Ask the Author: Rebecca Reilly
Answered Questions (7)
Rebecca Reilly
Samantha,
Thank you for your question. The roots of Haunting Megan grew out of my childhood. As the daughter of an abusive alcoholic, it was not difficult to envision the opening scenes or the healing power of love. Like Megan, I grew strength in the mountains; I often find myself hiking or jogging the trails of the Sierra Nevada’s in search of inspiration. I did not plan to write a ghost story, but every time I attempted a rewrite of that scene, a ghost appeared in the window. I had no choice in the matter!
Thank you for your question. The roots of Haunting Megan grew out of my childhood. As the daughter of an abusive alcoholic, it was not difficult to envision the opening scenes or the healing power of love. Like Megan, I grew strength in the mountains; I often find myself hiking or jogging the trails of the Sierra Nevada’s in search of inspiration. I did not plan to write a ghost story, but every time I attempted a rewrite of that scene, a ghost appeared in the window. I had no choice in the matter!
Rebecca Reilly
Ideas flow fast and hard when I am in nature. I often take long trail walks to spark a dying creative ember.
Rebecca Reilly
I believe we are each created to be creative. Something inside us dries up when we do not exercise that gift. I am happier, more fulfilled, and--strange enough--more creative when I write regularly.
Rebecca Reilly
Anyone who wants to write needs to write! Do not wait until your life calms down--that will never happen. Carve out an hour, fifteen minutes, or a day. Time passes too quickly. Write something today!
Rebecca Reilly
I am completing the final edits of "Haunting Megan". Here is the story synopsis:
After suffering years of abuse at the hands of her alcoholic mother, Megan wakes to screams, cries of murder, and the room splattered with blood. Sent to the mountains to live with the grandfather who’d once abandoned them, Megan must learn to care for her young sisters and manage Wind Hollow Lodge. Megan tries to ignore the haunting memories of her past as she struggles to live a normal life. But she can’t ignore the ghosts who terrorize her and make her believe her sanity is slipping away. When murdered men are discovered on Wind Hollow land, people start to wonder just how crazy Megan Wilson really is.
The investigation at Wind Hollow Lodge was just another case to Deputy Jason Belt—until he saw Megan. Drawn to her beauty and her wounded spirit, his oath to protect and serve takes on new meaning. But why did she lie to him? What does she have to hide?
After suffering years of abuse at the hands of her alcoholic mother, Megan wakes to screams, cries of murder, and the room splattered with blood. Sent to the mountains to live with the grandfather who’d once abandoned them, Megan must learn to care for her young sisters and manage Wind Hollow Lodge. Megan tries to ignore the haunting memories of her past as she struggles to live a normal life. But she can’t ignore the ghosts who terrorize her and make her believe her sanity is slipping away. When murdered men are discovered on Wind Hollow land, people start to wonder just how crazy Megan Wilson really is.
The investigation at Wind Hollow Lodge was just another case to Deputy Jason Belt—until he saw Megan. Drawn to her beauty and her wounded spirit, his oath to protect and serve takes on new meaning. But why did she lie to him? What does she have to hide?
Rebecca Reilly
I begin each day with a run on one of the nature trails near my home. Story ideas come to me in that quiet time. Inspiration for specific characters bubbles and pops wherever I am! Sometimes, I see someone do something out of the ordinary at the grocery store and it sparks an idea. Sometimes a quirk in me, or someone I know, can develop into the basis for a character. Fortunately, there is so much good, so much evil, so much insanity in all of us that inspiration is not difficult to find.
Rebecca Reilly
My mother was an abusive alcoholic, and many of the events of the opening chapters of "Haunting Megan" came from my childhood. When I was seventeen, I woke one night to see my mother standing above me with a chef’s knife in her hand. Thinking back on those days definitely sparked ideas for the beginning of "Haunting Megan".
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