Asheville writer gets publishing deal for trilogy of gothic young-adult novels

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Megan Shepherd is living the dream right now. Shepherd, whose parents own Highland Books, has dreamt of writing novels for years. She’s stuck with it and landed a big-time publisher. In September, she quit her job at Asheville Parks & Recreation to follow her dream full time. Congratulations! I’ll be following her progress.

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Hello! I’m a young adult book writer living in Asheville, NC. My debut novel THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER is the first in a gothic trilogy coming in early 2013 from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins. I am represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.

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The dare: This week’s dare was a big one. Like most writers, I know what it’s like to toil away evenings and weekends on a book that might never be read by anyone other than yourself, your husband, and your mom. I didn’t tell many of my coworkers I was also an aspiring writer. It’s kind of an awkward thing to bring up in the elevator, like, sorry I zoned out in that meeting last week, I had the best idea for a zombie romance story! See what I mean? When I’m at my day job, I made an effort to push the romance scenes and brilliant new ideas for plot twists and dialogue out of my head and focus on, you know, earning a paycheck. And there was so much to love about it. My coworkers. Health insurance. Meeting so many great people in the community. I worked for Asheville Parks & Rec, which meant I got to work with everything from our golf course to otters at the Nature Center to street festivals. I seriously got to shoot at my boss with a paintball gun while he dodged an obstacle course. Who gets to do that?! And on top of that, I got a paycheck!

The stakes: But writing has been my dream for years now, so when I found out my books would be published I just assumed I’d quit my job and write full-time. It’s a pretty appealing life, after all, especially for those of us whose fingers just itch to be writing. But…it turns out it’s not that easy. Maybe it doesn’t look like way from the outside, but it was surprisingly stressful. What if something falls through? What about benefits? Will I go crazy home alone all day? Will I miss the structure of an office job? I kept putting it off, letting these worries keep me from doing what I really want. Or maybe from believing I can really have my dream come true.

So, in the spirit of Dare Friday, my husband dared me to just do it. To quit, regardless of the consequences. And he was right. I needed to embrace the fact that I have an opportunity of a lifetime. And as of today, that means I am a full-time writer!

Hello! I’m a young adult book writer living in Asheville, NC. My debut novel THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER is the first in a gothic trilogy coming in early 2013 from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins. I am represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.