Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an avid reader. I spent a lot of time alone as a kid, because I was the youngest in the family by about a decade. My play dates were with book characters. I loved it when I would finish my work in a class and my teachers would let me read while everyone else was still working. The love for reading translated into a love for writing, though it wasn’t something I seriously considered until this year. I wrote fanfiction when I was younger. I think I had formed really strong attachments with these fictional worlds and characters, so I just spent a ton of time imagining myself with those people. And that turned into writing about being with those characters and in those worlds.
I don’t read as much as I used to. I think that’s part of being an adult with more responsibilities. I still love to read, and I’ll go through phases where I’ll say no to going to do something in favor of staying home to read. But I have a really tight circle of friends who I do everything with. So I’m often on the go. My husband and I lead a group of medieval reenactors. That eats up a lot of time, but it’s so worth it. And really, it’s just another way of getting lost in a different world for me. I guess that’s the big theme of who I am and the things I do, I’m always looking for a way to escape into a more enjoyable reality.
I’ve written one very short and sweet non-fiction book about finding joy, and I’ve written one novel. I can’t tell you how many carcasses of started and abandoned books are living in my computer, though.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called Tranquil Heights. Honestly, I’m not even really sure what inspired it. I was working on something pretty boring, with music playing in the background, and suddenly I had this idea. I can only assume that something in the music triggered it, but I’m not even sure what song was playing. I just had this idea, this story, unfurling in my head and I knew I had to do something about it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yeah, I do what I think of as “pre-writing”. It’s where, while I’m supposed to be doing something else, I’m writing in my head. No pad or paper, or keyboard. Just kind of a jumble of words clanging around in my brain. By the time I sit down at my desk to actually type it out, it’s pretty well cemented.
I’ve done this for as long as I can remember, with any style of writing. I’d think about academic papers in my sleep, on my commute, during a walk from one side of campus to the other and by the time I was ready to actually write it, I pretty much had it complete.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Simone St. James has had a profound influence. I think The Broken Girls was the first book I read with the dual timelines, and I loved it. Plus she’s got a real knack for kind of spooky suspense that I try really hard to emulate. When I read, I want to be guessing, I want to be turning to the next page at 2am because I have to know what’s going to happen. She does that for me, and it’s something I hope I’m doing.
What are you working on now?
Now, I’m working on a sequel to Tranquil Heights. It’s called Damned Souls, and it features some characters from Tranquil Heights. It’ll be another spooky suspense, and I think the stakes will be a little higher with Damned Souls, not that the stakes were particularly low with Tranquil Heights. I’m really looking forward to exploring more of what, in my universe, makes ghosts stick around.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have an author website, and that’s probably the easiest way to access everything you need to know at once. It’s: https://www.meganspeecewrites.com/. But honestly, I think what got me the most traction when I first started writing was TikTok, where I’m @meganspeecewrites. I found a really great community of fellow indie authors and readers who are really supportive of indies. Plus, the content is kind of fun, if the algorithm is a bit confusing.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Oh yeah. Ignore that little voice in your head that says “I can’t.” Flip it and respond to it “Can’t I?”. This is a philosophy I try really hard to live by: “Can’t I?”
I’m a highly competitive person, so when someone tells me I can’t do something, I tend to do it out of pure spite just to prove them wrong. It’s not always the same with myself, though. I’m really hard on myself. We’re all our own worst critics right? So when I find myself telling me that I can’t do something, I try to back away and say “But, can’t I, though?” It’s way easier said than done, but if you make this a ritual, it does help.
Also, get a support system in place early on. Whether that’s a fellow author as a cheerleader/critique partner, or your best friend, or your partner. That support system is super important. Tranquil Heights stalled more than once until I could have a rousing conversation with my husband and he’d help clear out my mental cobwebs. He also says “The only thing Megan can’t do is what she tells herself she can’t.” So yeah, having a person who believes in you 100%, backs you up, and picks you up when you’re down is imperative. Not just to your success as an author, but your success as a human.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
For an author: leave yourself room to surprise yourself. I learned the hard way that I’m a plotter. I tried really hard to pants some work (those carcasses in my computer), but if I didn’t plan out, at minimum, the major plot points, I’d get lost somewhere around chapter 7, have no idea what I was doing, and throw the whole thing out. But even though I’m a pretty hardcore plotter, I have to keep my mind open to changes. As you write, new themes show up, new character traits work their way to the surface, you have to give yourself the room to follow those things. It makes your work more organic.
For general life: just do the thing. I’m a chronic worrier and over-thinker. I plan vacations over a year in advance. I make lists and itineraries. All of this leads to a lot of analysis paralysis on my end. My husband has a saying: “that’s a future me problem”. It allows him to live a little more in the moment and just jump up and do the thing. I’ve spent a lot of the past few years learning to let go of my intense need to plan, and just take the leap. Obviously, this is advice to take within reason. Actions have consequences, and we shouldn’t forget that. But when we’re talking about doing something fun, or enjoyable, if even a little bit risky, sometimes we should just do it.
What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar. I picked it up in the “horror” section of a bookstore, and it’s a pretty interesting premise. It marries true crime and horror fiction, and that certainly scratches the itch for a generation that loves serial killer documentaries and true-crime podcasts. I’ve loved horror since I was probably about five years old, so I’m looking forward to delving into this metafiction.
What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep going. I pick up and abandon hobbies with a disturbing quickness. I’m trying really hard not to let being an author become one of those abandoned hobbies. I’m working on my sequel, I have plans and a semi-plotted idea for the third in the trilogy. I’ve got a pretty epic horror fantasy idea on the back burner for when the Tranquil Heights universe comes to a close. I’m just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other, one letter after another, and hope that other people love reading my stuff as much as I love writing it.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
This might be the hardest question ever.
The Harry Potter series had a tremendous impact on my life, and a lot of who I am as an adult is based on things I learned through the lens of Harry and friends. My favorite of those books is Order of the Phoenix, so I’ll pick that.
Next comes, IT by Stephen King. I was obsessed with the Tim Curry version of the movie when I was a kid. I was super small and had no business watching it, and I blame it for my general unease around clowns to this day. But it’s also probably one of the most profound and beautiful stories I’ve ever read.
And last comes House of Leaves. That book changed me. It sounds corny, but it seriously is a reality bending work. It makes you question a lot. Plus, the brilliant formatting is a point of fascination that I wouldn’t tire of.
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