Megan Morgan's Blog, page 2
February 26, 2019
I’d like to thank the Academy…
Look at this lovely thing that arrived yesterday!
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It’s my award for Best Suspense in the Evernight Publishing Reader’s Choice Awards! I won it for Hidden, which is just so awesome. THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me!
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I have no idea where I’m going to display it yet, but these are the kind of writer problems I’ve always wanted to have. Isn’t it lovely? 
February 21, 2019
Take My Advice (or Don’t)
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Week #8: Worst writing advice I’ve gotten
Hoo boy, this is a doozy of a topic this week.
First of all, it’s important to remember that all writing advice is just that–advice. And advice is not the same as technicalities, which are the things that are actually the backbone of writing: things like grammar rules and spelling, plot construction, and the parts of a book that make it a whole, like your protagonist and antagonist, conflict, climax, and resolution. Yes, even some of those things can be bent a little, but I seperate those things from the creative part of writing. There’s a difference between how to technically write a book and how to artistically write a book–and it’s the latter we all tend to get advice about the most. The former can be learned.
What works for one author artistically may not work for another. One writer’s style is completely different from another writer’s style, and it would be hard for those two very different writers to give each other creative advice. Even when ‘experts’ dole out advice, take it with a big fat grain of salt. The trendsetters could tell you how books about sharks are gonna be SO huge next year, so you waste all year writing about sharks and then next year everyone’s into dolphins. Advice should be considered, but not necessarily held aloft to the exclusion of everything else.
That being said, a few of the worst pieces of writing advice I’ve ever gotten are:
Write what you know. Books would be insanely boring and repetitive if all writers only ever wrote about things they specifically know.
Never write about (various taboo subjects). Taboo subjects tend to make controversial books that sell well, because people love controversy. Taboo subjects can also be handled in a respectful manner that sheds light on the reality of the subject.
Read everything. Read good books that you like in the genre you want to write in. Also, it’s very easy to fool yourself into thinking if you’re spending all your time reading that’s also writing. You got to do the hard part, too.
Write every single day. Anne Rice made a GREAT post on her Facebook about this last week.
But, this is just my advice. Take it or leave it.
February 20, 2019
Going There Without Going There
Each Wednesday from January 9 – December 18, 2019, Long and Short Reviews is hosting a weekly blog hop.
Blogging is a fun way to meet people and get to know them. We’re offering a weekly “prompt” for authors, non-authors, bookish folks and others to share something weekly and gain new friends and visitors to the blog. There’s no pressure to write something every week (though it should be fun and a challenge), but we do ask that if you do post something, you share your link on the weekly post we’ll put up at our site (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning) — the link list will be open for new links for 48 hours. Other bloggers will also share their links and you can hop over and see what they have to share.
February 20th – What To Read To Learn About X
I’ve missed a couple weeks of this, but I’m doing these weekly blog challenges kind of casually so it’s not a big deal. I’m back today to answer this week’s question, though!
Since I’m a writer it would be easy to list books that help you learn about writing, but most writers probably already have a list of those, or can easily find them anywhere on the internet. I tried to come up with something more unique. It does, however, pertain to writing–specifically, writing about places you’ve never visited.
To learn more about (most) any place in the world–especially places you’ve never actually seen–read Google Maps!
More precisely, use the ‘Street View’ mode on Google Maps wherever it’s available: and it’s available far more widely than you can imagine. Even some of the most remote, barely-traveled places on earth have been photographed and mapped by it. I’ve used it countless times to get a feel for, or details about, places that I haven’t actually seen in person. It’s one of my best-used tools when creating settings for my books. Even for places where I have been (like Chicago in multiple books I’ve written), it helps in areas that I haven’t visited, or that I don’t remember clearly. I tend to be a writer who likes to keep settings close to what they are in the real world, so it’s something I rely on a lot. It makes it so I don’t have to always write about places I know, or places I make up.
Have you ever used a tool like Google Maps to help you ‘see’ a place you’re writing about?
February 14, 2019
Happy Valentine’s Day–Would You LOVE to Win Some Prizes?
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Do you want a little romance (novel) in your life this Valentine’s Day? Do you like prizes? In the spirit of LOVE, I’m holding a Valentine’s giveaway! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to win:
A $10 Amazon gift card
A choice of any TWO of my titles in e-book format (excluding the anthologies, as I don’t have permission to give away the works of other authors).
Just enter the giveaway to win! You must be willing to provide an email address for the prizes. This contest will be open until Saturday, February 16th, at which time the Rafflecopter will close and the winner will be announced.
Good luck and spread the LOVE! Happy Valentine’s Day!
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
February 7, 2019
Five Authors I’d Like To Meet
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Week #6: Five authors (alive or dead) I’d like to meet
This was a fun list to make!
Stephen King – I don’t think anyone who has read my blog for any length of time is surprised by this. Stephen King was the reason I started writing at the tender and impressionable age of 13, wanting to be a horror writer just like him. I really want to meet him, and the fact he’s getting older makes me nervous that I won’t (and he makes far less public appearances now). I would love to just say to him “Mr. King, you’re the reason I started writing as a teenager, and now I have my own books published.” As eloquent as this seems in my head, in real life I’m sure I’d be a quivering, stupid mess and wouldn’t get the words out right.
Anne Rice – She’s also getting older and it makes me nervous. I’d love to tell her what sort of impression her Vampire Chronicles had on me, even though I’m sure she hears it often. Her writing style and her boldness at a time vampire books weren’t a ‘thing’ yet, and her enduring impression and legacy as an author are things I really admire, and I’d love to just be in her presence for a few moments.
Anne Lamott – My favorite author who writes about writing. She has a wicked dark sense of humor very much like my own and I think meeting her in person would be a delight.
Edgar Allen Poe – Of course my black, morbid, horror-loving self would like to meet the old school master. I know in life he wasn’t exactly the greatest guy to be around, and possibly a raging alcoholic, but it’s a fantasy, I think, for anyone who writes or enjoys horror.
Laurell K. Hamilton – The author who introduced me to urban fantasy, which is where my desire to write both paranormal and romance that’s a little more edgy and dark than traditional romance collide.
What writers would you like to meet?
February 6, 2019
Moving On
[image error]This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the February 6 posting of the IWSG are Raimey Gallant, Natalie Aguirre, CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!
February is upon us. Happy (early) Valentine’s Day! Apart from the usual flogging myself to write more, edit more, publish more, I’m not feeling particularly insecure this month. At least, not about any one specific thing. Insecurity is the background noise of my writer’s life, so I’m used to that part by now.
I want to make it a great 2019 and I’m trying to focus on that right now. January was an absolute shit show for me professionally (as in my day job) and personally, so I’m going to pretend January was just a trial month, now the real subscription for the year starts. I’m also choosing to believe all the bad stuff got itself over with right away in January, so the rest of the year will be smooth sailing. I’d rather do it that way anyway, get it over with at once instead of stretching it out over the whole year!
How was your January? Are you ready for the rest of 2019?
February 6 question – Besides writing what other creative outlets do you have?
I’ve definitely talked about the fact before that I’m simply not creatively inclined outside of writing. At least, not in ways most people think when they think of ‘creative’ things. I like to do interior decorating, but for my own tastes, I doubt I could design a space for anyone else. So, I love decorating my own house. Sometimes I enjoy cooking. I’ve been threatening to try out candle making for a few years now, so maybe this will be the year I finally give it a go. I’m not very handy or crafty, either.
What outlets do you have?
January 31, 2019
Life Changing Books
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Week #5: A book that has influenced my life
This is a great question, and there’s several–I’ve talked about some of these before, so I’m sorry if I sound like a broken record.
I didn’t exactly have the best life growing up/in my teens. My mother died when I was 13 and I went into a system of foster care, rotating between my much older siblings and other people connected to my family. I hated my life and most of all, I hated living in the small, backwards town I lived in where there was basically nothing for a teenager to do but get into trouble–which I did, a lot. Even back then I was obsessed with horror novels and movies, probably because I was morbid due to my circumstances. Around the age of 15 (it’s been a long time and hard to remember my exact age) I found a copy of The Vampire Lestat at a flea market/basement sale type thing and of course it had the word VAMPIRE in the title, so I had to have it and read it.
It turned out that book changed my entire life–largely, because if you haven’t read it, through most of the first half, Lestat is a young (human) man who is desperate to escape his dreary provincial life and horrible family situation. He ends up doing this in the most fantastical way, by becoming a vampire (though it’s forced upon him) and taking on Paris, becoming an actor and ruling the night. For me, it sounded like all my daydreams come true. And even though it’s a largely tragic story about losing your humanity while trying to find yourself, it resonated with me so strongly at that impressionable, miserable age and gave me hope. I still have that falling apart, rag-tag copy I bought for 50 cents all those (many!) years ago. It’s held together with tape now and the pages are yellow, but I will never throw it away.
Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is also the book that changed how I look at writing, when I was a young and very green writer. Her dark and frank sense of humor is right up my alley, and the lessons she teaches in it made things very clear for me at the time. I still have that old book too! I also have an old copy of Sophy Burnham’s For Writer’s Only which is full of amazing and resonating quotes for authors. I have a lot of old books!
How about you? What book changed your life?
January 30, 2019
The Name Game
Each Wednesday from January 9 – December 18, 2019, Long and Short Reviews is hosting a weekly blog hop.
Blogging is a fun way to meet people and get to know them. We’re offering a weekly “prompt” for authors, non-authors, bookish folks and others to share something weekly and gain new friends and visitors to the blog. There’s no pressure to write something every week (though it should be fun and a challenge), but we do ask that if you do post something, you share your link on the weekly post we’ll put up at our site (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning) — the link list will be open for new links for 48 hours. Other bloggers will also share their links and you can hop over and see what they have to share.
January 30th – Characters I’d Name a Baby After
Ha! This is a funny question because when I was pregnant with my son (and didn’t yet know he was a boy) if he was a girl, I wanted to name him Mina Gabrielle. Mina, of course, from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (though her full name was Wilhelmina and I didn’t want that), and Gabrielle after Lestat’s mother in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. I was a tad bit obsessed with vampire novels, can you tell? I think I would still name a girl Gabrielle because it’s such a pretty name.
I ended up naming him Cain Evan, and though Cain is the first vampire in some vampire mythologies, it didn’t come from that. It didn’t really come from the Bible either, though I happened to be reading Beowulf at the time and Grendel was described as being Cain’s descendant. That’s where I got the name from and in that story it WAS referring to the Biblical Cain so…it’s Biblical by the way of fiction? And, you’re going to laugh very hard (and I’m going to show my age), but the name Evan came from a character in Miami Vice. *hides face*
I also toyed with naming him Vaughn Vladimir. Vaughn just because I liked the name and Vladimir of course after Dracula, but that was vetoed. I think if I ever had another son (which is doubtful at this stage of my life) I would name him Gabriel-if I didn’t have a girl and name her Gabrielle–simply because I like that name a lot. I also think at that point people would just think I’m naming all my kids from the Bible so maybe not. I wrote a fourth Siren Song novel (which has never been released) and named June’s daughter Antigone–Tiggy for short–and I think that would be a cool name too.
So yes, I would totally name babies after characters…and have!
January 23, 2019
No Writing?
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Week #4: What I would do if I couldn’t be a writer
Wow, this is an interesting question. Of course, I don’t HAVE to be a writer, no one is forcing me. And like all writers I have my moments where I just want to give up. But I know it’s part of who I am, it’s part of my being and my personality, it’s essential to who I am. The thought of not having that–of not knowing who and what I am–is kind of scary.
I don’t know that I would do anything else creative because I’m not that good at any other creative pursuits. Maybe I would try to be, but I don’t know. I suppose I could learn an instrument, or learn how to draw or make art. But would I have the same passion for it? I don’t know. I’m assuming with this question I just suddenly couldn’t be a writer anymore, as I am, in my life now. That would be hard, and I feel like I would lose a big part of myself. It would leave a hole behind that I’d find hard to fill. I suppose for a while I’d just focus on my job and try to figure out what I want to do next, where I want to go. Maybe I would try to find a job that helps me travel and see more of the world.
I would probably still do something connected to writing–teaching, or being in the publishing business, something of that sort. What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer?
January 22, 2019
No to Snow
Each Wednesday from January 9 – December 18, 2019, Long and Short Reviews is hosting a weekly blog hop.
Blogging is a fun way to meet people and get to know them. We’re offering a weekly “prompt” for authors, non-authors, bookish folks and others to share something weekly and gain new friends and visitors to the blog. There’s no pressure to write something every week (though it should be fun and a challenge), but we do ask that if you do post something, you share your link on the weekly post we’ll put up at our site (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning) — the link list will be open for new links for 48 hours. Other bloggers will also share their links and you can hop over and see what they have to share.
January 23rd – Favorite things to do in the winter
Stay inside!
I’m not a huge fan of winter. Heck, I’m not even vaguely tolerant of it. I like warm weather and sun! Snow can be pretty, but I’m not fond of walking around in it or in the cold in general. I layer a lot and I find that an annoying process too. Sometimes watching the snow fall can be nice–I’ll give it that. Very recently we had a full-out blizzard here and it was pretty scary and amazing at the same time. I can’t recall a time when I experienced wind and snowfall like that. It was truly a force of nature and I was VERY glad to be inside (though I had to walk in it for a few minutes on the way home from work). Of course, we’re left with the unholy amount of snow in the aftermath and it makes life difficult for everyone.
I don’t ski or do any sort of winter sporty activities, but I appreciate those who do and find it fun. To each their own! I remember as a kid I liked to go out and play in it and build snowmen and whatnot, but then I turned into a grumpy adult who likes being snug and warm. I suppose it would be amazing to see REAL snow, like in the Alps and the arctic and places where there’s truly an amazing amount of it. I’d like to see Antarctica just to see it. For now I’ll content myself with pictures.
So, my favorite things to do in the winter involve being inside–being online, watching Hulu, cooking, cleaning, playing with my cat, scrubbing the grout, anything that doesn’t involve going out in the snow, but maybe getting to enjoy how nice it looks through my balcony doors. That is, until it turns to awful gray slush.
