Writing comes naturally to me. Whether it is fiction or journalistic work, sometimes I feel as if I have no choice but to write. If someone were to ask why do I write, I’ll be the kind to answer, “because I can’t not write.”
I’ve been meaning to write a book since I knew what a book was – and that had to be when I was barely in kindergarten. I would always draw pictures and dictate to my parents the stories that were in my head. I knew early on I wanted to be a writer, because I could not imagine doing anything else.
My early inspirations were The Baby-Sitters’ Club books by Ann M. Martin, Judy Blume, and Roald Dahl. I graduated to R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike when I got to junior high. By high school, I was reading books by Anne Rice and the bestselling novels, Memoirs of a Geisha and The God of Small Things.
When I got to college, however, I focused on reality. I couldn’t be a starving artist and besides, I had a deep interest in what was going on in the world. The events of 9/11 geared me towards majoring in journalism at the College of Staten Island. I wrote articles for its newspaper, The Banner and was part of its radio station, WSIA, where I was part of its news department. I interned at New York 1 News where I realized I definitely wanted to go into broadcast journalism.
After I graduated in 2004, I went on to begin working as a production assistant at…drum roll please…FOX News Channel. Yes, that FOX News. But hey, you got to start somewhere in the news business, and if FNC opened the doors for me, then I was going in.
I stayed at FOX for nearly three years. During that time, I delivered scripts to anchors, logged tape, and helped create videos to be aired during live programming. I also wrote scripts and did some segment producing.
But in 2007, I decided to improve my skills and headed to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism for my Master’s Degree. During my tenure, I interned at MSNBC and NYPost.com. I earned my degree in December 2008.
Unfortunately, I got my Master’s right in time for the great recession. I spent months looking for a job. I had to work the holiday season twice just to pay the bills. I worked as a per diem law office assistant and as a tutor at the College of Staten Island. Yes, I did some freelancing for NYPost.com and WSJ.com, but overall, I struggled like millions of Americans during this time. I wholeheartedly agree that it is very tough out there.
But through it all, I stilled hoped to be a published author. Being out of work meant having the time and energy to finally look to fulfilling my lifelong dream. I took a course in fiction writing and started a writer’s group on meetup.com. I came up with various ideas for my first novel, but some didn’t really develop well.
Eventually, I decided to write a vampire novel as my first book. I wanted to get the genre out of my system early, so I set out to put such a novel together. I took part in NaNoWriMo and devoted hours at home and Panera Bread and Starbucks writing my work. It was quite a roller coaster, with some days feeling inspired while others had me struggling. I learned a lot about myself as a writer and how exactly to write a story. I think I will keep on learning until I no longer have the energy or creativity as an author.
Anyway, my first novel is called The Dark Proposal, and it is the first of three books that will explore what life is like for vampires in a world of advancing technology. It follows a young college graduate named Claire Maguire who thinks she’s found the perfect the boyfriend – who instead turns out to be a bloodthirsty vampire with a sinister plan for their future. How Claire survives is the focus of the trilogy.
The Dark Proposal will most likely be out by September, though I am not decided on what date. It will be an E-book, because I like the idea of being in charge of promoting my book and its prices. Also, I kind of missed the boat with the vampire fad a few years ago, so a lot of agents and publishing houses are no longer looking for such books. Hopefully, though, I will able to get a book deal in the future if all goes well.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m here: @MeganMcGibney
I’ll set up an e-mail account as I get closer September in case you have any comments or questions.
Thank you for stopping by!
[...] Megan McGibney [...]