[Note From Frolic: Our resident YA expert Aurora Dominguez got the opportunity to interview bestselling author’s Karen M. McManus and Megan Miranda and ask them five(ish) questions]
Interview with Karen McManus:
Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel?Â
Karen: The original kernel of an idea was to take a small town with a tragic past, and have characters whose families were affected become part of a new mystery. I’ve always been interested in the power of secrets. That was one of the things I explored in One of Us Is Lying: the lengths that people will go to in order to protect hidden parts of themselves, and what happens when those parts are exposed. There’s a similar theme in Two Can Keep a Secret, but here it’s even broader, because there are generations of secrets that have piled up in this one small town.
What character do you most relate to and why?
Ellery’s twin brother Ezra has a special place in my heart. In some ways he’s a stand-in for the writer in me, as the observer and commentator to all of his sister’s true crime theories, but he’s also quietly passionate about the things he holds dear. He’s the calm to Ellery’s storm, which is a role I’m comfortable in as well.
Why do you feel young adult books are so popular and have such a voice right now? What’s your favorite young adult author?
I think many readers can relate to the mindset that drives many young adult novels—that desire to figure out who you are and how you fit into the world around you. Also, some of the young adult novels being published now are among the most groundbreaking, diverse, and boundary-pushing work out there. It’s always difficult for me to pick a favorite author, but two who inspired me early on, and who I continue to enjoy, are Courtney Summers and Becky Albertalli. They write very different types of books, but they both have crystal-clear voices and create memorable, relatable characters.
Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from the read.
It’s about a girl named Ellery who moves to the town where her aunt disappeared as a teenager. She meets a boy, Malcolm, whose brother was suspected, but not convicted, of killing his homecoming queen girlfriend five years ago. So they are both tied to this town’s very dark past. Lt’s a layered, twisty story where there’s one big mystery—what’s happening to the girls of Echo Ridge?—but also lots of smaller, more personal mysteries that Ellery and Malcolm need to unravel before they can understand the big picture.
What’s next for you in the book world?
At the moment I’m editing the One of Us is Lying sequel, which is coming out in early 2020. I’ll be introducing new main characters for that, including Bronwyn Rojas’s younger sister Maeve, but readers will still see plenty of the original Bayview Four! I’m also drafting my fourth book, which is another standalone YA mystery scheduled to be published in 2021.
What can fans expect from your book appearances?
I’m usually in conversation with another author, which is a great opportunity to talk craft, characters, and all the strange little writing quirks we have that somehow turn into books.
What’s your favorite writing method that you follow for inspiration?
I listen to a lot of music while I’m drafting and, specifically, I create playlists for each character. My books are multi-POV, and this helps me get into the headspace of whoever I’m writing at the time.
Be sure to pick up Karen’s newest book Two Can Keep a Secret out now!
Interview with Megan Miranda:
Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel?
Megan: Before I started drafting, Come Find Me was an idea that had lived in my head for a long time, inspired by several of the things that have always sparked my curiosity. But most of it could be traced back to the question of whether there was something else out there, beyond the world we see. Growing up, I loved the movie Contact, and was a huge X-Files fan. It was that element of trying to reconcile reason with the unexplainable that I kept coming back to and ultimately sparked the idea for this story.
What character do you most relate to and why?
I was a huge space-nerd growing up, so I could slip most easily into Kennedy’s world in this story, as she was searching for signs of life through the cosmos. Despite everything, Kennedy also believes she’s an optimist at heart—and I’d say I believe the same.
Why do you feel young adult books are so popular and have such a voice right now?
I have always felt that there’s something emotionally universal at the heart of young adult stories—finding your place in the world, discovering your voice and who you are—and I think that feeling often lasts well into adulthood as well, which makes these stories so resonant across age-groups. As for favorites, I have so very many favorite authors, and am thankful to call many of them friends as well. It’s a continually growing list!
Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from the read.
Come Find Me is about two teens who have both suffered personal tragedies and have each turned their attention beyond the world we know in their search of something more—Kennedy is trying to keep her brother’s search through the cosmos alive; Nolan is searching for signs of the paranormal at the location where his brother disappeared, years earlier. When both independently stumble upon a mysterious signal, it brings them together in search of what it means. But along the way, they also uncover the mysteries connecting their lives—until they wonder if the signal is warning them about something that’s coming for them. Or if that something is already here.
What’s next for you in the book world?
My next adult suspense comes out this summer—The Last House Guest, publishing in June.
What can fans expect from your book appearances?
We’ll be chatting writing, YA thrillers, and everything books. I love meeting readers!
What’s your favorite writing method that you follow for inspiration?
I find that my process for each book is a little bit different, but I like to follow a consistent routine while I’m drafting. Getting into the head of a character is so important, so I spend a lot of time writing before I even know the plot: discovering who they are and what their story is first. There’s always a lot of revising and rewriting once I figure out their story, and all the twists and turns along the way—but I am always a character-first writer.
Be sure to pick up Megan’s newest book Come Find Me out now!
