About Megan
Megan Cooley Peterson is the author of two young adult thrillers, Dead Girls Talking (2024) and The Liar’s Daughter (2019). She has written more than 200 nonfiction books for children on a wide variety of topics, including dinosaurs, sharks, urban legends, and haunted objects. As a teenager, Megan was part of a cult-like doomsday church that didn’t like to be questioned. She questioned anyway. Now she works as an editor, living in Minnesota with her husband and daughter. She is a fan of long naps, fall, all things Halloween, and wishes she could get into the pumpkin spice latte craze. (It’s vanilla or bust.)
Megan is represented by Amy Giuffrida at the Belcastro Agency.
I am drawn to the darker side . . .
My husband often asks me, “Why can’t you write about nice things?” He’s only half serious. (The “scariest” movie he can handle is Ghostbusters.) The truth is, I’ve always been drawn to dark stories about characters who survive terrifying, often horrific circumstances.
Maybe it’s my anxiety always looking for danger, or the fact that the human mind fascinates me. I’m always asking myself, “Why do people do the (often bad) things they do?” Every story I write is an attempt to figure that out just a little bit.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” - Carl Jung
A few fun facts about me
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Favorite authors
Katherine Howe, Jane Austen, Catherine Ryan Howard, R.L. Stine, S.A. Cosby, Alice Hoffman, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, James McBride, and Courtney Summers
to name a few.
Most re-read book
I re-read Bridget Jones’s Diary every year. It’s a comfort read that never fails to lift me out of any dark mood.
Favorite craft books
Two craft books that have helped me immensely are Story Genius by Lisa Cron and Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody.
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Writing essentials
When I’m writing, I need candlelight, a good cup of hot coffee, and a blanket on my lap. Even in July.