Interview with author Megan Miranda

GC: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer, or was writing fiction you stumbled upon?

MM: I have always loved to write. In the back of my mind, it was something I always wanted to do. But I also loved science, and I pursued that in school. After school, the science became more and more and the writing became less and less. It wasn’t until I was home with my young kids that I took up writing again in a serious way.

GC: Was Fracture the first book you ever wrote?

MM: It was…but it was the third time I wrote it. Fracture was the first thing I started writing that I believed could become a book. However, the first two attempts didn’t really work. It took 6 months of intense rewrites after that initial version to find the real story.

GC: What was the genesis of Fracture? Does that first idea still convey in the finished book?

MM: Yes, the premise remains the same. The characters remain the same, as well, though a few of them developed into something more than they originally were. But the entire plot point that the tension hinges upon was not there in the original version.

The genesis of Fracture started with that same first line and that same opening scene—of a girl falling through a frozen lake. In all its iterations, Delaney has always found herself drawn to the dying, but the actual plot is completely different.

GC: What was the road to publication like for you, and for Fracture?

MM: It was kind of a whirlwind at first, but has since settled into a relatively smooth ride. It’s been a great experience seeing the book through the stages to publication. The whirlwind part: I sent the first version of Fracture out into cyberspace in October, signed with my agent in November, rewrote the book twice over the next 6 months, and learnedFracture would be published in May. Since then, there’s been a solid year and a half between sale and publication date—it seemed like a long time back then, but I really appreciate the fact that we didn’t have to rush anything. It’s been a great experience.

GC: Are you excited to be a Debut author? Any particularly cool thing/event happened to you yet?

MM: I’m thrilled to be a debut author! The entire process has pretty much been one big “cool thing” that’s happened. Learning that I’d be going on tour has been the most surreal part of the process so far—I sat in stunned silence on the phone when I first heard!

GC: What can readers expect from you next?

MM: I have another standalone, set to come out in early 2013. It’s in the same vein as Fracture in that it walks the line a bit between science and paranormal, but it’s also very different. It’s a psychological thriller about memories, the line between the real and the imagined, and friendship.