BOD Spotlight with Megan White
Thank you so much, Megan, for being a part of this BOD author spotlight interview. I feel like even though we have never met in person, I’m getting the chance to interview one of my good friends, and it’s all because of BOD, so thank you.
I feel exactly the same way about you and many of the other BOD members I’ve had the privilege to speak with both on and off the page. One of the reasons I think BOD works so well is because it brings so many people from various walks of life and centers them around this strange bookish world, some might even say the worlds we enjoy are ‘taboo,’ we have the gore and the ghouls, and no one thinks we’re morbid or weird because we’re just like them. Authors aren’t placed on a pedestal, they are equals, they (we?) are approachable. How BOD created this unspoken equal-footing-for-all on a book-related page is revolutionary and has proven to be a major success. And FUN.
How long you have been a member of BOD, how did you hear about it, and what interested you in joining?
I was added by Cheer about 5 months ago and did a happy dance when I fully realized what the page was about. There are thousands of book pages on Facebook, mostly focused on the romance genre and its subsequent sub-genres, but never have I seen a single one for Dystopian & Apocalyptic/Post-Apoc fans. It was definitely a breath of fresh air to see an invite from a group that was unique and stayed focused on the topics of interest.
As I have interacted with you on BOD and from my reading of “The Supremacy,” I can see that you are one of those people that has such a fun and unique way of expressing yourself through words. Can you tell us how you got into writing or when you first knew you wanted to write?
I have always loved writing and creating new worlds, but I didn’t make the conscious decision to publish until I was faced with a battle I couldn’t physically fight against. When I was 21 I was diagnosed with cancer. To put it lightly, I was angry at the world. All I really had were my stories. When life became too hard to handle, I’d escape into a world that was so unlike my own that I could forget all the bad around me and live vicariously through the characters I created. All the female characters I have ever written had the strength and determination to survive what I didn’t think I had within myself, but through them, I became stronger. I write characters the way I wish to be, not how I really am.
Thank you for sharing that with us. I find it inspiring to know how your characters were created. I bet a lot of your female characters have more of you in them than you think. So on those line, do you feel like writing is a task or a job that needs to be done, or do you get lost in the process?
Both. Strangely, I feel a duty to these characters that have presented themselves to me to get their story out. It sounds crazy when I type it like that but once I get started on a new story, or a continuation of one of my already exciting stories, I cannot stop until their story in complete. Whether good or bad, we are following someone’s journey that I don’t even know the ending until we get there.
I had such a fun time reading The Supremacy. It was a scary thriller, and yet had gentle emotion throughout. Can you tell us a little bit about it and where your idea originated from?
It is always hard to talk about the book without spoiling it, but I’ll try my best. The Supremacy has a very basic premise written in a very complex way. Who are we and what makes us, as humans, better than another species? There was one quote that really grabbed my attention when I first started the beginning drafts of the novel, “If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.” Many have said The Supremacy was too gory, more like a horror novel than a dystopian novel, and that was the point. I wanted readers to be appalled by what they were reading because, even though it doesn’t happen to us (humans), every scene in the book does happen, every day, not to us, but by us.
Without ruining the book for those that haven’t read it, how would you explain what the beings are that make up The Supremacy?
Without telling exactly what Supremes are in the fictional sense, I can tell you what they are meant to represent in reality—us, humans. Are you angry yet? We are the apex species, but what if we weren’t? What if there was another species out there that was stronger, smarter, faster? What if we weren’t top of the food-chain anymore? We’ve killed entire species out of greed, what if there was a species that thought as little of us as we’ve thought of others?
What can you tell us about the sequel? When are readers going to be able to find out what happens to Rin and those fighting for freedom from The Supremacy?
Soon! The 2nd book is titled The Keeper and is Declan’s POV from The Supremacy. The Keeper is a book that shows us who Declan really is, what motivated him to turn away from what he is and show so much compassion to a species that he was raised to believe meant as much to Supremes as cattle meant to humans. The Keeper shows us the behind-the-scenes action we missed out on in the first book, and is critical to know for the third, but it doesn’t stop where the first The Supremacy ended.
What was the first book that made you fall in love with reading?
Gosh, I’m not really sure. My parents instilled a love of reading in me from a very young age, but the first book that truly grasped my attention for more than the short time I was reading/being read to was ‘I Am the Cheese’ by Robert Cornier. It was a novel that had my head spinning from the minute I picked it up and it still never stopped. It made you think. It was one of those books that you loved to hate because the questions kept coming even after the book ended.
When you’re not writing or reading, how do you spend your time, and who do you spend it with?
I am very lucky to be blessed with an amazing, supportive family. And, for me, the question is backwards. When I’m not spending time with my family, I’m writing. I am a mom first and foremost, and when it comes to my writing, I never want my daughter to know the phrase, “Wait, I’m busy.” No fantasy world I could ever create could hold a flame to the reality that my daughter and I are able to share together.
If today was your last day on earth, how would you spend it and what would you want your legacy to be?
However the day would be spent, it would be with family. I think I’d let my daughter decide what we’d do because when the day was over, I’d be gone, but the memories would live on through her.
A legacy? I’ve never really thought about it in the large scheme of things. I am beyond grateful to be alive and try not to think about death and what I will be leaving behind. If I had to choose something to be remembered by, it would be that I loved with all I had and tried every day to remind myself that living is a gift.
ABOUT MEGAN WHITE
Raised as a ‘Military-Brat’ I’ve had the pleasure of living in many different locals–some amazing and eye-opening, others boring and dull. Being raised in the military lifestyle gifted me the opportunity to meet people and see things I never would have otherwise.I refuse to grow up and become a boring adult. It will never happen.When not writing my stories you can probably find me advocating for Human Rights in many different venues. Some of those topics include the right to your own body, the right to love whomever you choose and the right to speak openly and freely without fear of persecution (whether that be personal or from the government).But most of all, I’m just me and it’s always hard to write a bio on myself. If there’s anything you’d like to know feel free to ask!