Interview with Meagan Spooner

Kat Kennedy: This is Kat Kennedy here to interview author Meagan Spooner for her second book, Shadowlark, in her Skylark series. Meg!  Good to have you back on the blog! It feels like you’re just coming home.

Meagan Spooner:  Thanks for having me! It is JUST like coming home. But you’re in my chair, you know.

Kat Kennedy:  Yes, well, we’re a horrible family, ya know. So I’ll move in five minutes just after you’ve gotten comfortable.

Meagan Spooner:  Of course. I guess I’ll just sit on this dusty milk crate in the corner, then.

Kat Kennedy:  No!  You can’t sit there!  That’s where the ghost of Stephanie past is sitting!

Meagan Spooner:  I thought it felt extra ectoplasmy.

Kat Kennedy: No, she just always gets like that when you’re around.  You’re one of her favourite people.  So your second solo book, Shadowlark is coming out, is there going to be a third book in the series?

Meagan Spooner: Yay! Goo!  But to answer your question, yes, there is! The title is still currently a secret, but there will be a book three to round out the trilogy.

Kat Kennedy: It’s Spylark, isn’t it? The Spylark Who Shagged Me?

Meagan Spooner:  ARGH, Kat, what did I tell you about going through my private documents? Naughty thing, you.

Kat Kennedy:  Really, really horrible family with serious privacy issues – like I told you. You seem so relaxed this time around, what’s your secret? Bathing in the tears of your fans?

Meagan Spooner:  Well, there’s a little bit of that. I do love making readers cry. But mostly experience, I’d say. When you’re a debut author, you have no idea what you’re doing. And the inside scoop is that no one tells us what we’re supposed to be doing! So we end up trying to do everything, in the hope that we can help our books get just a little bit more of an edge.  But I think that tendency fades a little as you get more comfortable in the business. You can start concentrating on what really matters, which is producing good work. If you write good books, the rest will come.

Kat Kennedy:  Publishing steroids?  Because you know they test for those, right?

Meagan Spooner:  Totally. Show me a debut author who isn’t doping with Goodreads contests and Twitter chats, and I’ll show you a unicorn who poops rainbows. 😉

Kat Kennedy: All unicorns poop rainbows! You seem to be a pretty prolific writer. You have this series, These Broken Stars and I’m sure there are a few other projects going on there.

Meagan Spooner:  You aren’t wrong!

Kat Kennedy:  It’s like you’ve exploded all over the place in a glorious, glorious fashion! Wow, I totally didn’t mean for that to sound ejaculatory…jeez, these things just come out of me.

Oh god!  When will the double entendres stop?!

Meagan Spooner:  Oh, Kat. How I’ve missed you.

Kat Kennedy:  LOL.  I’m so, so sorry.
I apologize to you.
I apologize to your fans.
I apologize to your ancestors.
what project are you most excited about?

Meagan Spooner:  Oh, gosh. That’s like asking a parent to choose publicly between their children as to which are their favorites!

Kat Kennedy:  My daughter is my favourite.

Meagan Spooner:  It’s very easy to be excited about THESE BROKEN STARS right now, because it’s at that stage where bloggers are coming back with their early reviews, and we’re starting to get critical reviews, and so far it’s all good. But I’m also working on the third book in the Skylark trilogy, and there’s something about wrapping up a three-book arc of a story that’s immensely satisfying and appealing.

Kat Kennedy:  Wow.  So it’s basically all happening for you. On a scale of 1-10, how much should readers freak out about Lark’s fate? Are you gunna go all GRR Martin on her butt?

Meagan Spooner:  In book two, her trials are more emotional than physical. Clearly, because there has to be a book three starring her, so she can’t be missing most of her limbs and/or life.

Kat Kennedy:  Phew. I just had to know because I’m part way through it. THANK YOU!

Meagan Spooner:  In book three, I cannot make any promises about her fate whatsoever. I’m actually still working on the end of the series as we speak, so it changes a little every day.

Kat Kennedy:  You just want to make me cry, don’t you?

Meagan Spooner:  But I am not a roses and kittens and happily ever after author. I love bittersweet. So consider that fair warning!

Kat Kennedy:  Oh damn it!

Meagan Spooner:  And yes, yes I do. I always end up crying at the books I love most, so for me, making my readers cry is a mark of success!

But for me, it’s not actually about making readers sad, that’s not the goal.

Kat Kennedy:  What is the goal, Meg?!

Meagan Spooner:  It’s about affecting them. Sometimes I cry at books when nothing sad whatsoever is going on–it’s just that I find myself so transported and so bowled over by the story that that’s the only way my feeble brain can express it! So that’s always what I try to do in my own writing. I figure out how I want my readers to feel, and that’s how I figure out what to write.

Kat Kennedy:  Wow. I’ve never heard it explained like that before. But that is kind of really, incredibly awesome. OMG!  That is totally what you did with Skylark! I am for real having a mind blown moment right now.

Meagan Spooner:  I never want to leave readers sad. Maybe they pass through sad on the way to where I DO want to leave them, but it’s never the end result goal. Aww, yay!

Kat Kennedy:  You’re right!  That is totally the way you write!

Meagan Spooner: Success!

Kat Kennedy:  Okay, sorry, I will tamper down the enthusiasm. I just remember that scene you wrote where Lark is experiencing the sky for the first time. I swear to god, I almost got vertigo.

Meagan Spooner:  That whole arc of Lark’s, her ouranophobia, was really fun for me. It’s not something most people have ever experienced, and I certainly haven’t. So it was a lot of research and reading accounts from people who have suffered that phobia.
For me, it’s so hard to imagine being afraid of the sky. So it was one of the biggest challenges in that first book, putting myself inside Lark’s head.

Kat Kennedy:  Well, I’ve only experienced vertigo once, but you nailed it.  And I know it’s not exactly the same – but it felt the same.

Meagan Spooner:  I have a definite fear of heights, myself, so I used that a lot while writing about her fears. And it was actually after writing SKYLARK that I started rock climbing, to teach myself to not be afraid of heights. You’ve got to experience your fears, like Lark does, to get over them.

Kat Kennedy:  Or you could turn to alcohol. I know which path I’d choose. Unless you’re afraid of alcohol…

Meagan Spooner:  Well, true. But it’s so expensive. Gosh, wouldn’t that be a crippling phobia?

Kat Kennedy:  I think I have a phobia of having a phobia of alcohol. I wonder if that has a name yet…

Meagan Spooner:  Methyphobia is a fear of alcohol. Dipsophobia is a fear of drinking.

Kat Kennedy:  So… dipsophobia-phobia

Meagan Spooner:  Man, what did we do before we had the internet?

Kat Kennedy:  I dunno, killed animals with rocks, I guess. Anyway, thank you for coming to talk with me today! As always, it was enormous fun catching up with you!

Meagan Spooner:  Of course! Thank you for having me, it was a blast as always.

Kat Kennedy:  Good luck with Shadowlark AND These Broken Stars!

Meagan Spooner:  Thank you!

[about-author]

Shadowlark (Skylark #2) by Meagan Spooner

Goodreads | Indibound | Book Depository

Ever since she escaped the city within the Wall, Lark Ainsley’s wanted one thing: to find her brother Basil. She’s always believed he would be the one to put an end to the constant fear and flight. And now, hidden underground in the chaotically magical city of Lethe, Lark feels closer to him than ever.
But Lethe is a city cowering in fear of its founder, the mysterious Prometheus, and of his private police force. To get the truth about what happened to Basil, Lark has no choice but to face Prometheus.
Facing her fears has become second nature to Lark. Facing the truth is another matter.
Lark never asked to be anyone’s savior. She certainly never wanted to be anyone’s weapon. She might not have a choice.

Blog Tour Stops

Don’t miss the rest of the blog tour! [one_third]

Monday, September 23

Excerpt – Xpresso Reads

Tuesday, September 24

Interview – Two Chicks on Books

Wednesday, September 25

Review – Good Books and Good Wine

Thursday, September 26

Guest Post – Fantasy Book Addict

Friday, September 27

Review – Ageless Pages Reviews

[/one_third]

[one_third]

Saturday, September 28

Interview/Live Chat – Cuddlebuggery

Monday, September 30

Review – Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf

Tuesday, October 1 {RELEASE DAY}

Guest Post – The Book Smugglers

Friday, September 27

Review – Ageless Pages Reviews

Saturday, September 28

Interview/Live Chat – Cuddlebuggery

[/one_third]

[one_third_last]

Monday, September 30

Review – Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf

Tuesday, October 1 {RELEASE DAY}

Guest Post – The Book Smugglers

Wednesday, October 2

Review – Anna Reads

Thursday, October 3

Interview –Literary Rambles

Friday, October 4

Review – YA Sisterhood

[/one_third_last]

Giveaway!

For the grand prize giveaway, each stop will have a password to put on our review/post. In order for you to unlock more chances to win you’ll need to visit each stop to collect all the passwords. The password for this stop is STAR; use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win the grand prize!

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And…

Meagan Spooner is being super generous in funding a giveaway for this tour stop!  She’ll be giving away a finished paperback of Skylark or Shadowlark depending on the winner’s preference. She’ll be ordering it from Book Depository, so the winner must live somewhere Book Depository ships!

Contest Rules:

• To enter, please fill out the Raffelcopter form below.
• We ask that all entrants be at least 13 years or older to enter.
• The giveaway is open internationally.
• When the winners are chosen, it will be announced here and the winners will be emailed. Please check your email because we are only giving the winner 48 hours to respond! Otherwise another winner will have to be selected.
• Please enter your email address in the Rafflecopter form and not the comments.
• Also, please understand that we reserve the right to disqualify any entries we find gaming the system. Cheaters never prosper.

a Rafflecopter giveaway