Author Interview: Megg Jensen

 

Hey, thanks for doing this interview with me. You write the Cloud Prophet Trilogy! The first two books in the trilogy are available now! Could you tell me a bit about the first book Anathema and the second book Oubliette!

Anathema focuses on a slave girl named Reychel who is told she more than she could ever hope to be. She has to decide if she wants to solve her problems, and those of her people, with or without following prophecy. Oubliette is the continuation of her story. I can't say too much or it will spoil the plot for anyone who hasn't read Anathema. I'm known for interesting plot twists.

Where did you get the idea for the Cloud Prophet Trilogy?

On a trip to my parents' farm, my daughter said from the backseat, "Mom, I can see things in the clouds." I asked her what shapes she saw and she became very agitated with me. "No, Mom, I can see the future." Obviously she has my sense of whimsy. It was in that moment that Reychel was born in my mind.

I love the covers of the Cloud Prophet Trilogy! I especially like the cover of Severed the last book in the trilogy which is released in the fall. Who designed the covers and how much say do you have in the cover designs?

Thank you so much! I'm thrilled I found an amazing cover designer in Robin Ludwig Design, Inc (http://www.rldprint.com/). She does amazing work. I have a ton of input in the design. I send her stock photos and try to describe the cover in my head. Then she tells me I'm seeing it all wrong, sends me a workup for a cover and I fall in love. Somehow she knows exactly what I want - even when I'm having trouble explaining it. I don't have an eye for creating art and Robin is an amazing member of my publishing team.

You are releasing the first book in your new trilogy,  the Swarm Trilogy: Sleepers this summer. Can you tell us a little about this series?

Sleepers focuses on an adoptee who knows little about her homeland, and understands even less about the place she has lived her whole life. Lianne's life spins out of control when a spell cast on her at birth activates on her sixteenth birthday.

Why do you write YA books?

I'm 36 and yet, I still have the mentality of a teen. My oldest niece is now a teen and my family jokes that I finally have someone on my level to talk to. It's true in many ways. I'm married with kids, but I remember very well what it's like to be young, innocent, and fighting for my own path in this world. Even though most of us would like to forget the majority of our teen years (myself included), we have to agree that those years are where we finally began to develop our true selves. Nothing is more precious.

Are you currently working any other projects at the minute?

Other than finishing the first draft of Severed, I am also working on an unnamed middle grade novel. It sets the concept of a fairytale on its ear. I hope to have that completed and out before the end of 2011. I also have another fantasy trilogy in the works (after I'm done with The Swarm Trilogy), which is unlike anything I've ever read before. I'm not sure where my mind finds some of these stories, but I'm grateful they're all swimming around in there.

Megg Jensen's Book History:

Favourite book as a child and why?

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I own multiple copies and wore out a couple more. I think the themes of family and love are so strong and spoke to me as a child. Besides, who wouldn't want to tesser?! Plus, the main character's name is Meg. My name, Megg, is a pen name. Why do you think I chose it? ;)

Favourite book as a teenager and why?

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I was nineteen when I read it (that still counts as a teen, right?) and it changed the way I looked at everything.

A book you have read this year and loved and why?



I've read some great books this year, but nothing has struck me quite the way The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Carrie Ryan) did in 2010. While it's a paranormal (zombie) novel, I believe that Ms. Ryan brought so much humanity to it. I read it in six hours, including an hour while I made Belgian waffles from scratch. I could not put it down and I fear a couple waffles might have been burned... Luckily my kids are used to me burning their dinner.

A character in a book you are most like and why?

I've never felt a close kinship with any character, but I've often been told I'm a lot like Anne of Green Gables. I read it for the first time last year and had to laugh. In many ways, I was very much like Anne as a child.

If you could have written any book which would it be and why?

Wow, that's a tough one. I love all of the novels I've written. As for the novels I've loved, but didn't write - I don't know if I'd give up the reader experience for any of them. Sometimes a book loses its glitter when you become too intimate with it. I've read The Mists of Avalon at least seven or eight times. As a reader, I can always discover something new each time. I don't know if I would have that same experience had I written it.

Do you have anything else to add?

Thank you so much for having me, Megan!!!!

Contact Megg via her:

Website: http://www.meggjensen.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meggjensenauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/meggjensen1

Buy Megg's books:

http://meggjensen.blogspot.com/p/where-to-buy-meggs-books.html