Woman Wednesday: Megan

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below. 

 


Q and A with Megan, Baltimore, Maryland

“The future. Earth’s governments have fallen, succeeded by a unified military order. An elite group of soldiers, the Sentinels, protect Cotarion from marauders and neighbors alike. Within, shadowy forces at the highest levels conspire for the power they need to enact a mysterious agenda.

But now, something has changed.

Men and women have emerged, displaying superhuman abilities powerful enough to threaten the established order, and the High General commands Sentinel Cameron Kardell to track a superhuman gone rogue. A superhuman who holds the key to these powers’ origin. Who happens to be Kardell’s best friend. Who will reveal the truth of Cameron’s own origins.

The Altered now wake.” –Megan Morgan, Author of “The Altered Wake”

 

 

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: Stories are definitely my passion! I love reading them, writing them, and listening to them. I love figuring out what makes a story work and picking apart why some stories don’t work. I love discussing what stories mean to people. They’re everywhere, and we are all telling ourselves stories all the time about who we are and how we impact the world. They’re almost so ubiquitous that we often don’t realize just how important they are.

That impact of stories on our personal and larger social psychologies are why I’m so focused on writing stories that defy conventions. As a kid, I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, and I loved how these kinds of stories could invert our perspective of the world. A lot of the main characters in the stories I read were male, and women usually had supporting roles. Things are better these days, but I still crave women as leading characters who drive the narrative of the stories they’re in, so that’s what I write. In fact, all of my characters defy stereotypes, or at least, that’s what I hope.
Now that my first novel, “The Altered Wake”, is out, I’m working on the second in the series, “The Altered Rise”. And like a lot of storytellers I know, I have more story ideas than I will ever have time to write!

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Q:What is something valuable you’ve learned that you’d like others to know?

A: I’ve been an army wife, and later, a single working mom to two awesome kids while writing my novels. I’ve written during ideal circumstances and completely awful circumstances. I’ve written when the words were easy and when they were hard. I’ve received heartbreaking rejection letters and even an email from a friend who was devouring my novel in a dental office. I boxed up all my manuscripts and put them on a shelf more than once. And eventually, I made the decision to get my work out into the world, even if I had to do it myself.

 
If there’s a lesson in all that, it’s that you just never stop. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. And don’t be afraid to work your butt off on what you believe in. Keep that little ember burning in the dark times, so that when there’s some kindling, it can ignite.

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Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, which is a really beautiful place. As a kid, I spent a lot of time catching frogs and swimming. My mom loves to read, and so she took my siblings and I to the library on the weekends. My dad was a schoolteacher, and he read us books every night before bed with the most amazing voices. I was so lucky to grow up with two parents who believed in the value of reading and who encouraged me so much as I began to write my own stories.

In junior high, I started writing longer mini-novels for my friends, and as they devoured the chapters I supplied to them, I was hooked. I could make my own narratives, worlds, and characters. Then other people would believe in them. I found that, for me, it was the best way to reach other people. And sometimes, putting words down on paper is the best way for me to understand myself.

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Q: What would you like others to learn from your story?

A: I think it’s really important to pay attention to the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we surround ourselves with. Not just books, TV shows, and movies, but the stories that are there in our minds. We all have narratives about who we are and what our value is, and we can absolutely change ourselves for the better by nudging those stories in different directions.
I had a college professor who, day one of class, talked about how we introduce ourselves to other people by telling them stories about our lives so far. It’s sort of how we package and present ourselves. I think it’s a good idea to look at those tales we’ve curated and see what they say about us, and also, to realize that the stories society tells us impact which narratives are worth keeping.

Question that!

 

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: Feminism means (to me) that people can be who they are without shame or ridicule. To me, it means we all have opportunities to fulfill our goals. The idea is that we have an even playing field, and “feminine” qualities aren’t ridiculed, and men aren’t shamed for having complex feelings. I see it as equality.

So, feminism means that my daughter can play in the mud (or not, as she prefers), and my son can paint his nails. We can be the complex people that we are. I think that’s good for everyone.
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Here are links to my social media places and the Clickworks Press site for the book! All the links for purchasing the book are right here:
My Twitter:
And the Facebook site for the novel:

 

 

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Woman Wednesday: Steph

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.


“I want others to know that it’s OK to do more than one thing. People thought I was crazy in college for playing more than one sport, and people think I am crazy now for having three jobs. I love what I do, and I enjoy all of it. If you can find a healthy balance, do everything. Be a jack of all trades. Know a little bit about all things.” 

Q and A with Steph, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

 

Q: What are you passionate about? 

 

A: It’s difficult for me to identify just one thing that I am passionate about. To start, my full time job is being a high school math teacher. I work in a small alternative school, and I find joy in encouraging my students and helping them to be comfortable and successful in a modified school setting. It’s challenging, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. There is nothing better than seeing a student succeed when others thought they wouldn’t.

Another passion that I put a majority of my time into is coaching. I am an assistant coach for a cross country team and a lacrosse team. I was a 3 sport athlete in college, so athletics are something that keep me driven and focused. I love being able to share my love of sports with others and helping them to learn life lessons through them.
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Lastly, but certainly not least, is my passion for photography and videography. I, along with my fiance, run a small production company called Ollie Productions. When we first met, we discovered that we had serious overlapping loves for the arts and most things dealing with visual design. It was inevitable that a business would be formed between our skill sets and our shared joy of working with people. Our business is something that we love working on together and have found success in. We have the opportunity to help people promote businesses, capture weddings, and simply create.
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Q: What were your younger years like? 

 

A: I was very active growing up. I was always doing something. My parents and family were very supportive of this (driving me everywhere and bringing me wherever I needed to go). I believe that this formed who I am now. I love to be busy, and if I am not working or working out, I am planning my next move. Something that impacted me more growing up than I ever thought, was running cross country. It taught me that I was powerful in my own unique ways and that literally anything is possible if you put in enough work and effort. I understood that being successful is painful. There are sacrifices that need to be made, but it is possible. Growing a business with my fiance has not been easy, but putting in those extra hours and finding the time to plan our success has made it a fast growing endeavor.  Most of my passions showed in me at an early age. Sports were an everyday thing that I loved to do, teaching was something that everyone else saw in me well before I saw it in myself, and my first camera as a kid pushed me to want to capture every moment in the way I saw it.

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Q: What is something valuable you’ve learned that you’d like others to know? 

A: There are two things that I think are important for everyone to know. Teaching has taught me an immense amount of patience. You truly have no idea what any person is going through or what their story is, so be patient and take everything with a grain of salt. I think it is important to remember that we are all different, and it’s important to learn as much as you can about others in order to be the best for them and yourself. The second thing is that you are more powerful than you think and more prepared than you know. If someone asks you to do something or be somewhere, it is because they believe in you. Believe in yourself, and everyone else will as well.

Q: What would you like others to learn from your story? 

A: I want others to know that it’s OK to do more than one thing. People thought I was crazy in college for playing more than one sport, and people think I am crazy now for having three jobs. I love what I do, and I enjoy all of it. If you can find a healthy balance, do everything. Be a jack of all trades. Know a little bit about all things.

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 
A: Feminism to me is a broad and encompassing word. To me, it means empowering others and yourself to be our best in whatever situation. It means being kind and compassionate and loving, but also strong and willful and driven. To me, feminism means seeing where there are few females and asking why. It is being inquisitive and looking for changes where possible and wondering how if it’s impossible.
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