Megan Freeman-Hoare
@meganfreemanauthor.bsky.social
Author living in Cornwall, UK
Debut YA novel 'A Better Nightmare' out March 13th!
Debut YA novel 'A Better Nightmare' out March 13th!
Thanks so much for having me!! Can't believe how quick that hour passed! An absolute pleasure to chat books with yourself and everyone else at #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Thanks so much for having me!! Can't believe how quick that hour passed! An absolute pleasure to chat books with yourself and everyone else at #ukteenchat
Honestly, I think I still get the 'muddle in the middle' as a plotter. I think from about 50-80% is the hardest part of a book to write! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Honestly, I think I still get the 'muddle in the middle' as a plotter. I think from about 50-80% is the hardest part of a book to write! #ukteenchat
Read as often as you can. Write a little bit every day. If you want to get into writing seriously then join a group, find a critique partner, do some courses... anything that means eyes other than your own are reading your work. And most of all, write the books you want to read! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Read as often as you can. Write a little bit every day. If you want to get into writing seriously then join a group, find a critique partner, do some courses... anything that means eyes other than your own are reading your work. And most of all, write the books you want to read! #ukteenchat
Hats off to you!! I have the greatest admiration for successful pantsers 🤣 #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Hats off to you!! I have the greatest admiration for successful pantsers 🤣 #ukteenchat
Yes, this! I spent years and years rewriting this one novel that I pantsed my way through... never again! Huge respect to the pantsers out there... I don't know how you do it! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Yes, this! I spent years and years rewriting this one novel that I pantsed my way through... never again! Huge respect to the pantsers out there... I don't know how you do it! #ukteenchat
I’m terrible for what writers call ‘shiny new idea syndrome’ where you have a new idea and drop everything to start writing it. A new shiny idea popped up a few days ago so that's where I'm currently at. It's a romantasy that spans small towns across Europe... probably 🤣 #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I’m terrible for what writers call ‘shiny new idea syndrome’ where you have a new idea and drop everything to start writing it. A new shiny idea popped up a few days ago so that's where I'm currently at. It's a romantasy that spans small towns across Europe... probably 🤣 #ukteenchat
COFFEE! Sorry, I'm a walking talking writer cliche, I know, but coffee shops are my favourite place to write. Saying that I can pretty much write anywhere. At the gym, on the sofa, in the car... #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:48 PM
COFFEE! Sorry, I'm a walking talking writer cliche, I know, but coffee shops are my favourite place to write. Saying that I can pretty much write anywhere. At the gym, on the sofa, in the car... #ukteenchat
After years of not ever finishing a novel, I am now what I like to think of as a reformed pantser, happily sitting on the plotter side of the fence. Pantsing put me into dark places... stuck in plot holes for weeks and trying to write myself out of corners!!! Plotting wins... sorry!! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
After years of not ever finishing a novel, I am now what I like to think of as a reformed pantser, happily sitting on the plotter side of the fence. Pantsing put me into dark places... stuck in plot holes for weeks and trying to write myself out of corners!!! Plotting wins... sorry!! #ukteenchat
I love to surf and wish I had the time to go as much as I would like! Surfing is probably when I'm at my happiest but I'm not a pro or anything 😃 #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I love to surf and wish I had the time to go as much as I would like! Surfing is probably when I'm at my happiest but I'm not a pro or anything 😃 #ukteenchat
I always find this such a tricky question, but (deep breath) I'm going to go for; Dark. Thrilling. Thought-provoking. #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I always find this such a tricky question, but (deep breath) I'm going to go for; Dark. Thrilling. Thought-provoking. #ukteenchat
Yes for sure! My day job is organising Surf Therapy courses for vulnerable young people and I would absolutely love one day to write something that involves surfing in some way. Too many ideas and too little time!! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Yes for sure! My day job is organising Surf Therapy courses for vulnerable young people and I would absolutely love one day to write something that involves surfing in some way. Too many ideas and too little time!! #ukteenchat
Yes. I’ve worked with young people for five years in my role at a children’s mental health charity, and for a further ten years before that as a teacher. I never base my characters on a specific person, but when I write, it’s their voices, hopes and dreams that come through onto the paper#ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Yes. I’ve worked with young people for five years in my role at a children’s mental health charity, and for a further ten years before that as a teacher. I never base my characters on a specific person, but when I write, it’s their voices, hopes and dreams that come through onto the paper#ukteenchat
Yes! I loved writing Emily’s flashback chapter where we find out how she ended up in Wildsmoor Facility. It’s full of darkness and magic and I love it. It begins with the sentence 'I did a bad thing, that’s how I ended up here' - which is my favourite line from the whole book. #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Yes! I loved writing Emily’s flashback chapter where we find out how she ended up in Wildsmoor Facility. It’s full of darkness and magic and I love it. It begins with the sentence 'I did a bad thing, that’s how I ended up here' - which is my favourite line from the whole book. #ukteenchat
Definitely. After researching different types of institutions I came to the central conclusion that when we strip people of their rights and freedoms in this way it makes people vulnerable to abuse and maltreatment. My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered in this way. #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Definitely. After researching different types of institutions I came to the central conclusion that when we strip people of their rights and freedoms in this way it makes people vulnerable to abuse and maltreatment. My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered in this way. #ukteenchat
This is exactly what A Better Nightmare is about. Young people trying to find acceptance in a sometimes hostile world, which pretty much everyone can relate to. #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:23 PM
This is exactly what A Better Nightmare is about. Young people trying to find acceptance in a sometimes hostile world, which pretty much everyone can relate to. #ukteenchat
Honestly, this was the exact debate I had with my sister! And it was from there that I was like pfffttt there's not a chance that society would be happy to let these super powerful beings just rock up and start exploding everything in sight! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Honestly, this was the exact debate I had with my sister! And it was from there that I was like pfffttt there's not a chance that society would be happy to let these super powerful beings just rock up and start exploding everything in sight! #ukteenchat
I did a bit of a deep dive into the notion of ‘institutions’ or ‘facilities’ throughout history. A more recent example of this is the troubled teen industry in America where many former attendees of correctional schools have now opened up about the isolation and abuse they suffered. #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I did a bit of a deep dive into the notion of ‘institutions’ or ‘facilities’ throughout history. A more recent example of this is the troubled teen industry in America where many former attendees of correctional schools have now opened up about the isolation and abuse they suffered. #ukteenchat
So really I was just thinking how society might actually treat young people with supernatural abilities. And as you’ll find out if you read A Better Nightmare, the answer to this, is not very well at all! #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:17 PM
So really I was just thinking how society might actually treat young people with supernatural abilities. And as you’ll find out if you read A Better Nightmare, the answer to this, is not very well at all! #ukteenchat
Watching superhero movies! I was watching a Marvel movie one day with my sister and during one of those huge fight scenes I suddenly thought to myself – the real world would never allow this. So it was from there that I thought, OK, what would really happen if kids had superpowers? #ukteenchat
March 11, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Watching superhero movies! I was watching a Marvel movie one day with my sister and during one of those huge fight scenes I suddenly thought to myself – the real world would never allow this. So it was from there that I thought, OK, what would really happen if kids had superpowers? #ukteenchat
A Better Nightmare follows fifteen year old Emily as she navigates her life at Wildsmoor Facility, an institution for kids diagnosed with The Grimm – a disease that manifests supernatural powers. It explores the notion of teens coming of age in a world that wants to suppress and control them.
March 11, 2025 at 8:10 PM
A Better Nightmare follows fifteen year old Emily as she navigates her life at Wildsmoor Facility, an institution for kids diagnosed with The Grimm – a disease that manifests supernatural powers. It explores the notion of teens coming of age in a world that wants to suppress and control them.
Hello Emma! Thank you for having me on tonight's #ukteenchat! Exciting stuff 😀
March 11, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Hello Emma! Thank you for having me on tonight's #ukteenchat! Exciting stuff 😀