Author Spotlight: Megan Miranda

Welcome to the next installment of Author Spotlight, where we feature on author and conduct an interview or guest post with them as well as a giveaway (which is always open internationally). This month I am super happy to bring you Megan Miranda, author with Bloomsbury/Walker. You may have heard of her two books, which are now available, Fracture (2012) and Hysteria (2013). Come February 4, the companion novel for Fracture, Vengeance (2014), will be out and if you loved Fracture, like I did, it's one you do NOT want to miss.

Megan Miranda is the author of Fracture and Hysteria. She spends a great deal of time thinking about the "why" and "how" of things, which leads her to get carried away daydreaming about the "what-ifs." Megan has a degree in Biology from MIT and currently lives near Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and two young children.

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Fracture is told from Delaney’s point of view while Vengeance is told from Decker’s point of view; which book was more difficult for you to write? Which character was more difficult to get inside their head?

Honestly, getting into each character’s head was the easiest part of writing both books. I really enjoyed writing from both perspectives. But I think Vengeance was more difficult for me to write—because I was completely bound by everything that happened in the first book. All the relationships, all the interactions, every event carried the weight of everything that had happened in Fracture. (Then again, I usually think whatever book I’m writing is the hardest, so maybe it’s just because it’s fresher in my mind)

You seem to write more contemporary books mixed with a bit of science; have you ever considered a different genre, like dystopian, fantasy, paranormal, etc?

Yes! Er, kind of? I was going to say that my next book is a contemp sci-fi… and then I realized that still pretty much fits your description  Either way, I think it has a different feel from anything else I’ve written, but I guess it does stick with the elements I’m drawn to. I guess there’s something to that—writing what you love, even when it takes a slightly different form. So I won’t say never—but it hasn’t quite happened yet.

If you were to write a paranormal book, per say, what type of paranormal character would you write it about?

Hmm, like a paranormal creature? Probably ghosts or doppelgangers.

You’re about to have your third book come out while it’s a sequel to Fracture, so here’s an interesting question – if you could have any one character from Hysteria and one from Fracture/Vengeance date – which two characters would it be and why?

Ohh, I love this! I’d love to set Colleen from Hysteria and Kevin from Fracture/Vengeance up on a date. I think they’d really challenge each other. I think they’d argue, I think they’d call each other on their crap, and I think, deep down, they might really be good for each other.

Everyone asks for advice for upcoming writers and what to do; I’m going to twist this around a little bit and give aspiring writer’s one piece of advice on what to NOT do.

Don’t let constructive criticism discourage you. Let it fuel you.

Have you ever considered writing a book for a different age group? Whether it’d be children, college aged (new adult) or adults? If you’ve never considered it until now, which would you find the most appealing/easiest?

Yes, I have. I’d like to continue writing YA, but I have a few ideas that are not-YA as well. So we’ll see!

Was a sequel to Fracture something you wanted once you had finished writing or was it something that came to be later on down the road?

It was later. Actually, anytime anyone asked me if I planned to write a sequel, I was very adamant that Fracture was a stand-alone, and now of course I’m eating my words… I felt pretty strongly that Delaney’s story ended in the right place - I liked to picture my characters as having gotten through the worst, and I wanted to imagine them happy.

But the more people who asked, the more I got to thinking about it. Was there something more? Where do the characters go from here?

Then I wrote a short story for Bloomsbury from Decker’s perspective during the 11-minutes that Delaney was trapped under the ice. While writing, I got a real sense of him, and his own story—and I thought: he has his own journey, and only part of it is complete.

But it wasn’t until after I finished Hysteria that the idea for Vengeance was born.

I know you’re a big football fan, have you ever considered writing a young adult contemporary book with either the main character or love interest being a football player?

I DO love football. Also, I happen to think Friday Night Lights was the greatest show ever. So… I have definitely toyed with the idea of certain characters being from that world, but it would have to fit the character/story, and so far, it hasn’t fit into what I’ve written. But someday. SOMEDAY.

If you could go on a book tour to five cities with four other authors, where would you choose to go and what authors would you bring with you?

So, I’m going to pick my 4 critique partners. Not only would we all have stories to share about the journey/how we work together, but I think our books have common themes:
Jill Hathaway, Elle Cosimano, Ashley Elston, & Megan Shepherd

As for where to go… I’d want to go somewhere in NJ, because that’s where I’m from. And Boston, because I love Boston and I went to college there. And then I’m going to say Sydney, Australia, Madrid, and London, because you didn’t specify US and I would really love to visit.

A common question – but have you read anything good recently? Anything you could recommend to your readers?

Many things! I most recently finished Find Me by Romily Bernard, which was fantastic, and The Coldest Girl In Coldtown by Holly Black, which I loved. And on the adult side, The Likeness by Tana French.

Let me give you a little back-story on Megan and I. First and foremost, I'm a fan of hers, that's how I met her was because of Fracture. We've become friends since then and one of the things we love to talk about, besides books, is football. I like her team (New York Giants) and I don't believe she holds any grudges against my team (Baltimore Ravens); we beat them in Superbowl 35. Her division is one where most fans don't like ANY of the teams except their own so I thought it would be fun to make her choose.

Philadelphia Eagles or Dallas Cowboys? (you are evil) (ugh) (a 0-0 tie?) (fine I’ll answer) Cowboys
Summer or Winter? Summer
Texting or Calling? Texting (my kids believe that seeing me on the phone means they should attempt to destroy the house)
iPhone or Android? iPhone
Lake or Ocean? Ocean
E-Book or Physical book? Physical book
Hottie or Underdog? Underdog!
Dallas Cowboys or Washington Redskins? (ugh again) (seriously, you are evil) okay, Redskins
Books or Movies? Books.
Phialdelphia Eagles or Washington Redskins? *whispers* Redskins
Decker or Reid? Ack! And I thought the football questions were tough!
Decker for Delaney, and Reid for Mallory
(Okay, well since I've just spent a year inside Decker’s head, I think that currently might give him a slight advantage….)

So what I'm offering you is a choice. You can choose Fracture, Hysteria or Vengeance. What you'll get is a hardcover of the book of your choice personalized. I am including Vengeance but if you do choose that please be aware it is a pre-order so you won't be getting the book until after it's February 4, 2014 release date. This giveaway is open internationally.

Giveaway ends November 19, 2013.

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