Indie Author Megan Cashman visits my Hotseat!

 While growing up on Staten Island, NY, Megan Cashman was often seen reading and writing, making others suspect she will become a writer someday. At the age of 30, she certainly did by self-publishing her first book, “The Dark Proposal”. She intends to write many more books and hopes her readers will join her in a journey to other worlds, both real and unseen.

R:  Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became interested in writing.

I have been writing since I was a young girl and always had the goal of being a published author. I can’t really say how or when I became interested, I guess you can say it just happened. One of my elementary school teachers was a big influence on me, and she encouraged me to go after my dreams, and that kind of stuck with me.

R: What drew you to the urban fantasy genre?

I’ve been a fan of vampires since my teens. Anything is possible with urban fantasy and the fact that you can make it set in modern times makes it exciting, especially with all the technology we have these days.

R: What writers in your genre would you say have made the greatest influence on your writing?

Anne Rice had a big influence. I read a lot of not only her Vampire Chronicles, but her Mayfair Witches books and even one of her historical novels, Cry to Heaven.

R: Tell us about your novel, The Dark Proposal.

It is about a college graduate named Claire McCormick who finds what she thinks is the perfect boyfriend. He’s a bit older, handsome, rich and intelligent. But then he reveals he is a vampire and wants to make her one too. The vampires in my book are the villains, so Claire has no interest in being a killer. But her boyfriend won’t take no for an answer.

R: What made you choose the self publishing route?

I was very intrigued by the amount of control I would have. For example, choosing the cover design was a big plus for me. I also liked the idea of being my own boss.

R: What are you working on at the moment / next?

The follow-up to The Dark Proposal, and once I am done with that, I’ll begin the third and final book in this trilogy.

R: What’s ahead for Claire?

She’ll accept being a vampire while her friends and family figure out what has become of her.

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

For some reason, I must be out in public. I prefer going to either Starbucks or Panera Bread to work on my writings. With my coffee by my side, I am able to focus better. I find being at home distracting, but I do work from there sometimes.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

I never finished a novel until now. I always would start something, but never complete it. This time, I was able to focus and be dedicated to this project. Oh, I also hope to get into play and screenwriting, but for small productions.

On a personal level, I would like to mention that I am from Staten Island, born and raised, and I am very proud of how the people here have come together after the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. I fared better than many others, but it was really tough to here and see the immense damage out here. I tend to have a love/hate relationship with the Island, but these days there's little room for hate :-)

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done? 

Getting a tattoo on my right shoulder. I come across as a bit square to others, but I do have my wild side!

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

I hope I take them to another world. I hope I am able to transport them to wherever my stories take them. 

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Daytime. The sunlight is just too beautiful to ignore.

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Cats, but I do love pugs!

Beach or Pool?   The beach. Nothing like resting in the sun with the waves in your ears.

Steak or salad?  Salad at the moment.

Favorite Drink?  For caffeine, French Vanilla coffee. On a night out, a cosmopolitan

Favorite Book?  This is difficult to answer because I have so many. Maybe The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I love how it captures the realities of human nature and life.

Favorite TV Series?  I like Once Upon A Time, Girls, Copper, and True Blood (Although, season 5 was horrible). But I would say Game of Thrones wows me every time and I am so excited for Season 3!

Thanks for a great interview, Megan.  Folks, here are all the places you can find Megan:

Twitter:         @MeganCashman

Facebook:     www.facebook.com/MeganCashmanBooks

Goodreads:   www.Goodreads.com/Megan_Cashman

Blog:               megancashmanbooks.wordpress.com

“The Dark Proposal” will be free on Amazon on December 12^th – that’s 12/12/12! A perfect way to mark that date!

the winner of our Donnette Smith giveaway is: Chris Bails!  Congrats, Chris!

Ilona Andrews visits us the end of December! Meow!

ROCCO

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