Megan Walker was raised on a berry farm in Poplar Bluff, MO, where her imagination took her to times past and worlds away. While earning her degree in Early Childhood Education from Brigham Young University, she married her one true love and started a family. But her imaginings wouldn’t leave her alone, so she picked up a pen. And the rest is history. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and three children.
Author Interview
Q: What inspired you to write Lakeshire Park?
A: I always hesitate to answer this question because my answer is so personal. We as a society generally shrink away from talking about child loss, but I actually started writing after a therapist told me to. My son Simon passed away at five months old, and I was dealing with the pain of bereavement mixed with PTSD, and struggling with sleep. After writing about Simon’s life, I wanted to escape to a world in my imagination. I wanted to write about a heroine who’d lost everything, whose circumstances seemed hopeless and were out of her control, so I could give her the world. And that’s how I met Amelia.
Q: Did you have to do any particular research for this book?
A: Well the first thing I had to do was research how to write a book! I attended an awesome writing conference, made some incredible friends, and learned my craft. And because Lakeshire Park is a historical romance set in the Regency era, I spent countless hours studying dresses, hairstyles, forms of speech, titles, everything from curling papers to lip salves, and proper etiquette to what a lady could get away with during a parlor game. The reality of their lives is often a far stretch from what movies portray.
Q: When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
A: I have three living children who keep me busy! Currently we’re getting creative with our time home during COVID19. I love baking, which there never seems to be enough time for, and photography–so cliche, I know. But when you capture the light just right…I have so many pictures of my kids!!
Q: What does your writing routine look like?
A: Right now it’s scattered. Usually I write in the late evening hours when my house is quiet. I’m hoping to get better at waking up early to write before my kids wake up. But with my 9 month old Henry, that seems impossible. Plus, I love my bed too much. My best writing actually comes by using the Google Docs app on my phone. I steal minutes cuddling my kids when they’re watching tv, or after rocking Henry to sleep.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey to publication?
A: I couldn’t have made it without my critique partners who are all amazing writers (Arlem Hawks, Joanna Barker, Heidi Kimball, and Sally Britton). They taught me how to be a better writer and a better human, and they gave me tips on where to start after I finished my first draft. It takes a village. I’m lucky to have such a supportive one. We talk every day.
But I ultimately got to pick between two wonderful publishers, and I think Lakeshire Park fits perfectly with Shadow Mountain.
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From the publisher, Shadow Mountain:
Brighton, England 1820 Amelia Moore wants only one thing–to secure the future happiness of her younger sister, Clara. With their stepfather’s looming death, the two sisters will soon be on their own–without family, a home, or a penny to their names. When an invitation arrives to join a house party at Lakeshire Park, Amelia grasps at the chance. If she can encourage a match between Clara and their host, Sir Ronald, then at least her sister will be taken care of.
Little does she know that another guest, the arrogant and overconfident Mr. Peter Wood, is after the same goal for his own sister. Amelia and Peter begin a rivalry that Amelia has no choice but to win. But competing against Peter–and eventually playing by his rules–makes Amelia vulnerable to losing the only thing she has left to claim: her heart.
