Interview with Megan Shepherd

I’m so excited to part of the official Madman’s Daughter blog tour! Today I have an interview with the author, Megan Shepherd. Read on!

Some of the scenes in THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER are quite dark. Did you do anything special to inspire such creepy writing? (I’m imagining dimmed lights and dramatic organ music)
It is a creepy book, and if you knew me in person, you’d know I’m not particularly “dark”! To get in that mindset, I really had to shut out the rest of the world, hole up in my office with a cup of tea, and immerse myself in that atmosphere. Which might sound simple, but when the phone rings about a dentist visit or my cat does something cute, it’s very hard to keep up the mental concentration.

THE MADMAN’SDAUGHTER is a retelling of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. What made you decide to create a new protagonist for an old story?
I always wanted to write a book with a mysterious island setting. I had written a middle grade adventure called ISLANDERS that neversold, and that setting kept sticking in my head. When I had the idea to reimagine HG Wells’ THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU, it only seemed natural to include a teenage girl (this being a YA retelling and all), and who better than the doctor’s own daughter? There are few female characters is THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU, so it was rich with opportunities to show some of the themes and mysteries from a female perspective.

Juliet’s father is known for his controversial experiments. If you could possess a characteristic from an animal (without any crazy surgery), what would it be?
Good question! I’m often jealous of my cats who just get to sit around all day napping and eating. But I guess that’s not a particular characteristic. I would love to have keener senses, like smell and hearing, which a lot of animals do.

What’s one thing readers would be surprised to find out about THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER? (Spill a secret!)
There are several twists in the book, and readers might be surprised to know that none of those twists were in the original draft (the one nobody saw, certainly not my agent or editor). The first draft had totally different twists that were just as dramatic, but for a number of reasons they didn’t work, and eventually the story and its twists morphed into the version it is now.

Check out the other stops on the blog tour!
1/21  A Dream Within A Dream              Playlist
1/22 Hobbitsies                                        Author Q&A
1/23 Birth of a New Witch                       Top 5 Favorite Quotes
1/24 365 Days of Reading                     Author Q&A
1/25  Sci Fi Chick                                     Favorite Scene
1/28 Word Spelunking                            Top 5 Favorite Quotes
1/29  Books with Bite                              Author Q&A
1/30 The Mod Podge Bookshelf           TBA
1/31 Once Upon a Prologue                  Top 5 Favorite Quotes
2/1   Book Twirps                                    Favorite Scene