3xA MA: Megan Whitmer

I feel like authors deserve so much from the readers. I believe that authors are people who really connect with us. It was actually an author who I "sorta" owe my life to. Authors and their words make us feel and they can help us.
In this event, I want to get to know the authors. I’d like to get interviews or blog posts about THEM in connection to their book. Who is the mind behind each author?

For each post, I leave links to connect with the author. Please take the time to use one of those links and leave a message for each author, if you can. It can be towards the book or it can be something as easy as “I love the post you wrote on Out of Time! <33”

Megan Whitmer was an author that I talk to on twitter! She's super sweet and I met her though her Halloween twitter name: Megan WITCHmer. That's something that still sticks. This post below is super inspiring and I hope you guys love it as much as I did!

What's Your Dream?

After I announced my book deal, a friend of mine called me up and asked me a million questions about how it happened. When I told him my story, which involves five extensive rewrites and months and months of querying, he replied, “So, you just wrote a book and went out and got it published. Isn’t that amazing?”

And he’s right. It’s totally amazing.

I grew up in a tiny town in central Kentucky that didn’t produce many artists of any kind. Lancaster produced more practical, blue collar adults, like farmers, teachers, and nurses.

I love my hometown. I had a wonderful experience there. But it’s not the kind of place where a little redheaded girl is taken very seriously when she announces to everyone that’s going to be an author when she grows up. (Or a rock star, which was my other childhood career choice. And also maybe still one of my adulthood career choices.)

When I was trying to figure out how to get a book published, I checked out books from the library with lists of literary agents and publishers. They were all in New York, worlds away from the farmhouse I lived in on the winding cattle path turned paved road in Lancaster, Kentucky.

It was overwhelming, and I gave up. Fairly easily, I might add. That dream of mine went on the back burner super fast because for some reason, figuring out how to make it come true was just too hard, and that was enough of a reason to quit.

Today’s world is full of endless opportunities to go after your dreams. Thanks to twitter, I can have conversations with literary agents, editors, my favorite authors, and even my 90s rap heroes (Sup, Young MC?). If I want, I can write a book and upload it to Amazon. I can record a song and upload it to iTunes. I can create a movie and share it on YouTube.

When I finally decided that I would write the book I’d been thinking about for years, I still didn’t really expect to publish it. I’d try, of course, but the idea that something I wrote would actually turn into a novel that could be purchased in stores—that was a little too far-fetched. That dream was a little too big.

And yet, here I am. Between comes out July 29, 2014. It’s already available for pre-order. ARCs will be out soon. People are going to be reading my story, meeting my characters, and forming opinions of my work. It’s terrifying. AND AWESOME.

Our dreams, the big ones, are always going to seem too good to be true. It’s always easier to give up rather than risk failure—but not trying is the bigger risk. Our world is incredibly full of options. Pick a dream and go after it.

I'm all about dreams. I don't really act on what I want to do, but I feel like at my age, my options are really open, but I've definitely got my eyes set on the stars.

Enter the giveaway below! Thanks for checking out my blog and remember:  
Be kind to one another. - Ellen

Megan's Facebook | Goodreads | Goodreads for her Book | Twitter | Website |

Megan Whitmer loves all things Southern, and has a soft spot for football, kissing scenes, and things that sparkle. She lives in Kentucky with her family. When she's not writing, Megan spends her time drinking absurd amounts of coffee and dancing in her kitchen. Between is her debut novel. Visit her online at meganwhitmerwrites.com.

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