Introducing New YA Author: Megan Bostic

This week on Reading Away The Days, YA feature is author Megan Bostic. Megan debuts her novel, Never Eighteen this month! Please welcome Megan to Reading Away The Days by leaving her a nice comment below and don't forget to check out her novel, Never Eighteen!

A little about Megan & why she started writing:

I'm a mom of two teenage girls living in Tacoma, WA. I wrote my first novel in 2007. I started writing because I was grieving the loss of my mother-in-law. We had taken her in to do hospice care for her when she was diagnosed with Cancer. When she passed, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I started writing. I helped me though a very hard time.

Can you tell us a little about your debut novel, Never Eighteen?

Never Eighteen is about love, loss, and living every day as if it were your last. If you look around you, you're bound to see people who aren't taking advantage of life. Instead of battling their struggles, they're letting them shut them down. My main character Austin is dying. He understands all too well that life is a gift and shouldn't be taken for granted. So, the book is also a story of hope. One kids mission to show his loved ones that life is worth living.

Where did you get the idea for Never Eighteen?

The idea actually came from my husband at the time and I ran with it. I took the experiences I had taking care of my mother-in-law, plus my own life experiences and fused them together to write this novel.

Never Eighteen is your first published novel. How does it feel to be published?

Sometimes it’s exhausting. Sometimes it’s terrifying. Mostly I feel like I’ve defeated a very worthy adversary, which is very gratifying.

I love the cover of Never Eighteen who designed it and did you have much say in the designing of the cover?

It’s original artwork by Carol Chu and I absolutely love it. I did get to voice an opinion. The original background color was kind of yellowish, and I didn’t like it at all. So now a lovely light blue graces the cover.

How is working coming on your next novel, Sad?

Well, I’ve changed the name to Sliced. Work right now is slow. I’m doing a major rewrite and that is always a laborious task. But I’m plugging along and hope to have it finished by the end of November. (2011)

Why should we read Never Eighteen?

Though the characters are fictional, they deal with very real, very important problems that I think many people will be able to relate to. It's a story that will make you contemplate your own life and the lives of those around you. It’s also a book full of hope. No matter how bad things seem, we have to find it within ourselves to make it better.

Finally is there any other debut novel you are looking forward to reading this year?

Pretty much all the books by my fellow Class of 2k12 which you can find at classof2k12.com.

Thanks to Megan for the interview. You can pre-order Never Eighteen as the links below:

Mifflin Harcourt
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Books-a-Million, Powells’s

Stalk Megan:
www.meganbosticbooks.com
@meganbostic on twitter
http://www.facebook.com/meganbosticbooks
www.nevereighteen.com-Houghton