Meg Shaffer is a true artist with a heart full of words and a soul full of stories, and her passion is nothing short of infectious.

Get ready to be transported to a world of wonder and words! This week, USA Today bestselling author Meg Shaffer joins Heather Vickery and Alan Seales on Was It Chance to discuss her lifelong passion for reading and writing. Meg opens up about how she's always been inspired by the idea of crafting stories that transport us, much like her childhood hero Willy Wonka. She shares how the loss of her beloved cat catapulted her into darkness, but writing her breakout novel, The Wishing Game, was the light that guided her out. With her second novel, The Lost Story, set to be July 16, 2024, Meg discusses the bravery it takes to fully immerse yourself in a story and the magic that awaits us when we step into new worlds.

Our co-host, Heather, declared that reading ‘The Lost Story’ was like entering a magical, queer adventure park she never wanted to leave - and we think you'll feel the same! Tune in for a heartwarming conversation about the power of words, the joy of getting lost in a good book, and why art will always be a little bit of magic.

Get your copy of Meg’s books ‘The Wishing Game’ and pre-order her second novel, ‘The Lost Story’ today. Then be sure to visit us on Instagram and share your favorite moments from the episode and the books!

Connect with Meg via Instagram or her website.

• Make sure to follow this podcast everywhere you find podcasts, leave a rating and a review, and slip into our Instagram DMs at @wasitchance.
• More about Heather via @heather_vickeryandco on Instagram, @Braveheather on TikTok, and listen to The Brave Files
• More about Alan via @theatre_podcast on Instagram and listen to The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

EPISODE TAKEAWAYS

• Meg speaks to being brave enough to step into another world (which can literally be anything).
• Being able to step into a story always feels magical.
• As an author, Meg feels as if she “lives” in the story. It requires complete immersion and needs to be the first thing you think of in the morning and the last thing at night.
• “I fell in love with Willy Wonka in the 3rd grade” - Meg says she was always inspired by the idea of writing something like this.
• The loss of her 21-year-old cat is what catapulted Meg into the dark and writing The Wishing Game is what helped her come out of that weariness.
• Under the name Tiffany Reisz, she wrote spicy, dark romance Harlequin Romance Novels!
• Meg says she collects sentences like jewels - they are her deepest passion. She first noticed words and sentences at age 12 and never looked back
• Reading transports you for a reason and you have complete control over it. There is always a mind beyond art and that’s magic.
• At the age of 18, she started writing original fiction she was writing her own stories, quit her day job (as a bookseller) at 32, and went into writing full time.
• There are two schools of thought for authors:
• 1. Poverty is a great motivator to get your shit done even if you’re not a “self-starter.”
• 2. Don’t make creativity the thing that pays your bills because then you’ll use the magic
• Screenplays and TV scripts are fun because she can create them quickly
• Meg is willing to completely throw out a story and start over in order to produce the best book possible. She isn’t attached to the work in a way that she fears being judged - she’s committed to the next final product possible.
• Her next book, The Lost Story will be released on July 16, 2024