YA Horror/Thriller Spooiktacular Day 16 - A Cold Legacy + Giveaway

Today's author not only has an upcoming book that is in the horror/thriller genre but earlier this year she had another book out that also falls into this category!  I asked her which one she wanted to spotlight and she said the upcoming novel, so instead of being featured at the start of the month she is now here, at the tail end.  That being said I present to you Megan Shepherd!

Peace, Love, Teen Fiction:  First things first, would you describe The Madman’s Daughter trilogy in up to 15 words?

Megan Shepherd:  A mad scientist’s daughter is swept into a world of monsters and embraces her dark legacy

PLTF:  Your books have that macabre feel to them, what’s the grosses thing you think you’ve written?

MS:  It’s so funny, because I get grossed out super easily, and yet I love writing about the macabre. I think the grossest scene I ever wrote was when Juliet destroyed her father’s laboratory specimens, and is covered in chemical preservatives, organ tissue, blood and slime. The most disturbing part? It’s a romantic scene!

PLTF:  Each of the three books in this series have been inspired by a famous work of literature, which of those works is your favorite and which of your own books do you like the best and why?

MS:  I’ll always be drawn most to THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU by H.G. Wells. He so perfectly captures my fears of experimentation in hidden places, and the line between human and animal. Of my books, I like A COLD LEGACY best, because Juliet is finally making her own decisions—and not all of them good.

PLTF:  Juliet’s father makes some pretty horrific creatures, what are your stances on what he does?  Do you think there might ever be a situation where what he’s doing could be considered okay?

MS:  In the second and third books in my series, I tried to present some scenarios where Moreau’s work could be considered beneficial to society: things like using pig valves for human heart transplants, or shark skin grafts to help human burn victims (both of which we currently do.) My series portrays him as a monster, however, because he isn’t interested in the greater potential of his work, but rather, his own desire to play god.
 
PLTF:  What’s next?

MS:  I have a new YA series starting next summer. It's called THE CAGE and is about six teenagers abducted by a super powerful race known as the Kindred and put in a "human zoo." I had a lot of fun with this book. It's not quite as dark as the Madman's Daughter series, but it's got lots of insanity, twists, and ill-fated romance!

Lightning round
1.     On a scale of 1 to 10 how scary is your book?

Hmm, 7.8?

2.     If you were a character in your book would you survive?

Yes! Like my main character, I’m a survivor

3.     Favorite scary movie?

CABIN IN THE WOODS. A little funny, a little scary, incredibly creative.

4.     Favorite Halloween candy?

Resse’s peanut butter cups—the pumpkin shaped ones

5.     What were you last year for Halloween or what do you plan on being this year?

We’re dong a Star Wars theme this year; my husband is Han Solo, my scruffy little dog is Chewbacca, and I’m torn between Leia or Jabba the Hut J

This or that
1.     Go to the island or stay in London?

To the island!

2.     Genius or madness?

Madness

3.     Horror or scientific curiosity?

Scientific curiosity

4.     Magic or science?

Magic

5.     Tricks or treats?

Treats J

 THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

HER DARK CURIOSITY (Highlight for synopsis as it contains spoilers for THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER)

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

A COLD LEGACY (Highlight for synopsis as it contains spoilers for HER DARK CURIOSITY)

After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own.

OUT JANUARY 27, 2015

Find The Madman's Daughter on

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Find Her Dark Curiosity on

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Find A Cold Legacy on

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

The Cage comes out May 26, 2015

Find it on Goodreads

Megan has been many things, like a professional exchange student, park ranger in Montana, and LOST enthusiast, but what she is now is a writer.

She grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, raised behind the counter of her parents’ independent bookstore, Highland Books in Brevard. Despite being surrounded by books, she never thought being an author could be a real career. Her passion was always travel and cultures, so she studied International Studies and foreign languages (and still muddle by in a few of them). Then she joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Senegal, living in a mud hut with no electricity or running water, and teaching environmental education to school children.

It wasn't until a chance acquaintance read her Peace Corps blog and said, "you're a good writer. Have you ever considered writing professionally?" that something clicked and she realized it was possible. Megan's husband encouraged her, and she fell head-over-heels in love with writing, and children's literature in particular. She started out writing articles, which have appeared in Faces, Appleseeds, and Calliope magazines, and stories for younger children. She soon realized she wasn’t sweet enough to write fiction for that age and found herself writing young adult literature instead, which doesn’t require nearly as many tender moments and includes a lot more cursing.

When she's not writing, she can usually be found horseback riding, day dreaming at coffee shops, or gardening at her farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Megan is represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.

Find Megan on

Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Her Website

Megan has graciously donated a swag pack for her books.  She has told me that it includes bookmarks AND a special flavor of tea she created in honor of Her Dark Curiosity, which is super hard to find (I'm not sure if she even gives them out at her signings, just a few giveaways she does)!  The giveaway will be US only and will run for two weeks.  All you have to do is enter via the rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway