If you haven’t heard of our new project, the On Fire anthology, this interview series will showcase our authors and their writing lives beyond their ignited tales. In Megan Dorei’s “Chrysopoeia,” Adyen flees captivity and struggles with her monstrous transformation before revisiting the dangerous parts of her past.
What are the genre(s) of the stories you write and why?
Dark speculative fiction is my niche. I’ve tried to write other genres, but I find that most of the time I get bored if there isn’t an element of horror, fantasy, or sci-fi to them.
What is the first book or story that made you cry?
Well, I read Stephen King’s It when I was in fifth or sixth grade, and the ending had me tearing up because the main characters reminded me so much of my own friends at the time. But the first book that ever made me sob like a damn baby was E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars. I’ve read it a few times now. Every time, I tell myself I won’t cry, and every time, it’s a shameless lie.
If you could go back in time, what would you say to your younger self about becoming an author?
Just because it’s not what you’re expecting doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stick with it. Those days where you give in to your excuses are going to add up.
Roughly what percentage of your time is spent editing?
I’d estimate it’s seventy-five percent editing, although it’s a little hard to say. I’m one of those unspeakables that edits while they write. It’s a habit I picked up a few years ago that I’m trying hard to break.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
Listening to music or going for a run are my two lifelines. They almost always pull me out of a slump and provide me with some of my best inspiration.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
If I had my pick, it would most likely be a cat or a wolf because they’re two of my favorite animals, but if I’m being honest, I’m probably more like a hedgehog deep down. A shy, nocturnal burrower, who looks prickly but is actually just a little floofball.
Megan Dorei is a part-time housekeeper who spends her free time writing, thinking about writing, and listening to music to reinvigorate her writing. She is a horror devotee, beer enthusiast and lover of all things retro. She has been a contributing author to Sirens Call Publications’ Bellows of the Bone Box and Mental Ward: Stories From the Asylum, Storm Moon Press‘ Big Damn Heroines, Dark Moon Digest #14, Flame Tree Publishing’s Gothic Fantasy: Dystopia Utopia, and most recently in Mad Scientist Journal: Summer 2017. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas with her fiancée and a ghost that insists on hiding their remotes.
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