Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.
Today: National bestselling author Meg Macy first dreamed of seeing a book with her name on it in the school library. She’s always found comfort, adventure, and connection in books—which might explain why she now writes stories that offer all three.
Meg writes LGBTQIA+ romance with a touch of spice, intrigue, and plenty of emotional payoff. M/M romance and M/F polyamory, her stories are comfort reads with a twist. She’s also written cozy mysteries, and is one half of the D.E. Ireland team writing Agatha-Award nominated historical mysteries with Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins.
Meg lives with her writing companion, Mr. Whiskers the cat, and prefers book pages to parties.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MegMacyAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meg.macy.author/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@megmacyauthor
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/megmacyauthor.bsky.social
Thanks so much, Meg, for joining me!
J. Scott Coatsworth: When did you know you wanted to write, and when did you discover that you were good at it?
Meg Macy: In third grade, I loved visiting the school library and dreamed of one day seeing a book on the shelf with my name on the spine. I actually wrote “fan fic” before it was even a thing in the 1960s, taking I Spy and other TV show and book characters (ahem, Trixie Belden, anyone?) and making up stories. One day my older sister told me to “write my own stories instead.” Oh. It wasn’t until later (after writing huge essays in high school along with college essays) that one professor invited me to his office to meet a published Michigan poet (I was thrilled) and predicted that I would be also be a published author one day. That floored me. What else could I do but prove him right? It took me a while, but I did track Professor Bell down and sent him a thank you email.
JSC: If you could sit down with one other writer, living or dead, who would you choose, and what would you ask them?Â
MM: Tough question. It’s a toss-up between J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin, although I have read that JRRT was pretty boring. I’ll go with Le Guin. Her Earthsea Trilogy and the book The Left Hand of Darkness inspired me to earn my Bachelor’s degree in anthropology/sociolinguistics, so I would definitely quiz her on how and why she created a world of ambisexual characters, which fascinated me, along with its deep political and religious cultural clashes in their society. It’s classic sf/f, so if you haven’t read it — RUN to the library, take it out, and read it. Several times.
JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.Â
MM: After about ten years trying to publish historical romance novels (with plenty of rejections), I decided to earn an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction in 2010. I revised an old romance manuscript into Double Crossing, a western romance/adventure and published it with a small press at the time. It won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best First Book in 2012. That was a shocker, but I certainly appreciated the accolade! As one author friend once advised me when I first began, “persistence pays off.”
JSC: What is your writing Kryptonite?
MM: Emotional depth to my characters — that kept me from publication in the early years of writing. I had everything else: setting and research, sensory details, plots, interesting characters and believable dialogue, but I didn’t know my characters deep enough in terms of background, goals, motives, internal conflict. Not so basic, but powerful and necessary in pushing the story forward and making readers excited to keep turning the pages.
JSC: Do you use a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?Â
MM: I have three pseudonyms: one for my western novels and novellas; one as a co-author team for historical mysteries featuring Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins; and the current pseudonym of Meg Macy for my cozy contemporary mysteries (Kensington) along with my indie published holiday and pet rescue romances, and now my LGBTQ Love is Love series. I find it easier to “change hats” for promotion purposes.
JSC: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
MM: Both. I tend to start out researching for several weeks or a month of main character or characters (remember, background, goals, motives, conflicts?), then get a rough outline going for at least the first half of a book using Michael Hauge’s story structure to guide me. I tend to “pant” in between the sections for the first draft. If I get to a point where I’m just “filling in” without scenes making sense, then I know it’s time to stop and go back to rework the outline. When I wrote the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins series (of four books), my co-author was an extremely detailed plotter and I tended to be a soundboard in the brainstorming sessions. I ended up writing to spec for alternating chapters, but also we read/revised each other’s work for continuity. Luckily we had similar writing styles. Hard work, but worth it (two of our books earned Agatha Award historical mystery nominations). So I learned through the years to at least get the bones of an outline down before beginning a new book.
JSC: Do your books spring to life from a character first or an idea?Â
MM: Ideas, mainly. The only time a character popped up out of the blue and surprised me was after I finished my cozy series for Kensington. The tight deadlines plus the second year of Covid did a number on me, and I needed a good year and a half off to refill the writing well. I even told friends I was “done writing” until Jack Riley slapped me up the side of my head and demanded I better write “his f*cking story,” which became All You Need Is Love. I’ve been cursing like him ever since, too.
JSC: What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?Â
Ronald Tobias’s 20 Master Plots; Robert McKee’s Story; Michael Hauge’s books (pick whichever one works for you); and re-read the basics in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King. I also recommend Vellum for formatting, I love it! I do have Scrivener and tried, but don’t use it (I still write notes in composition books, along with secret Pinterest boards). Use what works for you, but don’t quit.
JSC: Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?
MM: I did wish I could quit when I was on deadline for my cozy mysteries, with revision days of 10-14 hours to turn a book in on time before the holidays (twice!) and only once had to ask for a two-week extension (out of five books). I thought I did quit, but I was wrong when Jack Riley of the Love Is Love series had other ideas. Being an indie author is better, deadline wise, although I do miss the advances.
JSC: What are you working on now, and what’s coming out next? Tell us about it!
I’m working on book 3 of the Love Is Love series, All My Loving, where it (hopefully) wraps up the series — although Jack may have other plans. The first book sets the stage, so to speak with external conflict, book two has internal conflicts within and between the characters, and I am expanding on all those ramifications in book three. I’m hoping for at least one wedding besides a funeral, but we’ll see. Jack, Jules, and the rest are definitely running the show. I have another book on hold, with Ace characters solving a murder, and I would like to get to that as well. Thank you so much for the questions and a chance to explain my series, I really appreciate it!
And now for Meg’s book: All You Need is Love:
Longtime friends Jack Riley and Juliette (aka Jules) Baxter are now partners in a new breakfast café, but they are surprised to be confronted by a wave of homophobia in a town known for its inclusive and diverse LGBTQA+ community.
Their romantic lives are just as uncertain. Jack, a gay former actor and fashion model, has failed at committed relationships due to his unsavory past – until he meets Reese Baxter, his partner’s handsome, closeted cousin.
Jules juggles several polyamorous relationships due to major trust issues, until she’s drawn to an intriguing artist. However his jealousy of her bestie Jack is getting out of hand.
Is the vandalism against their café from conservative hate groups, or is it a focused personal attack?
Amazon
Excerpt
Jack glances at the clock. Forty-five minutes to go before closing. His anxiety deflates like a balloon after a needle prick. At Jules’s squeal of delight, Jack turns to see a tall, handsome man enter the café. He’s in a bespoke three-piece navy suit with dark hair and deep blue eyes. The guy avoids his curious gaze and smiles when Jules runs over to greet him with a hug.
“Hey, Reese. I hoped you’d come in!”
Hmm, the guy looks familiar. Jack figures he’s another Baxter when Jules calls him “cousin.” After cashing out more customers and answering questions, Jack empties the donation bucket again. He better count all this and announce the amount they raised after closing time. Jack checks his watch, the first responder Casio G-Shock that Drew always wore—fifteen minutes left. Most customers have departed. Ed has the kitchen under control, so he heads to the office.
He sorts through the bills, ones, fives, and tens. Someone threw in a fifty, whoa. But he’s disappointed at the total amount. Jack hoped for more, but it’s early days for an idea that some people like Paul Baxter think is foolish.
Jules peeks her head through the door. “Hey, Anna locked the door. My cousin is curious how much money we raised for veterans
“Meh. Enough to start the program, at least,” Jack says.
“Come on, let’s tell everyone!”
She drags him back out front, where a few soiled dishes are left at tables or booths. While Anna checks out the register, Keisha and Jack bus the tables. He breathes a sigh of relief, since that lack of sleep is taking its toll. Reese Baxter lingers near the front counter.
He looks in his late twenties, sporting a five o’clock shadow in mid-afternoon. Not baby-faced like him. Jack hates that at twenty-four, he can’t grow a mustache or much of a beard even after a few months.
He’s only got a few scattered hairs on his chest, too. Damn.
Reese observes everything happening around him, quiet and still, from a stool at the far end. Cool and collected, but damned hot with that strong chin and those gorgeous blue eyes. His suit looks crisp, his white sleeves cuffed with gold links. Reese wears an expensive Cartier watch, too. And Italian loafers.
Jack knows that brand since he has a similar pair in his closet upstairs. He pushes his reading glasses on top of his head, stretches his back and arms, and exhales a deep breath. Jules looks ready to burst. She grabs a few more bills out of the bucket.
“Don’t forget to add these to the count.”
Anna and Keisha both use their fists to hammer out a drumroll on the counter. “So what’s the total from the donation bucket?” Jules asks. “Stop stalling. Tell us!”
“Two-hundred and forty, plus that extra three bucks.” Jack slides an arm around her and Keisha to form an impromptu line dance. “Not great, but we got time yet to collect more. Come on, kick a little.”
“Yeah, let’s do A Chorus Line,” she says with a giggle.
Keisha doubles over with laughter, her knot braids swinging. “Ain’t no way I’ma try that. Beyoncé’s moves, though, I can do.”
“I bet Jack could be a dancer in one of her videos, and he’s just as pretty,” Jules teases. “I’ve got a picture to prove he looks great in makeup and fishnet stockings.”
Jack sticks out his tongue. “Thought you trashed that photo.”
“Hey, Juli? Come here,” Reese says, beckoning.
“You dressed in drag for a party, Jack?” Keisha asks him. Anna crowds closer as well. “Come on, let’s see.”
“Jules took that photo and never sent—”
They all stop at her loud shriek. “Hey, everyone! My cousin Reese more than doubled the money donated today for veterans’ free breakfasts,” she says, waving a check and jumping up and down. “Now the fund has over five-hundred dollars. Fabulous!”
Jack stares at her cousin in shock. “Whoa. I oughta kiss you for that.”
Reese raises an eyebrow. “Never kissed a guy before.”
His deadpan tone is a tempting challenge. On impulse, Jack grabs him by his tie and tugs him down, one hand behind his head, then kisses his soft mouth. Startled by the guy’s woodsy scent, the intense shiver down his spine, and his quickening heartbeat, the feeling that everything surrounding them disappears, Jack backs away. Clears his throat nervously, given the sparking tension between them. Uh-oh. He’s been punched in the nose before after an unexpected kiss.
Jack grins, hoping Reese doesn’t lash out. “Can’t say that no more, huh?”
The guy flushes scarlet, matching his own flaming cheeks. Odd that Jules’s cousin doesn’t speak in turn. Jack scrubs damp palms on his jeans. Damn, that kiss was fantastic. Too brief as well, but he isn’t about to push his luck.