Megan Kelley Hall is the author for this Thursday’s Author Tales. Megan is the author of Sisters of Misery, which will be released July 29th! I loved it! It is definitely on of the great in ’08 books. You can check out my review here! Remember to leave a comment to be entered in the Monthly Contest!
The truth is that I’ve always been drawn to stories and authors that provide that unusual twist. In high school, I loved anything by Christopher Pike, Lois Duncan, Stephen King, and even V.C. Andrews. In college, I loved short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” I loved that eerie unexpected ending, the gothic elements, a great ghost story. This is where I got my inspiration for my debut novel, SISTERS OF MISERY. I had originally written it as an adult novel (entitled MISERY ISLAND), but I remembered how novels like “Stranger with my Face” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” really stuck with me as a teen, and I wanted to give teen readers the same experience that I treasured. Now, I still recommend reading those classic teen suspense novels, but I would be thrilled if Maddie, Cordelia and Kate and the other SISTERS OF MISERY were welcomed into that clique of great YA suspense characters.
The way that I became a published author is kind of a dark, gothic story in and of itself. I remember walking down the beach near my house one afternoon and suddenly my vision became blurry. I ran up the hill to my house and luckily my mother, my husband and my baby girl were there. They rushed me to the hospital only to discover that I’d had a series of mini-strokes (resulting in losing partial vision in one eye). This is not common for a 32-year old. So, for the next two years I had numerous medical procedures (carotid stent, CAT scans, MRIs, MRAs) and eventually I had open heart surgery. And I died. For 96 minutes. And then I came back. After I was “fixed” (turns out the medical problems stemmed from radiation treatment I received when I was a baby with cancer), I was forced to do basically nothing for three months because I had to let my sternotomy wounds heal. It was at that time that I realized that even though I had written for some national magazines like American Baby, Parenting, Working Mother and even Boston Magazine, I’d never written for a major women’s magazine and I’d never published a book. So I used that time to revamp the book I’d been toying with for years and turned the adult suspense MISERY ISLAND into the YA suspense novel, SISTERS OF MISERY. I realized how precious life was and how if you want something, you really have to go after it (it’s not going to come to you). Using those three housebound (more like chairbound) months as “work” time, I was able to accomplish the following things within the next year: I finally had a feature article run in Glamour magazine, I got a literary agent from one of the largest agencies in New York, and I got a two-book deal from Kensington Books for the SISTERS OF MISERY series. And to top it all off, my essay about overcoming obstacles was included in former CNN Anchor Daryn Kagan’s anthology entitled, “What’s Possible!” Truly amazing!
The moral of this story is this: don’t ever give up! Please excuse the following cheesy clichés, but they kind of apply to what I’m saying. Sometimes the darkest times can bring about the brightest and most amazing days. Things that may appear to be setbacks, may actually turn out to be blessings in disguise. And most importantly, don’t wait for things to happen to you. If you want to be a writer (or a nuclear physicist or an astronaut or a rock star—whatever), do it now. Don’t wait for your life to get more exciting or wait until someone tells you it’s okay to be whatever you want to be. Do it for yourself! Think of Nike and JUST DO IT!
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Great interview, Megan! And great advice, not just for aspiring authors, but for everyone who has a dream they want to fulfill. This book is definitely on my tbr list!
Great interview Megan! and Kristi I nominated you for a blog award:)
Ooh, this makes me want to read the book even more. I’ll have to get to it soon.
Great Interview!!!! I really want to read the book now!
Awesome interview…..I have this book in my mini-tbr and now really can’t wait to read it!!!
Love your blog…….so much, that I nominated you for an award…
http://melsysplace.blogspot.com/2008/07/wowowow.html
Great guest blog and great advice. I really loved her book Sisters of Misery.It was amazing.
Oh I cannot wait to read this book.
~Meredith
nice guest blog. you’ve been through quite a bit but it’s awesome you were able to use that time to bring about all this good in your life.
it is true that you shouldn’t wait around for your dreams to come true…you have to chase them.
I really want to read your book. it sounds great!
-lauren
Great guest blog. I liked the story about the rose and train. Very…interesting.
I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Sisters of Misery.
It’s crazy to think that somebody when through something like and still made it. And now, she has a book coming out! Megan is such an inspiration.
Great guest blog! Book sounds interesting!
I’ve got this book in my stack and I’m looking forward to reading it. Makes me want to put it at the top of my list!
Great guest blog Megan! And also great advice. I’ve read some great reviews on your book. It sounds really great. I want to read it sometime!
-Breanna
Wow, that’s a scary situation!
i cant wait to read my copy of Megan’s book
Thanks for letting me guest blog here. And thank you all for your kind words. You have no idea how much it means to me!!
You guys are the best!
xoxo
Megan
Great advice, very inspiring. I had a close friend who also died and was brought back to life and experienced a “reawakening” of sorts, changed her whole life. Its really an amazing thing. Best of luck to you.
lovelyluckymegs@yahoo.com
Please enter me for the contest!,
Melody
Wow, this was amazing.
And I too, loved Lois Duncan <3
Great blog =)
Great interview. I love books with unusual twists as well so this will go on my TBR list. Thanks.
What an incredible experience you went through. I’m glad you ended up becoming an author. I just got that book and can’t wait to dive into it. doot65{at}comcast[dot]net
Elizabeth
This book is very exciting and wonderfull.
If there is the second part ?
Sorry my english is very bad !
Please answer.
This book is very exciting and wonderfull.
If there is the second part ?
Sorry my english is very bad !
Please answer.