Fortnight of Guests: The Lovely Getaway (Autor Interview and Giveaway)

Hey guys, thanks for stopping by for the last guest post for Megan's "Fortnight of Guests". I'm Diana and I review over The Lovely Getaway, stop by and say hi :) Before we get started, I wanted to take the time to thank Megan for all her hard work in organizing this online event! Thanks, girly :)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Mieradome pulls the reader into a unique fantasy world of faeries and technology, a different take on the Alice in Wonderland concept. The story revolves around a young girl named Amavia who believes she is a human girl, but slowly comes to find she is a faery in the world of Mieradome. Slowly who Amavia was began to unravel to show the truth; the truth that she just may be the evil they need to destroy. This is the first novel in a series, and gives a glimpse of what is to come for the main character Amavia. Fans of the Harry Potter series and His Dark Materials will definitely enjoy this adventure."

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Who has inspired you as an author?

I really feel George Lucas has inspired me in the ways that you can come from a small town (we’re from the same hometown in Northern California) and yet do great wonderful creative things and be successful at it. I think that gave me liberty and license to ‘dream big.’ On the writing front, C.S. Lewis, an Irish writer like me, showed me there is a great art to leaving spots open in the text so you as the reader can fill in your ideas of what the story is and that there is no right or wrong in that, just personal inspirations from your own lives.

If you could collaborate with an author, dead or alive, who would it be? Why?

I’d love to collaborate with an animation studio. I think Mieradome would do the best as an animated film. Hayao Miyazaki would be an amazingly interesting person to work with. He runs Studio Ghinli that created the Oscar nominated Spirited Away.

Describe the feeling you had when you found out Mieradome was going to be published.

I was happy, but nervous. It’s a bit like pushy your own self out of a nest and saying, “ok, I hope we can fly and not smack the ground.” As a writer you’re constantly putting yourself out there for the world to see. I was excited at that fact, but also tentative too. You want people to enjoy the story and I know sometimes it won’t be people’s cup of tea. But that’s life, and it’s ok.

Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?

Coffee is a must and generally a notepad and pen easy accessible is always helpful. I’m always jotting down notes for other scenes and characters.


Describe Mieradome in three words.

Faeries. Death. Redemption.

Who was your favorite character to write?

I think Tai Ming Kiels was one of my favorite characters to write. He’s inspired by my Irish Grandfather John “Jack” Hegarty. I loved writing that scatterbrained, but loveable quality in the character, very much like my Grandpa.

Mieradome has some of the most creative names I have ever read! How do you pick the character’s names?

Most of the names are surnames that I saw and liked. For example: Amavia, Thewlis, Inocian, Feig….those are all surnames used by people living today! So I’ll either search for cool sounding names or just make them up. Jeiks Sly Um, I made up. I just liked the sound when his name was spoken.

Let's talk boys Caiden and Garin- did the story originally include the love triangle?

No, my story didn’t originally have a love triangle to be perfectly honest. It was when I was writing the chapter The Games of Chance when Garin came into the picture suddenly and Amavia couldn’t take her eyes away from him. I knew he had to be a part of the story somehow and it just evolved that he would be interested in her too.


The plot/story line is super creative and intriguing! How did you come up with it?

I just get a basic starting point for the story and then follow where the characters want to go. I think a lot and wonder, “if I was in this place, what would I want to do, see, taste.” That helps me wonder what the characters would do. The world around me inspires me. I took trips to the local city zoo, went ice skating so I could as accurately describe those things as possible. I like to create a visual world that you definitely see. That’s the ultimate goal, to feel like you’ve been to an amazing place.


Was Mieradome the title initially? Is there a story behind the title?

Yes. Mieradome was always the title. I knew that early on (generally that’s the hardest thing for me to write is the title.) I tend to be a word person, I like the way words sound. One day I was just playing with different sounds and came across Mieradome. This stems from the times when my sister would make up odd words for our own language when we were kids. Total gibberish, but in a way it has been helpful now as a writer to make it into something cool.

Did you come across any challenges while writing Mieradome?
Yes. It took me awhile to realize where I originally ended Mieradome would not be it’s end, rather its middle. I, at that point, felt Amavia was done for the journey then, but knew I didn’t like where she ended up. It took me a few days just thinking on it before I started writing, to let her tell me where she planned on going and what direction the story would take.

Are you working on anything now? Can you tell us anything about it?

I am working on the sequel to Mieradome, called The Saskatoon Balloon. It will begin where Mieradome left off and give more insight into Amavia’s good/evil parts and also more into Aselin’s role in Amavia’s life. You’ll get to meet many more characters and get more backstory on Walji & Sasha

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Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm entering this giveaway! 

Alright, so I recently had the privilege to interview author Kate Hegarty. I asked her lots of fun questions about herself and a couple about her debut novel; Mieradome. Check out what she had to say. And don't forget to enter the giveaway! One lucky winner will get a copy of MIERADOME ebook (pdf format).