Girlfriends Cyber Circuit interview with Megan Kelley Hall
Megan Kelley Hall
THE LOST SISTER
Kensington
August 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0758226808
THE LOST SISTER takes a chilling look at what happens when hazing pushes someone too far...
Sisters are born, not chosen…
Maddie Crane is grappling with the disappearance of Cordelia LeClaire, and trying to escape the grasp of The Sisters of Misery-an insidious clique of the school’s most powerful girls, whose pranks have set off a chain of horrific events, and who have Maddie in their sights…
Beware the sister betrayed…
Early praise for THE LOST SISTER
Compelling with its dark gothic twists and frightening intrigue, Megan Kelley Hall's THE LOST SISTER, combines romance, terror and family with the graceful pen of a master.
-Carrie Jones, author of NEED
A character driven tale containing a deep Gothic feel and haunting foreboding atmosphere that hooks fans of all ages....With strong ties to the late seventeenth century Salem Witch Trials, THE LOST SISTER is a super thriller. -- Harriet Klausner
Hall will have your heart racing and you will not be able to put this book down. With historical allusions to the New England witch trials and a touch of the paranormal, THE LOST SISTER is a thriller in a league of its own.
-- TeensReadtoo / Awarded THE LOST SISTER the Hall of Fame Gold Star Award for Excellence
Interview with Megan Kelley Hall
How many fingers would you use to count the books you've read more than three times? What books do you turn to time and again and why?
Well, I’d need many hands to say how many times I’ve read Shakespearean plays because I was a total Shakespeare nerd and had to take every Shakespearean course in high school and college that I could. My all-time favorite book, THE SECRET HISTORY, I return to again and again, trying to recapture that magic of the first time I’d read it. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Other than that, I’m not a big one for rereading books. Perhaps it’s because there are so many new books that I want to read (and write) and my time is limited. But I definitely reread short stories again and again. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, A Rose for Emily by Faulkner, Young Goodman Brown by Hawthorne; all those creepy short stories are my favorites.
Have you ever fallen in love with a character (yours or someone else's)? How did that work out for you?
I’ve never really fallen in love with a character in a book (a character in a television show, like Sawyer from LOST, well that’s another story). I’d have to say that I try to fall a little in love with each of my male love interests while I’m writing them, so that the emotion carries through in the writing. Finn holds a special place in my heart. That may or may not be because I envisioned a young Johnny Depp playing him in the movie version.
Was there a pivotal moment in your writing or a single (or plural) epiphany that really changed or improved the way you write?
Although I was in the presence of greatness in college, studying under Pulitzer Prize winning author, Steven Millhauser (he hadn’t won the Pulitzer at that point), it was another professor that had a major impact on my writing. Tatyana Tolstoya (Tolstoy’s granddaughter) invited me to have coffee with her to discuss my writing. I was very excited, wondering what words of wisdom she would pass on to me. We were having coffee and smoking cigarettes at a coffee house at Skidmore. I was looking forward to some form of praise for my latest short story. Instead, she blew smoke in my face and said in her thick Russian accent, “You have too much vanity in your work.” I didn’t understand, so I asked her to explain. “You think you’re a better writer than you really are.” Way to bring someone down a peg. Especially, since I really didn’t think that I was all that great a writer (not anymore, at least). From that point on, I never let myself have lofty visions of my work. I always know that I can do better. I’ll never allow myself to rest on my laurels. So, all in all, it was excellent--albeit harsh--advice
I don't think any character really lives and breathes without quirks. Can you talk about that?
I think that quirks are what make people - and characters - likeable and relatable.I like to think I'm a quirky person. People without quirks scare me--makes me think they're hiding something.
Do you ever fear that people you've known will read your work and see themselves in the characters you create?
It’s funny because every guy I’ve ever known seems to think that they are the love interest in my books, whereas no girls ever see themselves as the mean girls. I’ll simply say that the boys are purely fictional. The girls? Well, Kate Endicott and her crew are a mixture of every mean girl I’ve had the pleasure of coming across in my life. I’ll leave it at that.
If you could meet any fictional character ever created, who would it be and why?
I’d love to meet Cordelia, because I think she’s just the coolest. I also would like to meet Eloise grown up, because she’d be pretty darn coon as a teenager.
THE LOST SISTER
Kensington
August 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0758226808
THE LOST SISTER takes a chilling look at what happens when hazing pushes someone too far...
Sisters are born, not chosen…
Maddie Crane is grappling with the disappearance of Cordelia LeClaire, and trying to escape the grasp of The Sisters of Misery-an insidious clique of the school’s most powerful girls, whose pranks have set off a chain of horrific events, and who have Maddie in their sights…
Beware the sister betrayed…
Early praise for THE LOST SISTER
Compelling with its dark gothic twists and frightening intrigue, Megan Kelley Hall's THE LOST SISTER, combines romance, terror and family with the graceful pen of a master.
-Carrie Jones, author of NEED
A character driven tale containing a deep Gothic feel and haunting foreboding atmosphere that hooks fans of all ages....With strong ties to the late seventeenth century Salem Witch Trials, THE LOST SISTER is a super thriller. -- Harriet Klausner
Hall will have your heart racing and you will not be able to put this book down. With historical allusions to the New England witch trials and a touch of the paranormal, THE LOST SISTER is a thriller in a league of its own.
-- TeensReadtoo / Awarded THE LOST SISTER the Hall of Fame Gold Star Award for Excellence
Interview with Megan Kelley Hall
How many fingers would you use to count the books you've read more than three times? What books do you turn to time and again and why?
Well, I’d need many hands to say how many times I’ve read Shakespearean plays because I was a total Shakespeare nerd and had to take every Shakespearean course in high school and college that I could. My all-time favorite book, THE SECRET HISTORY, I return to again and again, trying to recapture that magic of the first time I’d read it. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Other than that, I’m not a big one for rereading books. Perhaps it’s because there are so many new books that I want to read (and write) and my time is limited. But I definitely reread short stories again and again. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, A Rose for Emily by Faulkner, Young Goodman Brown by Hawthorne; all those creepy short stories are my favorites.
Have you ever fallen in love with a character (yours or someone else's)? How did that work out for you?
I’ve never really fallen in love with a character in a book (a character in a television show, like Sawyer from LOST, well that’s another story). I’d have to say that I try to fall a little in love with each of my male love interests while I’m writing them, so that the emotion carries through in the writing. Finn holds a special place in my heart. That may or may not be because I envisioned a young Johnny Depp playing him in the movie version.
Was there a pivotal moment in your writing or a single (or plural) epiphany that really changed or improved the way you write?
Although I was in the presence of greatness in college, studying under Pulitzer Prize winning author, Steven Millhauser (he hadn’t won the Pulitzer at that point), it was another professor that had a major impact on my writing. Tatyana Tolstoya (Tolstoy’s granddaughter) invited me to have coffee with her to discuss my writing. I was very excited, wondering what words of wisdom she would pass on to me. We were having coffee and smoking cigarettes at a coffee house at Skidmore. I was looking forward to some form of praise for my latest short story. Instead, she blew smoke in my face and said in her thick Russian accent, “You have too much vanity in your work.” I didn’t understand, so I asked her to explain. “You think you’re a better writer than you really are.” Way to bring someone down a peg. Especially, since I really didn’t think that I was all that great a writer (not anymore, at least). From that point on, I never let myself have lofty visions of my work. I always know that I can do better. I’ll never allow myself to rest on my laurels. So, all in all, it was excellent--albeit harsh--advice
I don't think any character really lives and breathes without quirks. Can you talk about that?
I think that quirks are what make people - and characters - likeable and relatable.I like to think I'm a quirky person. People without quirks scare me--makes me think they're hiding something.
Do you ever fear that people you've known will read your work and see themselves in the characters you create?
It’s funny because every guy I’ve ever known seems to think that they are the love interest in my books, whereas no girls ever see themselves as the mean girls. I’ll simply say that the boys are purely fictional. The girls? Well, Kate Endicott and her crew are a mixture of every mean girl I’ve had the pleasure of coming across in my life. I’ll leave it at that.
If you could meet any fictional character ever created, who would it be and why?
I’d love to meet Cordelia, because I think she’s just the coolest. I also would like to meet Eloise grown up, because she’d be pretty darn coon as a teenager.