Author Interview: Megan Shephard

Hello and welcome! 

Today I have an interview with the lovely Megan Shephard!

"In the darkest places, even love is deadly.
Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.
Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.
Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect."

What gave you the idea for The Madman's Daughter?

When I was a teenager I loved the classics, and HG Wells’ THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU stuck with me because I’ve always cared quite a great deal for animals, which made the book extremely scary and disturbing.After the TV show LOST went off the air I kept thinking about the idea of a mysterious island, and I got the idea to do a re-imagining of THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU told from a new character’s perspective.

  Why write for teens?

I could go on all day about this question! I would say I don’t “write for teens” as much as I “write Young Adult literature.” I think teens should feel free to read adult literature and adults should feel free to read teen literature, too. It’s less about an age range and more about the mood a reader is in. YA literature tends to be very fast-paced and forward-looking and addresses big themes and big issues. Don’t get me wrong, I love adult literature. But sometimes I’m not in the mood for a seven hundred page tome about an aging woman’s struggle with divorce written in flash-backs, even if it’s brilliant. Sometimes I just want something gripping that I can’t put down, and to me a lot of times that means YA.

 Are there any characters in your book that you can relate to?

I don’t think I have very much in common with my protagonist, Juliet Moreau (I’m not that violent!), but I do have one key thing in common with her. When I was her age, 16, I had a tropical adventure of my own when I went to Costa Rica as an exchange student, and spent a year exploring the beaches and jungles. There might have even been a real-life love triangle J

The playlist you create for The Madman's Daughter is awesome! Which song is your favorite? 

I think Seven Devils by Florence and the Machine captures the mood best. It’s such a powerful, haunting, awesome song! It always gets me instantly into the right mood for writing Gothic literature. I’m indebted to my friends for the playlist. I love music but I’m not good at branching out and finding new songs that might not come on the radio often. They did a great job picking out songs that matched the mood!

 What books do you look forward to reading in the Spring?

So many great books are coming out this spring. NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY is a collection of short stories by Ron Rash, an incredibly talented author I’ve heard speak on a number of occasions. And I’m very excited to read THE TRAGEDY OF MISTER MORN, a previously unpublished play by Vladimir Nabokov. And I’m dying to read Neil Gaiman’s new book for adults, THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE. And in the YA world, I’m looking forward to THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT by Veronica Rossi, SHADES OF EARTH by Beth Revis, and THE DIVINERS by Libba Bray (which came out last year, but I haven’t read yet).

About the author:

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Happy Reading!