Author Megan Hart -- Photo by Scott Church

Please join me in welcoming guest author Megan Hart, who has graciously submitted to a MamaWriters interview!

When she was in third grade, Megan Hart fell in love for the first time. Not with a boy (that would wait until fourth grade), but with a story. Homecoming by Ray Bradbury leaped out at her from the pages of a library book, and she tumbled head over heels. In the dark ages, before the days of photocopiers, the only way for her to keep a copy of this story was to copy it out by hand so she could read it over and over again. Something funny happened, though, as she carefully printed it on lined notebook paper.

She made “improvements.”

At age twelve, reading Stephen King’s The Stand for the first time one memorable summer, it occurred to her that people really did write books for a living. That’s when she decided to become an author.

Megan began writing short fantasy, horror and science fiction before graduating to novel-length romances. In 1998, now a stay-home mom, Megan took up writing in earnest, attending her first writing conference and getting her first request for a full manuscript. In 2002 she saw her first book in print, and she hasn’t stopped since.

She’s published in almost every genre of romantic fiction, including historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, futuristic, fantasy and perhaps most notably, erotic. She also writes non-erotic fantasy and science fiction, as well as continuing to occasionally dabble in horror.

Megan’s goal is to continue writing spicy, thrilling love stories with a twist. Her dream is to have a movie made of every one of her novels, starring herself as the heroine and Keanu Reeves as the hero. Megan lives in the deep, dark woods with Superman and two monsters…er…children.

How old are your kid(s), and how many do you have?

I have two children, one of each. One’s ten and one’s almost thirteen.

How do you schedule yourself, and fit writing into your life, with kids?  (i..e. Do you write only when they’re not home; when you’re at school activities, etc.)

When they were younger, I wrote during naps or after they went to bed, or when they were in preschool. Now that they’re both in school all day long, theoretically I write while they’re in school. But I also write after they go to bed. And other times, too. Basically, whenever I can.

How is your house set up (or not!) for being a writer and a mom?

            When we built our house, we turned the formal living room into my office. It’s my space. And I love it! I am really fortunate and spoiled because I’ve always had my own office space. I could work without it, I guess. Glad I don’t have to.

Have you ever had any interesting conversations with your kid(s) about your writing?  Your covers? 

One of my favorite conversations was with my daughter about the cover for Tempted. It went something like this:

Her: “There are three people on that cover.”

Me: “Yep.”

Her: “…how come?”

Me: “Well, it’s about a woman and her husband, and his best friend comes to stay with them, so there are three people in the story.”

Her: “They’re naked.”

            Me: “Yes, they are.”

            Her: “That must’ve been awkward.”

            Me: “They’re models, I’m sure they do that all the time.”

            Her: “…have you and Daddy ever done that?”

            Me: “…you’ve seen your Dad’s friends, what do YOU think?”

            Her: laughs

Are you /  were you ever a stay-at-home writing mom?  If so, have you ever been the recipient of the attitude of, “Well, you’re home anyhow, can’t just clean the house/do the laundry/scrub the bathrooms/ drop the dry cleaning off/etc etc”   (As if you’re not!)

I’ve always been a stay home writing mom. As such, I do the laundry, the cleaning, the bill paying, the child shuttling, the scheduling, the social calendar…and until recently, when my husband discovered Wegman’s (a fancy grocery store) I did all the grocery shopping. I am home all the time, which means that much of what needs to be done falls on me because it makes sense to do it rather than simply wait to do laundry when he comes home from work. However, the house is not always as clean as it could be, and I’m a big fan of saying “I’m not the only person who lives here.” Even though I do most of it all, I expect everyone to help, if only to clean up their own stuff. And if something doesn’t get clean to someone’s standards, that person is more than welcome to clean behind the fridge if he, for some reason, finds it important to do so. ahem

How do you explain what you do to your kids? (and how old are they?)

I’ve been writing all their lives. When they were much smaller, my daughter drew a picture in preschool that was supposed to describe what her mother did. She wrote “She writes emails.” I think my son’s said “she puts on makeup and writes on the computer.” The makeup part? Not true. The rest of it? Yes.

What do you think your children think of what you do?  (i.e. Could mean their opinion of it, or just how they’d describe it — esp. fun if they’re young!   )

I think they both think it’s pretty neat. It’s certainly different than what any of their friends’ parents do.

Visit Megan at www.readinbed.net