If you're one of my regular 3 readers, you will know of my saga in trying to obtain Sisters of Misery. If you're new (hey, how's it going?) click the link and you'll find out more. Author Megan Kelley Hall contacted me via my Send me a Book (shameless PLUG) page and asked if she could be a part of my 5 Questions series (is it actually a series when you only have 3?). I was delighted to have her participate and once I was able to actually read the book I was able to think up some questions.Please enjoy my 5 Questions with author Megan Kelley Hall!1. Since SISTERS OF MISERY is your "first work of fiction" (per thelittle Author Blurb on the back of the book), how long did it take you to write the story? Was this a long winding path from idea to book on the shelf?I’ve incorporated writing into all aspects of my career. I’ve written radio commercials, I worked as a writer in a PR firm and I’ve written for national magazines like Glamour, American Baby, and Working Mother. It wasn’t until I had a stroke and open heart surgery at the age of 32 that I realized I had never fulfilled my dream of being a published novelist. I had a 4 month recovery period after my sternotomy, which I used to whip my manuscript into shape. Within six months I had an agent and then six months after that,a two-book deal with Kensington.2. Have you ever actually had a Tarot reading or Rune casting done to you? If so, what did you think?I've never had a rune casting done, but I have had a Tarot readings (living right next door to Salem, it was inevitable!) I think that there are some people who really do have psychic abilities and are legit, but most that I've come across do it all for show.3. Aside from being a writer, what other job do you think you might have liked to have done?I've worked in radio, public relations, marketing, sales and I am a partner of a literarypublicity company (Kelley & Hall) that I started with my mom and sister. Every job I've hadhas incorporated some form of writing. So...I think that I would be well-suited to be Johnny Depp's personal biographer. :)4. Do you have a favourite book or series that you keep going back to re-read?One of my all-time favorite books is THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. I also endlessly read gothic short stories by Shirley Jackson, Nathanial Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Faulkner. I also adore Jodi Picoult, Alice Hoffman, Thomas H. Cook, Nabokov, Joan Didion and Oscar Wilde (strange assortment, I know).5. Do you have a Comfort Food?Chocolate!!!BONUS QUESTION!!I can't wait until August 2009 for The Lost Sister to be published! I just can't! I need it now! So you'll have to do something about that ok? Like, make it come out sooner. Like, tomorrow! Get on that, will you? Thanks! ;)I'm working as hard and as fast as I can on THE LOST SISTER, but promoting my first novel (with the help of Kelley & Hall) has taken up a very large chunk of my time, unfortunately. I can give you a little taste of the next book by way of the unofficial cover copy for THE LOST SISTER. (It may change a little by the time it hits the shelves, but here it is:)

THE LOST SISTER (Kensington, August 2009)SOME SECRETS WON'T STAY BURIEDSisters are born, not chosen…Maddie Crane is grappling with the disappearance of Cordelia LeClaire, and trying to escape the grasp of The Sisters of Misery—an insidious clique of the school’s most powerful girls, whose pranks have set off a chain of horrific events, and who have Maddie in their sights…Beware the sister betrayed…Now in a prestigious boarding school far away from her mysterious hometown of Hawthorne, Massachusetts, Maddie feels free from danger. But when an unmarked envelope arrives at her dorm containing a single ominous tarot card, Maddie realizes with terror that some secrets won’t stay buried. Knowing she must return to Hawthorne—a town still scarred by the evil of the Salem witch trials—Maddie prepares to face the fears of her past...and the wrath of the sister she wronged.

Oooh, I can't wait! I am ever so happy this book was written and I was able to read it. It's going to be one of the faves on my bookshelves I can tell you that. And I want to thank Megan for not only writing this book, but also sharing her thoughts with me for my little book blog! I hope to have another 5 burning questions for her next year after I read The Lost Sister. (You've been warned, Megan!)