MEAGAN SPOONER INTERVIEW AND SKYLARK GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday! Before I get to my awesome interview, there's a few things I wanted to share with you that you might be interested in. First, Darcy Pattison is organizing a Radom Acts of Publicity week September 4-7 to promote other authors' books. I'm planning on participating. You can find out details here.  

Darcy also recently posted the top ten agents for middle grade authors based on sales here.

And DearEditor is running a contest for a free manuscript critique that ends TOMORROW at midnight. I just heard about it. You can find out details here.

Next I have some winners to announce. The winner of THE STONE GIRL is MONICA

The winner of DEFIANCE is MELODIE

And before I announce the winners of my Last Days of Freedom Giveaway, I want to say WOW! There were almost 300 entries.

So the first winner is TAYTEH who picked SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY

And the second winner is LEANNA who picked BITTERBLUE

Congrats to all the winners. E-mail me your addresses so I can send you your books. Please e-mail me within 48 hours or I'll have to pick a new winner.



Today I am thrilled to help Meagan Spooner celebrate her debut as an author. Her debut book, SKYLARK, was released on August 1, 2012. Fantasy is my favorite genre and dystopian second. One of the things I loved about Meagan’s book is that it’s mostly fantasy but has a touch of dystopian. It’s a great combination in Meagan’s world building. And Lark is such a great character you can’t help cheering on when she finally gets her turn to be harvested and finds out what it really entails. The plot is fast paced and has a number of twists. I ended up staying up way too late one night to finish it and was so tired at work the next day. But it was worth it.

Here’s a description from the book:

Vis in magia, in vita vi. In magic there is power, and in power, life.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley waited for the day when her Resource would be harvested and she would finally be an adult. After the harvest she expected a small role in the regular, orderly operation of the City within the Wall. She expected to do her part to maintain the refuge for the last survivors of the Wars. She expected to be a tiny cog in the larger clockwork of the city.

Lark did not expect to become the City's power supply.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she's ever known...or face a fate more unimaginable than death. 

Hi Meagan. Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a writer.

I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I can remember, really, although it’s only in the past couple of years—mostly as it was happening—that I begin to think I could do it as a career. For me it was always being a teacher who writes, or a marine biologist who writes, or a therapist who writes. Being a full-time writer now is pretty mind-blowing to me, and I’m still wondering how that happened! But I’ve had a lot of amazing teachers over the years who have encouraged me—as well as a few who tried to discourage me, which in hindsight only made me all the more determined to prove them wrong. (These are the teachers who claim genre fiction is pointless. Ignore them!)

2.  That's so awesome you've been able to make it a full-time job. Guys, wait to read Meagan's publication story. It's so amazing. I loved that you mixed fantasy with dystopian elements and this came through even in Lark’s magical powers. Share with us a bit how you came up with the idea of the magical powers in your story.

I’ve always tended toward writing multiple genres in the same story, so I think the genre mash-up in SKYLARK has always come as a bit more of a surprise to other people than to me—to me it just feels about normal! The idea of using magic to power technology came from thinking about alternative energy sources in connection with our own energy crisis. If only we had magic! But the truth is, Lark’s universe is no different from ours. Mankind exploited the resources there, as well, which is what led to the post-apocalyptic landscape Lark travels.

3.  That's so cool that the idea came from alternative energy, something from our world. I’ve read that Lark’s hometown is patterned after Washington DC. How did you decide on Washington as a setting and what was your process of crafting that into your own city?

Normally my settings are as exotic as I can possibly manage—I travel a lot, and that always influences my writing. But I’ve lived just outside of Washington, D.C. for almost my whole life, so it was a bit of a surprise when I realized I wanted to use my home as the setting for this book. But the nature of the dystopia in which Lark finds herself at the start of the book all has to do with knowledge and information—the rulers of her city are called architects, because they are descended from those who built the Wall enclosing the city in the first place. They keep all scientific knowledge in trust, believing that society isn’t ready for it yet. When I figured that out, I knew I wanted to base the Institute of Natural and Magical Philosophy on D.C.’s own Smithsonian Institute, one of my favorite places of all time to explore. Only while our Smithsonian Institute is all about sharing the wealth of human knowledge, Lark’s Institute is about the retaining and concealing it.

4.  All your characters—Lark, Oren, and even Nix (I really liked Nix) are such unique characters. Who was the hardest character to develop and how did you overcome any challenges in writing about him/her?

I found Lark to be the biggest challenge, strangely enough. She had to start off unprepared, naïve, and even weak in many ways. I knew she couldn’t start off as the same ultimate badass so common in YA literature these days—I adore those kinds of characters, but it just made no sense for Lark, a girl who’s lived her entire life inside a sheltered dome, with no aspirations beyond growing up and fitting in. So I had to constantly fight the urge to make her stronger and more competent than she had reason to be, in the beginning. Once she began to learn, though, it was so much fun letting her grow up in this wilderness she’d never imagined—because she becomes strong, discovers that she’s been strong all along. I think that discovered strength ended up being ultimately much more rewarding for me, as a writer, because it was so hard-won.

5.  That's a hard balance to have her start out weak but still be sympathetic instead of whiny. You did a fantastic job with that. I know you write full-time. Have you always written full-time and what advice do you have for staying productive, which you definitely are?

I’ve been writing full-time since SKYLARK sold, back in 2011. The temptation to do nothing but play video games and watch Buffy all day is strong! Truthfully, though, these days I don’t have the time to goof off. I’ve got two series going simultaneously, which means at any given time I’m usually working on at least three books if not four—revisions and drafting for various sequels. Now that SKYLARK is out, there’s a lot of extra work that goes with that—promotion stuff, the dreaded M-word. (Marketing!)

But all this comes of having trained myself to work steadily, every day. While writing SKYLARK I wrote at least 500 words a day, every day, no matter what. The daily count was low so that it wasn’t intimidating—you can knock out 500 words in 15 minutes if you’re really cooking. The point, though, was that it got me in my chair, got me in the writing headspace. Usually I ended up writing closer to 2500 words a day, because 500 was enough to get me going.

6.  I can't imagine working on so many books at once. That's a great idea to write 500 words a day. I need to try it. Josh Adams is your agent. I read how he became your agent and it’s an amazing story. Please share it with us.

I nearly didn’t query Josh, because right around the time I was sending out queries, I read about a big, highly-publicized deal of his, whose blurb sounded an awful lot like SKYLARK. I was pretty inconsolable for a while, but eventually I decided to query him anyway, because for all I knew it was a sign he just liked that kind of book. And I was right! And now, in hindsight, having read the book in question, it’s actually not that similar to SKYLARK at all, except in bare bones premise.

I ended up with multiple offers of rep, including one from my then-dream agent. My mind was made up before Josh even called me. But after I spoke with him on the phone, it was like my world had turned upside down. I hung up the phone knowing I wanted him to represent me, and it was a bizarre experience to have to turn down the person I’d considered for months to be my dream agent! But I couldn’t be more glad I made the decision I did.

7.  Wow! That's so awesome you already could have gone with another dream agent and picked Josh. I'd love to have Josh Adams as my agent too. Now onto even more amazing info about you. 

So Josh became your agent in 2010. Besides having your first book released this month, you’re under contract to finish this trilogy and under contract for a sci-fi trilogy starting with THESE BROKEN STARS you co-wrote with Amie Kaufman to be released in 2013. Tell us how that all happened.

Well, SKYLARK happened the normal way (as much as there is a “normal” in publishing). Queries, agent, subs, editor, publisher, book deal. But I was living in Australia with Amie at the time I was writing SKYLARK, and so she was a huge part of the process, supporting me through all the ups and downs. We’ve always written together over the 6+ years we’ve known each other, but never before with any intention of making that writing public, professionally or no. To us, our projects were always play—we called them “sandboxes,” because it really was just for fun. But once SKYLARK sold we realized that the current “sandbox” we were working on could make a great novel. So we quietly embarked on that together, and sent it to my agent and his wife and agency partner. They loved it, and Josh’s wife Tracey read one of Amie’s solo books and loved that too, and offered her representation on the spot. Barely a few months later, we had a book deal for THESE BROKEN STARS too. The two three-book deals came roughly six months apart. And to be honest, I’m still reeling a bit from that.

8. That's so amazing how it worked out for book 2 for you and both books for Amie. What advice do you have for aspiring authors who may not be having as great a road to publication as yours?

Don’t stop. Someone somewhere (and let me know if anyone knows who) once said that published writers are only unpublished writers who didn’t give up, and I firmly believe that. Writing is not a choice—it’s a compulsion. I think there are a lot of aspiring authors out there who want to have written—they want to have been published, and everything that goes with it. But the actual writing part isn’t as necessary, and I think those are the people who might be more tempted to give up. But for those people who can’t imagine a life without writing, for the people who’d write even if they were locked in an empty room with only their fingernails and the wall plaster to work with? Just don’t give up. Because you’re meant to do this. And in the end, it only takes one. One agent. One editor. One book to break through.

9.  Such inspiring advice. You've got me convinced that I just need to keep writing. What are you working on now?

Officially, I’m working on revisions for SHADOWLARK, book two of the Skylark Trilogy, final line edits for THESE BROKEN STARS, and writing the first draft of TBS’s sequel. I’m also working on a secret SKYLARK-related side project as well. And just so that I keep busy, I’m also working here and there, whenever I can and whenever I have time, on a Beauty and the Beast retelling that I’ve been playing with for years in the time I have off from my contracted work. I love the story so much, and I can’t wait until that one’s finished. It does have to take a back seat to everything else, though.

Thanks so much Meagan for sharing all your advice and about your journey as a writer. I can't wait to read all your upcoming books. And guys, I already got Meagan to agree to come back with Aimie for an interview when THESE BROKEN STARS comes out. 

You can find Meagan at:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Meagan generously donated a signed copy of SKYLARK for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment by September 15th. I’ll announce the winner on September 17th. If your e-mail is not on Blogger, please list it in your comment. International entries are welcome.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. 

Here's what's coming up next.

Wednesday I'm participating in Patty Blount's blog tour and giving away a copy of SEND, a contemporary novel about bullying told from the perspective of the bully. It sounds really good and I'm excited to share it and Patty's guest post with you.

 On Tuesday Tips tomorrow, Richard Due will share self-publishing tips and a giveaway of a print version of his middle grade fantasy THE MOON COIN. I'm really excited to share this with you because it's gotten good reviews for the story and the illustrations by Carolyn Arcabascio. I'm hoping some of you and your middle grade kids would enjoy his book.

Next Monday is Labor Day so I'm giving us all a break and not posting anything. But Wednesday next week I'm sharing ENDLESSLY by Kiersten White and giving away my ARC. It is such an awesome end to her series. Trust me, you want to stop by and enter the giveaway contest.

Next Friday, I'm participating in Jessica Shirvington’s Blog tour and giving away an ARC of her new book ENTICE.I can't wait to share it with you.

And don't forget Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you tomorrow!