Interview with New Author Megan DiMaria

Welcome, Megan. I’m thrilled to interview you on my blog. Tell us about your book, Searching for Spice.

Thanks for hosting me on your blog, Pat. Searching for Spice is the story of Linda and Jerry Revere. Linda longs to experience a sizzling affair, with Jerry, her husband of nearly 25 years. Of course you know how life is—nothing goes according to plan.

What prompted you to write about this particular subject?

Searching for Spice was written as a response to a running joke I had with some girlfriends. You know, despite being long married, women still want romance in their lives. God hard wired us to crave closeness and a special connection with the men we love. Unfortunately, some times we need to remind them of that. J

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was in the 6th grade. I had a wonderful teacher who would read to the class every day. Around Christmas time we were given the assignment to write an essay about the season. I wrote about a girl walking home as the day faded and Christmas lights began to glow from houses. My story was about how she was looking forward to going home and decorating her Christmas tree. A few days later, when the class came in from recess, that teacher had decorated a cork board with images from my essay and had placed my essay in the center of all the pictures. She said that I was such a good writer that she could see exactly what my character was experiencing. Her words gave me the confidence to start scribbling out my stories. Also, my mother would take the kids to the local library every week. I loved wandering around all the lovely books, savoring the decision about which adventure I wanted to take next. I had a very early love of books. Another turning point was when I was 17 and had an internship with the local newspaper. One of the editors was very generous with his time and encouragement. One afternoon we were opening his mail and he received a book. He handed it to me and said something along the lines that one day I could write a book. The idea tickled me so much that I went home and told my dad. Unfortunately, neither of my parents lived to see my success.

Tell us a little about your journey, from the time you started writing Searching for Spice to publication.

I started writing Searching for Spice in early 2005 to enter it into the ACFW Noble Theme Contest (now called the Genesis Contest). I would write and then ignore the story for months and then write a bit again. I had some interest from an editor that May when I attended the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, but the story wasn’t complete. By the time I had almost finished it, she left her job. I was eventually rejected by a follow-up editor.

I was 99% finished with Searching for Spice when I went to the 2006 ACFW conference. At the last meal of the conference, I rushed into the dining room to try to get a seat at the table of an editor that I wasn’t able to get an appointment with. Just as I was about to reach the table, someone took the last seat. I hurried across the room to sit with an agent who was on my list, but wouldn’t you know, the same thing happened again, and I missed getting the last seat by moments. By now the MC had begun to speak, so I dropped into the nearest seat—at the table hosted by Tyndale’s acquisition editor Jan Stob. Honestly, I was a little discouraged because I thought it was a waste of time. I had thought Tyndale would never be interested in an unpublished author like me. Jan was lovely and asked about everyone’s project. She would smile and then move on the next writer. She never requested a proposal. At the end of the meal when everyone was leaving the dining room, there was a traffic jam at the door. I happened to find myself standing next to Jan and felt that I had to say something. So, I asked her if she would like to see my proposal. She said yes. I had five requests for proposals as a result of that conference. I went home, finished writing the story and sent out my proposals in October. I immediately got four rejections. A few months later Jan requested a full manuscript, and I got “the call” in March of 2007.

What are your plans for your next book? Will we see the Revere family again?

I’m happy to report that my next book, Out of Her Hands, is another Revere family story. This time the story is more focused on the frustrations of living with young-adult children. Out of Her Hands is scheduled to release in October 2008.

Any parting advice for prepublished writers?

Yes, write regularly, read regularly, join a writers group or two, hang out with writers, have your work critiqued and attend conferences if you can. I confess, many times in my writing journey I was tempted to throw in the towel. But the moral of the story is, don’t give up. Hold on to your dreams. Press on. Trust God. Someone once told me writers don’t fail, they quit. And I decided to believe it.

Thank you very much for letting me stop by and visit, Pat. Please feel free to check out megandimaria.com and chat with me via my blog at megandimaria.blogspot.com. I wish you the best of luck in your writing journey.

Thank you, Megan for a delightful interview.

Thanks for reading my blog!