Read Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities) Online
Authors: Shannon Messenger
Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities) (50 page)
“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“I do,” Keefe said, taking her hand as Dex grabbed the other and Fitz and Biana each squeezed her shoulders. “Absolutely nothing.”
Sophie smiled as she glanced up at the flickering lights in the sky, feeling nothing but calm and happiness as they flashed in her eyes. “I hate to say this, Keefe, but I think you might be right.”
Writing this book broke my brain into a million tiny pieces, and I never would’ve been able to put them back together without the help of many incredible people.
To my amazing husband, Miles: Thank you for putting up with all the late nights and travel days, for always making sure I have a steady supply of Pepsi, and for letting me steal your favorite Batman shirts for my glamorous writing attire.
To Mom and Dad: Thank you for your tireless efforts to get
Keeper
into the hands of kids, and for not being
too
scared of my imagination when you discovered the rather dark places my mind can go.
To Laura Rennert: Thank you for being the constant I can turn to in this ever-changing business. It’s probably not part of
your job description to be the Keeper of my Sanity, but you have risen to the task perfectly.
I also must thank Lara Perkins for being the Sender of Happy E-mails, the rest of the Andrea Brown Literary team for their ever-present support, Taryn Fagerness for her tireless efforts to share my stories with the world, and Sean Daily for navigating the chaos of Hollywood.
To Liesa Abrams: Thank you for the advice that helped me realize which stories I needed to tell, for trusting me when I basically abandoned the synopsis I’d given you, and for the notes that guided me out of the mess of that first draft.
I also want to thank everyone—and I really do mean everyone—at my incredible publisher, Simon & Schuster, especially Bethany Buck, Mara Anastas, Lauren Forte, Alyson Heller, Fiona Simpson, Anna McKean, Siena Koncsol, Carolyn Swerdloff, Julie Christopher, Emma Sector, Lucille Rettino, Paul Crichton, Michelle Fadlalla, Venessa Carson, Anthony Parisi, Ebony LaDelle, Matt Pantoliano, Michael Strother, Amy Bartram, Jeanine Henderson, Mike Rosamilia, and Mary Marotta, and the entire sales team. Plus a special thank you to Karin Paprocki for once again designing a breathtakingly beautiful cover, and Jason Chan for finding a way to top the
Keeper
artwork—something I didn’t know was possible.
To Sara McClung: Thank you for the hours and hours and HOURS we spent brainstorming (I’m pretty sure my brain is still recovering from those), and for always asking the questions that lead me to the “Yay—I know how to fix the problem!!!” moment.
To Sarah Wylie: Thank you for always knowing how to pull me out of my deepest fears and doubts. I’m also pretty sure there wouldn’t be a
Keeper
book with Keefe on the cover if it weren’t for all of your rather, um . . . enthusiastic fangirling.
I also need to thank C. J. Redwine for always pushing me to be brave with my writing, Kiersten White for giving me an excuse to escape the deadline cave (especially since there’s generally pizza involved), and Faith Hochhalter for constantly finding new ways to prove to me that I need to “trust the Book Babe.” Huge thanks also go to the amazing ladies of Friday the Thirteeners, who are always available to cheerlead or commiserate, and all the awesome local SoCal writers for loyally attending my signings so I didn’t have to worry about being there alone.
I wish I had space to thank by name all of the amazing teachers, booksellers, and librarians who have gone so above and beyond to share
Keeper
with their readers—but this book is pretty epic-length as it is. So just let me say to all of you: I know there are many books you could lend your support and energy to, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am that you’ve given it to mine. Thank you for everything you do. You are wonderful, wonderful people.
Thank you, Katie Bartow, for the fabulous blog tours and the many other ways you’ve helped me. And to the incredible people at SCIBA, thank you for the years of support and for always hosting my favorite events. I also have to thank Alyson Beecher, M. G. Buehrlen, Shannon O’Donnell, Kari Olson, Matthew Rush, and Courtney Stallings-Barr for their incredible encouragement, both online and off. And to all of my blog/Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Instagram/Pinterest
followers (man, I think I spend too much time online), thank you for connecting with me through these crazy social networks and braving my shenanigans.
And last—but definitely not least—I want to thank you (yes, YOU), my loyal, awesome readers! (I have to assume you’re awesome if you’ve read this far, right?) An author can write a book and a publisher can print it and a bookstore or library can put it on their shelves—but it would still be nothing if no one ever picked it up and read it. Thank you for giving my stories a chance, for telling your friends and family to read them, for all the amazing e-mails you send me (even though it takes me forever to reply), for the incredible photos and fan art you send, and the adorable debates I see you have online about Dex, Fitz, or Keefe. I truly wrote these stories for you. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy all of the adventures still to come!
COPYRIGHT © 2012 BY DEVENDE PHOTOGRAPHY
SHANNON MESSENGER
graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She also regularly eats cupcakes for breakfast, sleeps with a bright blue stuffed elephant named Ella, and occasionally gets caught talking to imaginary people—so it was only natural for her to write stories for children. She’s the author of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series and
Let the Sky Fall,
the first in a new series for young adults. She lives in Southern California with her husband and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at
shannonmessenger.com
.
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Shannon-Messenger
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Jason-Chan
ALADDIN
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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Also by Shannon Messenger
Keeper of the Lost Cities
Let the Sky Fall
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Aladdin hardcover edition October 2013
Copyright © 2013 by Shannon Messenger
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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Designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket Designed By Karin Paprocki
Jacket Illustration By Jason Chan
The text of this book was set in Scala.
This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4424-4596-3
ISBN 978-1-4424-4598-7 (eBook)