about letting go.
Q3. What gave you the inspiration for this book?
I knew I wanted to write a book in the same world as my debut, The Deepest Roots. I’m from rural Kansas, and it was such a joy to make this real-life place become magical within the realm of fiction. I loved writing about the girls in the town of Cottonwood Hollow, who are born with strange abilities, some of them multi-generational families, like Lux and her mother. Once that idea of multi-generational magic took root, I started making up the McCabe family and their magical gifts.
Setting A Constellation of Roses in the same world meant the story needed to take place in rural Kansas, in a neighboring town, which was a lot of fun for this book because Trix is a city girl and completely out of her element. I knew friendship and family would be an important element in this book, too, and I really wanted to focus on what it means to be a part of a family, whether it’s one you’re born into, or one you make on your own.
Q4. What is the key theme and/or message in your book?
A Constellation of Roses is about scars, both the visible and invisible. Every character in the story is carrying around some kind of battle wounds, but only some of those hurts are physically visible. And I think that this is true in real life, for everyone.
We all carry scars, both emotional and physical, that deeply us. Trix’s main conflict is whether she’s going to let her scars rule her life and her choices, and ultimately, she chooses to rewrite the story of her scars, to see them as beautiful rather than destructive, and let them be an inspiration for good.
Q5. If you had to describe your main characters in three words what would they be?
Trix: Stubborn, watchful, artistic
Ember: Bashful, brave, kind
Jasper: Charming, funny, thoughtful
Auntie: Wise, hilarious, tough
Mia: Optimistic, sweet, determinedShane: Daring, impetuous, devoted
Q5. What is your current read?
I’m really into historical fiction right now. I am almost done with Somewhere in Paris: A Novel of the Great War, by Jennifer Robson.
It’s about an early twentieth-century daughter of a British aristocrat expected to keep her mouth shut and marry well. As war approaches, she chooses to throw away her family’s stifling expectations, move out on her own, and educate herself enough to join the cause. She signs up for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and heads off to the Western Front to drive ambulances for injured soldiers. She makes some amazing friends, falls in love with a low-class field doctor her parents would definitely not approve, and might just give up her old life for good if she makes it through the war.
Thank you so much, Miranda Esebedo, for taking the time to answer these questions!
A Constellation of Roses – Synopsis
Ever since her mother walked out, Trix McCabe has been determined to make it on her own. And with her near-magical gift for pulling valuables off unsuspecting strangers, Trix is confident she has what it takes to survive. Until she’s caught and given a choice: jail time, or go live with her long-lost family in the tiny town of Rocksaw, Kansas.
Trix doesn’t plan to stick around Rocksaw long, but there’s something special about her McCabe relatives that she is drawn to. Her aunt, Mia, bakes pies that seem to cure all ills. Her cousin, Ember, can tell a person’s deepest secret with the touch of a hand. And Trix’s great-aunt takes one look at Trix’s palm and tells her that if she doesn’t put down roots somewhere, she won’t have a future anywhere.
Before long, Trix feels like she might finally belong with this special group of women in this tiny town in Kansas. But when her past comes back to haunt her, she’ll have to decide whether to take a chance on this new life . . . or keep running from the one she’s always known.
With lovable and flawed characters, an evocative setting, and friendships to treasure, A Constellation of Roses is the perfect companion to Miranda Asebedo’s debut novel The Deepest Roots.
BOOK DETAILS
- Author: Miranda Asebdo
- Publisher: HarperTeen
- Release Date: November 5, 2019
- Book Length: 336 pages
- Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary
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About the Author – Miranda Esebedo
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 B.A. and M.A. 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 two majestic bulldogs named Princess Jellybean and Captain Jack Wobbles. 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.
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READ AN EXCERPT OF THE FIRST CHAPTER
Constellation-of-Roses_Asebedo_first-chapterA Constellation of Roses – International Giveaway
Prize: Win a copy of A CONSTELLATION OF ROSES by Miranda Asebedo (INT)
Starts: November 5, 2019 – Finishes: November 31, 2019
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