YA Spring Fling interview with Megan Thomason

Today I'm pleased to present an interview with fellow author Megan Thomason. I think you'll find the peek into this author's mind and process fascinating!

What’s your favourite thing about spring?

I live in San Diego, so we have decent weather year round (defined by the ability to wear flip flops which is very important to me), but by Spring, the nights start to get warmer and lighter. In our yard, the hummingbirds are out, and flowers are blooming. It’s gorgeous! Here’s my view right now on an uncharacteristically hot, 90 degree day:

 

 What’s the best thing about being a writer?

When I started writing, it was my very best escape mechanism. Now, it feels more like a job (deadlines and expectations), but I still love morphing an idea into an elaborate story. And any event from small (a great review or kind comment from a fan) to big (having series optioned for film) can absolutely make my day—or year!

What’s the worst thing about being a writer?

The worst thing for me has been bullying. There are plenty of writers who have had worse experiences than I have had, but my experiences have had a profound impact on me. I’ve had death threats and personal insults. I’ve been accused of horrible things including paying for reviews (the only reviews I have paid for were professional reviews from Kirkus, ForeWord Reviews, and BlueInk) and put on lists that encourage people to post one-star reviews. I’ve had another author (someone I don’t know/doesn’t write in my genre), manipulate one of my Facebook posts to make me look bad and post it on her page, encouraging friends and followers to “put me out of business.” I almost quit writing after that last one. Instead, I decided to ignore the negativity and keep doing what I love doing.

The other hard thing—but not worst thing—is balancing writing with my other responsibilities. I’m married and have five kids. Occasionally, real life interferes with creating fictional ones. Last year, I had to take a long hiatus to attend to my family. It was tough having to let deadlines pass and equally hard to disappoint readers. I’d do it again in a heartbeat to be there for my husband and kids, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Tell us more about your books.

My daynight series is an award-winning, bestselling series that blends science fiction, dystopia, fantasy, and romance. The series has been optioned and is currently in film development (https://pathbender.media/press/). It has a modern-day, parallel world setting. I got the idea for daynight (and the world of Thera) while hiking the canyons of San Diego on a particularly hot day. I pondered how hot it would have to get before society would be forced to switch days and nights. From there, I contemplated what kind of government would “rule the night” and concocted The Second Chance Institute. 

daynight tells the story about Kira Donovan, Blake Sundry, and Ethan Darcton’s interactions with The Second Chance Institute. The SCI is a benevolent non-profit on Earth and totalitarian dictator on Thera. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life. In reality, the SCI uses those given a “second chance” as subjects in political science experiments like Cleaving—a forced lifetime union between two people who have sex. Punishment for disobeying SCI edicts is Exile or death. Kira is lured into the SCI as a Recruit with the promise she’ll receive a full college scholarship, but finds out she is central to the SCI’s plans. Blake grew up in Exile on Thera and has been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. And Ethan has been groomed since birth to rule the Second Chancers. 

clean slate complex (a daynight series novella) follows the SCI’s happenings on Earth where the SCI’s pushing Project Liberate, a program to woo the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes—where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch… Alexa Knight gets trapped by the SCI’s promises of free health care for her mother, but quickly finds that behind every promise is a lie.

arbitrate begins a full year after the events of daynight, and the circumstances have changed dramatically for each of the characters. Kira, one of the main characters, has had to deal with the consequences of everything that happened during daynight and over the past year, and she is broken. She makes decisions that end up impacting everyone she cares about. arbitrate is told by Kira, Ethan, and Blake in both the present and near past (filling in what happened over the past year). Whereas daynight centered primarily in Garden City, Thera,arbitrate happens across dozens of cities on both Earth and Thera. The Second Chance Institute has well-developed plans for both Earth and Thera, and those in opposition have more challenges than ever to try to defeat them.

generate completes the daynight series. After decades of plotting and testing, the SCI stands ready to execute their plan on Earth and annihilate anyone who threatens it. They’ll stop at nothing and for no one—not the Deny the SCI movement, nor the Exiler Nation, Arbiters, and Genitors—even if it means war. Kira must persuade the Genitor leaders to stop the atrocities happening at the hand of the SCI—or, if they refuse, she’ll risk everything to do it herself. Ethan embarks on his own agenda, teetering loyalties between the Arbiters, the SCI, and the Deny the SCI movement on Earth. Blake begins an assignment to watch over the Exiler Nation and finds unlikely allies in his crusade to save thousands of innocent lives.

 Coffee or Tea? 

Neither, actually. I’m a diet Coke junkie, and I particularly love dirty diet Cokes (just add coconut creamer). 

Plotter or Pantser? 

The daynight series is plotted. It is way too complicated to just sit down and start writing. For arbitrate, I had to keep a very elaborate timeline (for all three main characters), a map of both Earth and Thera, and detailed story arcs on hand at all times. I knew from the beginning exactly how I wanted it to end and loosely plotted the entire book. I’m in the middle of writing generate, and the process has been similar. The process serves as an excellent starting point and basis of inspiration for me. However, as I get better ideas, I always incorporate them, even if it means rewrites and rethinking. Most days, when I hit the end of a scene or a chapter, I’ll go for a walk to plot the scene/chapter out in more detail (yes, I’m a danger—mostly to myself—as I type notes into my iPhone while walking).

Are there any books involved in the YA Spring Fling that you’re secretly lusting after?

I read 300-500 books a year (made possible by insomnia). So, I’m interested in any book that catches my attention. I always read a sample first (not every book is for everyone, including mine). If I find the characters and plot compelling in the sample, I one-click and read away. I’ll often start a book at 9pm and finish by 11:30pm, then I’ll (unwisely) start another at 11:30pm and finish much, much too late to be a productive member of society the next day.

What was the last YA book you read?

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, a Fault in Our Stars-like (aka bring tissues) novel. I don’t solely read YA. I’ll read everything from YA to contemporary romance to new adult to fantasy to science fiction to mystery/thriller to historical. Some of the recent standouts I’ve read are The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon, Ugly Love and Confess by Colleen Hoover, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, You by Caroline Kepnes, and Black Lies by Alessandra Torres.

Why do you write YA? 

I started writing young adult because I had teenagers with voracious reading appetites. At my daughters’ request, I wrote a YA romantic comedy trilogy. After that great writing practice (not good enough to publish!), I came up with the idea for the daynight series. While the characters span young adult/new adult ages, I categorize the series as YA because, while edgy, the books have no explicit content. Since I still have a house full of teens who insist upon reading everything I write, YA works best for me. Also, I love flawed characters with depth to them who morph, change, and evolve over time. YA characters are perfect for that, as they’re trying to find themselves and figure out what they want out of life. They also readily make mistakes and have to learn and grow from those mistakes. 

What are your top tips for surviving a bad review?

Don’t read them :). No seriously, don’t—or at least have a friend or family member preview the review and pull out any pieces of constructive criticism for you. Constructive criticism is awesome—like nuggets of gold. Writers need these nuggets in order to improve. But, a writer might encounter something nasty, and unless that writer wants to be depressed, anxious, self-doubting, or to endure a few days of writer’s block, it is best to stay blissfully unaware.

What are your top tips for surviving a zombie apocalypse?

There is often a raging debate at our dinner table over this—particularly if we have guests. We have an extensive collection of daggers and swords from around the world that would be employed during a zombie apocalypse. Some of my children think we need to add some automatic weaponry to the collection. I had a couple friends in high school who had friends die from gun accidents, so that’s out as far as I’m concerned. But, a good supply of food and water and a defensible house would be important. I’m not sure my new electric car will do me much good, so I have to plan to be stuck here for the duration :).

What inspires you?

People, music, art, an errant thought—I find there to be inspiration everywhere if I’m looking for it.

Where can readers find your books?

The main books of my daynight series are available as an ebook on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Megan-Thomason/e/B00A6SXUI0), and as paperbacks on Amazon, bn.com, and through the Ingram catalogue. Quite a few libraries have picked up the series, as well as some Indie bookstores. If the movies make it to theaters, I’d expect the distribution to increase :).

10,500 Copies Sold - How I Got Here Part 1

So here's the big announcement - Since June 2014, I've sold over 10,500 copies of Bound In Blue: Book One of the Sword of Elements, the majority being ebooks and the majority of those at full price.

If you've been following my blog and my posts about agents, conferences, and publishers, you will probably be surprised that I created my own publishing company - Two Paths Publishing - and published Bound In Blue myself.

It has been a long journey with surprising twists and turns that I wasn't allowed to talk about at the time - hence the radio silence here. Suffice it to say, that for awhile, it looked like Big Publishing would soon be looking at me in a Big Way. Then it all fell through.

And I'm so glad!

Stay tuned for a more in depth discussion of what happened later this month. Also, I'm serving fair warning here that this blog will be transferring over to my main website soon.

EDITED TO ADD - I WON!!   Sara B. Larson's fantasy debut DEFY comes out January 7th 2014 and she's holding a contest for the best re-imagining of her cover. She already has a great cover, but the winner will receive an ARC. Here's my go at it with all stock from faestock over at deviantart.

For The Love Of Conferences Part 1

I wanted to talk about conferences and how important they can be to a writer's career, at every stage. Almost a year ago, I was sitting with 50,000 words of a YA manuscript and wondering what, or even if I should continue with it. The idea had been percolating for a while, so when I write, I write very quickly, and I knew that I would be able to finish it in the next month or so. But what then? I had thought about going to a big conference in the US, but I just couldn't pull the trigger due to the cost. When I finally decided to go for it at the last minute, the flights had gone up so high in price that it just wasn't possible.

Completely depressed, I began a search online for other upcoming conferences and I discovered something I had never heard about before: SCBWI. And it turns out they were running a conference in Niagara Falls that very same weekend.

Now, unless you've read my previous post about sending my last manuscript to exactly ONE agent, you will be surprised at how clueless I was. SCBWI stands for The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

But you knew that, of course ;).

So I contacted the organizers immediately and found out that the date for registration had passed. Despair.

But they volunteered to put me on a waiting list. Hope.

Then I found out there's a whole critique group component that is unique to this conference. Fear.

Someone dropped out and I got in! Excitement! And then Fear again!

In Part 2, I'm going to talk about what I learned at that conference and others and how they have moved my writing career along. But I wanted to get out the information that there are only 4 SPOTS LEFT for the conference this year May 3-5, 2013. Due to an administrative conflict, this is not a SCBWI conference for this year and there is no illustrators track, but it is still an amazing event. Look at the lineup!:

SUSAN RICH, EDITOR-AT-LARGE - LITTLE, BROWN BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
SUSAN HAWK, AGENT - THE BENT AGENCY
SARA ZARR, Y.A. AUTHOR
ELLEN HOPKINS, Y.A. AUTHOR
KIMBERLEY GRIFFITHS-LITTLE, AUTHOR, M.G, Y.A.
LORIN OBERWEGER, FREELANCE EDITOR - FREE EXPRESSIONS LITERARY
ROMAN WHITE, DIRECTOR, AUTHOR
LAURA BIAGI, AGENT - THE JEAN V. NAGGAR LITERARY AGENCY INC

I hope you caught that there are 2 wonderful agents attending this year! And you have to see the location to believe it - truly unique. If you are in driving distance to Niagara Falls and you are a children's writer, you should be there. I mean it.

Writer Jackie Garlick-Pynaert is the organizer and for more info or to grab those last few spots go to:
www.niagararetreatandconference.com.

Born Wicked

Goodreads Description of Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) by Jessica Spotswood:

Everybody thinks Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave. Then Cate finds her mother's diary, and uncovers a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra. But if what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe--not even from each other.

This one's been out for over a year, but I only finally got around to reading it just recently.  But since it's just been published in softcover and the sequel is coming out in a few months, I thought it would be a good one to start off my book reviews with.

First, let me say that I love the original cover and I'm not a fan of the new "prettier" one. There's something, well, wicked about the model's pose and clothing and the style is far more gothic and in keeping with the setting of the novel.

The second cover looks like Witch Barbie goes to Salem.

Of course, nothing particularly wicked happens in Born Wicked - in fact, not  a lot happens at all. I've read a few other reviews online and one of the main complaints about the book is how passive and whiny about her own abilities the main character is.

It's a valid complaint, but I found that this book had me hooked in for the long haul (it's a trilogy I believe). The world building is strong, the romance is engaging, and I'm willing to go along for the journey.  I'm sure we will see Cate grow and change and I enjoy a trilogy that pulls me into a character's development rather than being episodic and showing little personal change. 

And the setting - kind of a throwing of the Puritan movement into the future after some vague disaster that clamped down on technology and freedom - is a fresh take on the whole fantasy/dystopian genre. 

So buy it. But try to find the original hardback in the discount section - it will look much prettier on your shelf.

I'm still looking for some star icons that will match the look of the blog, so until then, here's how the rating will go:

1 star: don't bother
2 stars: it was just ok
3 stars: it was good, I enjoyed it
4 stars: it was very good and I recommend it
5 stars: you'd be crazy not to read it!

Born Wicked comes in at 3.5 stars - it would have been 4 except for the new cover!

Writing Tip - Twitter Pitch Generator

Check out YA author Carissa Taylor's Twitter Pitch Generator over at YA Writers' Toolbox - the name says it all! Try it out and you'll be surprised how close it comes to helping you nail down a succinct Twitter or elevator pitch. I wouldn't recommend generating one and sending it out 'as is', but as a starting point, the suggested pitches are actually quite useful.

Cupid's Literary Connection Blind Speed Dating Contest

Well, it's been quite exciting! I'm in day 2 of the agent round of Cupid's Literary Connection's Blind Speed Dating Contest and I have one partial request already.

It's really quite an amazing contest - and a little complicated to follow. There were a total of 360 entries over a number of weeks and during each submission period only 9 moved forward - and I'm one of the final 56! This week 10 agents will bid anonymously to request either partial manuscripts (100 pages) or full manuscripts on the last day of the contest which is Thursday.

Hey, I'm just happy to have made it to the agent round and to have one partial request. But I admit that I have my fingers crossed for more.

The great thing about contests like this is the feedback in the early rounds and the feeling of validation that comes from having an agent actually wanting to look at something you wrote.

I have a few other irons in the fire that I'm also excited about - not the least of which was winning one of the 2 positions in the last YAlitchat contest which led to one full and one partial request. Writing and querying can be lonely and disheartening so I really appreciate these wonderful bloggers and communities who work so hard to help writers find their dream agents and, hopefully, eventual publication.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog! For those of you who know me, you are probably aware that I have quite a few blogs floating out there in cyberspace. For anyone interested in my photography and other pursuits, I will be posting the links to those blogs in the menu. But for now, not much works around here yet. I will be filling up my pages, posts and links soon though.

So why a new blog? Well, this blog is dedicated to my goal of being a published YA author. Until that wonderful day, I will be posting my thoughts on all things related to writing: conferences, inspiration, book reviews, etc.

I'll be talking soon about my journey thus far, but for now, I just wanted to say - Welcome!