We sat down with one of our local authors and asked some hard hitting questions! Keep reading to learn about growing as a writer, unpublished superheroes, and which popular authors inspire Meadoe.
For a chance to win the full autographed Legacy series, click on the link at the end of the article!
You've talked before about writing as a way to get out of your comfort zone-- is writing something you've always wanted to do? Or did it just seem like a natural extension of your appreciation of words?
I've loved books and stories for as long as I can remember and it feels like I've always been writing. Ever since I was a kid, I've written stories. The part that is out of my comfort zone and has always felt a little scary is having other people read them.
It looks like the first book you published was Adriadne's Crown. Was this your first foray into novels, or are there unpublished works still floating around?
I do have a few unfinished, unpublished stories that I might come back to. Before Ariadne's Crown, I wrote 2 children's books with my son. When he was in 1st grade, he invented a superhero called Bennetman. (His name is Bennet) . He wrote loads of stories about Bennetman - some in just pictures, some with pictures and words. Some of his stories, he did in pictures and then told me the stories and I wrote them down. Then, when we were testing for our black belts in tae kwon do, we wrote 2 early chapter books about Bennetman and his friends to raise money for City Youth Martial Arts, which is a nonprofit that brings martial arts to underserved communities. They're fun stories about kindness, perseverance and the things we love about martial arts. Kids loved them. When we wrote them, my son was in third grade and I think kids loved that the books were written by a kid. There are still copies floating around. The first one is called Superhero Kick Team. Writing stories with him are some of my favorite memories. We went to schools and helped the kids create their own super heros and talked about writing and that was so fun. I love it when kids want to tell me what they're writing about.
You've also had some impressive traction with your Furious Legacy series. Are you planning on writing another book for this series?
Thank you! I loved writing the Furious Legacy stories. I love the Furies from Greek mythology and I love the idea of them hiding out in a little WI town like the one I live in. It was fun writing scenes in some of my favorite places in WI. I definitely have some ideas for more adventures with Cass and Erin. I started a prequel story, which is about half way done. It takes place in the 90s and is about the Furies before Cass and Erin. It shows why Alecto is how she is. It starts out with them trying to find Achilles' spear, which has been stolen and then bodies start showing up and they need to sort that out.
You write a lot about mythology and new retellings of classic stories. How true to the original stories are you? How much time do you spend researching?
I try to stay as true to the stories as possible. These are old stories, retold by several ancient (mostly male) sources and there are many versions. Because of this the details differ and the timeline is fuzzy. I also like to write about the women of Greek mythology and often, they are in the background. They're prizes, or a means to an end, something to conquer, etc. They aren't the main characters, which is annoying because to me, they are often the most interesting. Ariadne, for example, is usually depicted as the princess who helped Theseus slay the minotaur because he was so handsome and she fell in love at first sight and just did whatever he wanted. That never made sense to me. I always thought she was the more interesting character because she had everything to lose. She was a princess in a time when women had no power. By helping him, she betrays her family and makes herself an outcast. Why would she do that? Theseus can't be that handsome. When I started thinking about why she would risk everything to help him, her story started to take shape. The other thing that I found interesting was her marriage to Dionysus. Usually, when mortals marry the gods, it's a disaster for the mortal. But, it wasn't for her. The few stories I found that mentioned the two of them after they got married were that they had lots of babies and when she died, he was so upset, he put her crown in the sky as a constellation. To me, for her to carve a happy life with such an erratic god, she had to be a strong enough woman to hold her own with him. So, those were the bones I started with and then I researched Ancient Crete and Ancient Greece to build the world. I love researching and I spend a lot of time on it.
Which authors (if any) do you look up to? Any that inspire your writing?
I read all the time and I'll read anything with good characters. I love Natalie Haynes. Her Stand up for the Classics podcast is fantastic and I love the way she makes these classic stories relatable and relevant today. I love VE Schwab and the characters she creates and the magic she infuses in her stories. Neil Gaimon can do no wrong, in my opinion. All of his books are fantastic.
Any advice for new or hopeful writers? Or advice you wish you'd gotten when you were starting out?
Keep writing. Even when you are stuck or you feel your stories aren't good, keep at it. There is a point in every story where it gets hard. You learn so much by pushing through and finishing the story. You have stories that only you can tell. We need all the voices telling their stories. Read books about the craft of writing and keep writing. Sometimes, those books unlock things and get the river of words flowing again. The more you write, the better you get. If you're writing something that's not working, don't throw it away. Just tuck it away and come back to it. I threw away so many manuscripts that I wish I would have kept. Also, If you want to publish, find a good editor. I learn things every time a manuscript comes back from an editor.
How can new readers find you?
My website is www.meadoehora.com and I'm meadoehorawrites on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
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