Tell us a bit about your most recent work.
Currently I am writing the third in my Culinary Infernal series, Tea and Imps. The previous two books, Cookbooks and Demons & Baking and Angels are doing really well and gaining traction on booktok so I decided to get the third one written and out sooner.
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
Redemption comes up for me a lot. Also, the importance of trauma recovery. I am also always looking to play with twisted fairy tales, like finding the different ways I can retell "Beauty and the Beast," which is my favorite fairytale.
What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?
I was always a reader. I also wanted to be an actor, but once I became pregnant with my first child I took a pause on that and started writing plays. But I had a hard time selling my plays so I turned them into books and now they sell just fine.
What inspires you to write?
I have stories in my head that need to be told, and I get a lot of pleasure creating those scenarios on the digital page.
What of your works has meant the most to you?
I think my most recent work Baking and Angels. The previous year I had written eight full-length novels, and last year I only wrote this one because I had so much chaos going on in my life. So the fact that despite it all, I wrote a good story means a lot to me.
If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?
Not yet, thank god. Not in any real substantial sense. In my early books, I may want to go back and be more efficient in my word use in sentences, but that does not really rise to the level of wanting a “do over."
What writers have influenced your style and technique?
I’ve been greatly inspired by Tamora Pierce, whose Lioness Quartet was the first time I encountered the idea that the female lead could be the hero, and Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, which showed me a world where magic and magical otherworldly creatures are known and out in the open instead of hidden all the time.
Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or is it a science continuum?" Why?
It’s both really. Talent and voice is important in writing, but if you don’t really have an understanding of structure, character, arcs, conflicts, etc, you will burn out doing this work quickly.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Trusting my first draft. Often while I’m writing, I’ll think it’s terrible or repetitive, or I’m not saying the right things, but then when I go back to read it later when I finished it, I’ll wonder what the heck my problem was, I wrote it fine. So yeah, first drafts are toughest. Revising is the best. I can always make it better.
How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not?
Honestly, my writer friends make me a better businesswoman than a better writer. The business part of this career path was the harder thing to learn and I still don’t feel like I’ve mastered it yet.
What does literary success look like to you?
Making good money, people know my name and my work, and my books get made into movies/television shows. People line up at my signing booth to meet me and have me sign their books.
Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?
If you join my newsletter and meganmackieauthor.com, I do a serial litrpg story called I Can’t Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me. You can read the back chapters on Wattpad!
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