Megan Bailey: Thanks so much for having me! I'm an author from Illinois. I like to write New Adult, Romance, and Paranormal stories with quirky characters. My first novel, There Are No Vampires In This Book, was released on June 2nd of this year.
LBBB: What inspired you to start writing?
M.B.: I have always loved telling stories. When I was little I came up with crazy stories and plays for my sister and I to act out. Later, I kept it up by writing short stories and fan-fics to entertain her at work. For the longest time, she was the only person I'd share my writing with.
LBBB: How long did it take for you to write your first book?
M.B.: I tackled the bare bones of TANVITB during NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago. I spent the next several months cleaning up the story and rewriting it.
LBBB: How do you come up with ideas for your stories?
M.B.: A hyperactive imagination that is constantly wondering “what if?” I often see a little snippet of something, an interesting person or something abandoned and end up wondering about the rest of the story. The what-if's take over.
LBBB: What is your writing routine like? Do you have a set schedule or are you flexible?
M.B.: I try to write something every day. That can be difficult to fit in with work and the kids' schedules, so I have to be pretty flexible. If there is free time at work, I'm scribbling ideas and notes down. When ever I have a chance at home, I try to fit in some writing.
LBBB: What inspires you to write?
M.B.: Music! I need to have the right music going. If I'm sitting down to write, I like to have a playlist for whatever mood I'm trying to create. I have playlists for every character I write, too.
LBBB: Are any of your stories written from personal experience, or any character traits that mirror yours?
M.B.: There's definitely a lot of me in anything I write. A lot of the friendship in TANVITB is rooted in the shenanigans and trouble I got into with my own childhood friends. The grandmother is a mix of several women who influenced me as a child. It's kind of fun to hear people who know me try to guess who or what inspired certain things in the book.
LBBB: When in a slump, what do you do? If you read or listen to music, what are your go-to books or music?
M.B.: The first thing I always do is get up and get moving. I'll take the dog for a walk or go on a long country drive. These things always seem to get my mind moving again. Suddenly, something will just click.
My go to music is my favorite band, Coheed and Cambria.
LBBB: How do you respond to negative feedback/comments with your work?
M.B.: It's never fun to hear, but I know not everyone is going to like what I do. If it's not helpful advice, it's best to not put much energy towards the negative. I try to just leave it alone and keep doing what makes my heart happy.
Chocolate helps, too.
LBBB: What is your writing space like? Do you work anywhere or do you have a special place just for your writing? Messy or clean?
M.B.: I am a clutter magnet. It's terrible. I take my work with me everywhere in a notebook. Notes and ideas are sticking out all over the place to mark pages. At work, they are all over my desk just waiting for break time. My husband will often come home to music blaring, the couch covered in notes, and me typing in the center of the disaster.
LBBB: Do you have a favorite author? Series?
M.B.: I love, love, love Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series and J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood. Obsessed is probably a better word.
LBBB: Any fur-babies?
M.B.: We have a boxer named Minna, an anti-social dwarf bunny named Gimli, and a cat that my youngest named Logan The Wolverine. They think they run the place.
LBBB: Thanks for stopping by, Megan!