July’s Author Q&A is with Megan Jones. We first met through Instagram and a Facebook group for writers, and it was there we both discovered that we are in the same part of the World.
Megan’s new release is in my basket on Amazon, waiting for the day I can add to my TBR pile. Take a look below at what it’s all about, and where the inspiration came from.
I’m Megan Jones. I started writing when I was around 12/13, and all the ideas I had continued to linger in my head for a long time. Then I did something about it. A Drug called Freedom was started when I was thirteen. It travelled with me through my life. Since then I have graduated University, got married, and have spent eight years working in childcare. But Emma and Jake kept returning to me. After I finished my degree, I returned to the Apex Division and the ideas would not stop flowing. So much so that I am now writing the 9th book. A book I never knew existed.
I am from Yorkshire; England and I love it here. It truly is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I’m now coming up to my 27th birthday and achieving things I never thought were possible.
Welcome to the Apex Division everyone.
Getting to Know You
What motivated you to become an indie author?
A Friend who was an indie author. She was real and reachable as an author and it really inspired me because I want people who love my work, or who have been touched by my work, to be able to contact me and reach out. And for me to be able to reach back.
When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
I love spending time with friends and family. I walk my dogs a lot, I’m so fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the North Yorkshire countryside, and York is only a short drive away. I like cinema and films, me and my husband watch a lot. We really enjoy the cinematic experience.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
The freedom of being able to put anything on a page. Between me and my laptop, there is no judgement or limitation and a lot of my writing gets changed but it’s the freedom for ideas to come to life.
The Writing Process
What is your writing process?
Sit down and write. I don’t plan, nothing has a structure until I write it. Everything happens in my head and then flows onto the page.
How do you get inspired to write?
When I was younger, it would be anything that caught my eye or my ears. A part of a film, music, or photos. But now, it is more what my own characters have become, and wanting to tell each of their stories.
What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
There isn’t a wrong way to write or create. You will find your audience. You will find your own way of doing things. And, it might take time, but find your own little world and bask in it.
Reading
What are your five favorite books, and why?
I have books I love because they first got me into reading, they were the first books I was hooked on as a child and a teenager. First was Harry Potter, my favourite one being Prisoner of Azkaban. I remember getting Order of the Phoenix through my door, at 6 in the morning and I was 10 years old! I ended up reading as much as I could before school.
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, and all the book by Louise Rennison. They really set the tone for my teenage reading and the tone of first person for me. How a book can be from someone’s point of view, but you still feel really involved.
More recently, I really loved The High Druid’s Blade by Terry Brooks. I liked his other stuff and have read it, but for some reason, I liked Paxon much more than his other lead males.
Gods of Asphalt by H.E.Ellis, because she is the writer I was talking about above and it really opened my eyes to indie authors.
We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman. It’s a book I will never forget because it was so thought provoking and touching, it’s something I would never usually read but was so glad I picked up. I don’t think I’ll ever read another book like it and that’s maybe why I loved it so much.
How do you discover the books you read?
At the moment, I’m trying to read indie only. I’m reading a lot of books from Story Origin, to help authors out with reviews, and I’m trying to read books from Indie’s who have inspired and helped me on Instagram too.
What books are on your reading list this year?
My list is huge at the moment, and like I said, full of indie authors. Top of my list is to finish Kara. S Weaver’s Crown of Conspiracy. Then I want to move onto her second book. I have all three of J. M. Bucklers books on my list. I have Envy downloaded onto my kindle app and ready to go!
A Drug Called Freedom
★Have you ever read a story where the main character gets pushed down and continuously gets back up again? Sure, you have. But I assure you. I’m different.★
I’m the most powerful person on the planet. I simply don’t know it yet. To get to the point of knowing it, I must be pushed to the edge of death and back. I must learn to trust again. And I must become part of the Apex Division.
My story is full of death and destruction. It’s also full of hot romance and huge life lessons. The question is – can you grit your teeth during the hard parts to see if I make it? To see if I become powerful enough to get revenge on the people who hurt me. To see if I grow up enough to trust the people around me. To see if I truly am immortal.
★Come test your limits with me – Emma Cooper. And Welcome to the Apex Division. ★
What inspired you to write Apex Division: A Drug Called Freedom?
Well it all started with my first series which was called Realm Keepers, an epic fantasy version of Apex Division, which is urban and set in a not too distant future. I started it when I was twelve, as I was writing it, my characters became great, but the storyline became something I had read over and over again in epic fantasy. So, I switched it up and took the characters with me. I had over a million words in that series, it was really hard to let it go but what the characters and the story became by moving it into an urban setting was much more exciting, and I’ve gained more than I have lost.
Is there going to be a follow up to A Drug Called Freedom?
Many many more. At the moment, there is 12 more that I’ve planned to write, but I really don’t know where the Apex Division will end for me. The next book, which I’m hoping to be out soon, is An Addiction Called Loyalty. Followed by The Hangover that is Honesty, The Withdrawal that Comes with the Past, and then to end that series, The Hope that Comes in Redemption. We then move onto the next Apex Division series, which combines epic fantasy and urban fantasy in The Definition of Mercy.