Blog Tour: Hysteria by Megan Miranda - Author Interview

Hysteria by Megan Miranda
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Walker Childrens; 336 pages

Mallory's life is falling apart. Her boyfriend was stabbed. He bled to death in her kitchen. Mallory was the one who stabbed him. But she can't remember what happened that night. She only remembers the fear ...When Mallory's parents send her away to a boarding school, she thinks she can escape the gossip and the threats. But someone, or something, has followed her. There's the hand that touches her shoulder when she's drifting off to sleep. A voice whispering her name. And everyone knows what happened. So when a pupil is found dead, Mallory's name is on their lips. Her past can be forgotten but it's never gone. Can Mallory live with that?

You all know how much I admire Megan Miranda by now, I'm sure. Not only is she an amazing person, with a kick ass personality but she writes some pretty great, entertaining books; Fracture being one of my absolute favorite books. I got the pleasure to interview her last year for her Fracture tour and once again, I get to interview her for her Hysteria tour. Coming up with questions is hard, especially when you've interviewed them before and don't want to spoil the books you're helping promote. I managed though and I'm excited to share with you what she had to say.

The US and UK covers are both different for Hysteria, which I know happens quite often with books but I’m curious if you have a preference to which cover you like more than the other? If you do, why?

It depends on my mood :) I actually love them both, and I feel they both capture an important element of the book. The US cover goes more for the feel, I think, and captures it in a very unsettling way. The UK cover is much more literal, and actually illustrates a line from the first page of the book: “Brian’s blood had stained the kitchen tiles a fire engine red…”

That said, I know that the teen-version of me would pick up the US cover in a heartbeat. Actually, she’d probably pick up both. But I was always more drawn to the quirky, and the unsettling.


Hysteria is pretty creepy; where did you/do you find inspiration for the ‘creep factor’? There was one point where I was a big skeptical about trying to sleep because I was expecting to hear the boom boom boom …

Haha, sorry for that! Tension is something I focus on a lot during revision. As for the creep factor, I try to filter all my descriptions through my narrator’s mind. And in this case, my narrator believed she was being haunted, or stalked, so it made sense to me that everything would be viewed in that “something is wrong” light. From setting, to character meetings, to things she would hear in the night… Since Mallory was unsettled for most of the story, I wanted the reader to feel what she was feeling. As for inspiration… I’m not sure. I’m actually kind of a chicken, and I’m easily creeped out, so I think I just channeled my own discomfort into my writing :)

Do you ever get writer’s block? If so, how do you get yourself past that point?

Yes and no. I do get blocked, but usually it’s because there’s something wrong with my story, and I need to admit it and go back and fix it. Sometimes, I need a break from attempting a really difficult scene, so I’ll move on to a different project for a day or two, and a lot of times the solution will come to me as I’m busy doing something else.

I know you have a family so I’m curious as to when you get the opportunity to get some writing done? On average, about how many words do you complete in one day (if you keep track)?

Yes, I have 2 kids… my youngest is in preschool now though, so I typically have 3 “free” hours each morning. And I guard those hours. I don’t feel bad about not answering the phone, or not doing laundry, or anything else. I can respond to emails and check twitter in the school pick-up line, but I can’t draft unless I’m alone. So I work during that time. They also go to bed at 7 (they don’t know any better yet, but I’m sure this will become an issue in the future), so I can also write at night. My first book was written entirely between the hours of 7pm and midnight.

I don’t usually keep track of words unless I’m getting close to a deadline, because a lot of times I delete more than I write. I just… work on the story, and trust that I’m making progress (even if it’s not in the word count department).


What’s your favorite genre of books to read? Is similar to what you write or something completely different?
 
I do love thrillers of any kind, but I also love YA contemporary. But honestly, I read in every genre—typically anything that’s referred to me. Most of the time now, I don’t read the same genre I’m writing in when I’m drafting, but that’s because I don’t want what I’m reading to subconsciously influence the direction of the story (by trying to be “different” than something similar, and therefore not being genuine to the story being told)


The names of your characters were they the original names or do you end up changing them along the way? (This goes for this book and Fracture)

Naming characters isn’t something I usually give too much thought to. I start writing, and—boom—a name comes out. 

That said, Carson & Janna’s last name changed when I was revising by myself, and Decker’s last name changed when I was revising with my editor.

Mallory, on the other hand, took a long time to come up with. I knew her name started with an M., but I kept changing my mind, so for the first 50 pages or so, I eventually settled on just calling her M until I came up with Mallory.


Have you ever considered writing a Fantasy/Paranormal type book? They seem to be super popular (a favorite of mine) and if you were to consider it, what might you like to write about?

Sure! I can’t say I’d never write or not write any specific type of book. Really it has to do with whatever story is speaking to me. That said, I like to write stories that are grounded somewhat in the real world, so I probably wouldn’t write high fantasy.


Random question time. I know you’re a big Football fan as we talk about football quite a bit so here’s a tough one for you. If the NY Giants didn’t exist, which team would be your favorite? (And this requires you to pick a team) 

Haha! Well, now that the Giants are officially out of the running this year, I can answer this without feeling like a traitor. I was a HUGE Peyton Manning fan, so I always cheered for the Colts as my AFC team. And now that he’s moved on, I still find myself cheering for them. Guess it stuck.


I must say, she gave me warning of her answer to the last question. She had made sure I didn't receive these answers until after my team had already beat the Colts. (My team is the Super Bowl champions, the Baltimore Ravens, for those who are curious) I shake my head at her...because the Colts and Baltimore have history, however, it's OK with me. I really like Andrew Luck so I'm kind of OK with the Colts now...if she had said the Steelers or Patriots...there might have been words ;)

Thank you again to Bloomsbury/Walker for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour and help promote Hysteria. Thanks a heap load to Megan Miranda for taking the time to answer my questions. You're awesome. :)