Meet Megan E. Freeman | Author, Poet, and Presenter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Megan E. Freeman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan E., what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
The habit I’ve actively cultivated and that has brought me the most benefit is the habit of showing up. By that, I mean taking advantage of every opportunity to hone my craft, build relationships, or reframe obstacles into invitations. I knew I would never achieve my publishing goals if I were too timid or insecure to take the risks required of a creative life. If I maintained a defensive mindset, I wouldn’t find the lessons I needed to learn or glean the gifts from setbacks along the way. A career in publishing necessarily includes an enormous amount of rejection, and I decided early on to keep showing up no matter what.
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So I show up to my desk, to conferences, to webinars, and critique groups. I show up to online writing communities and accountability partners. I seek opportunities to put my work into the world and I say yes to invitations to engage with others in the industry. When setbacks happen, and they happen often, I double down on the things that are under my control. I focus on improving my craft and prioritizing the habits that nurture my creativity. I cultivate relationships that are aligned with my goals. I strive to grow.

I’ve been doing this work long enough now to know that most luck isn’t random. It happens to people who have created opportunities or put themselves in situations where luck can strike. It happens to people who show up.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was in fourth grade. I went to a school where poets came into our classroom every week to teach us to write poetry, and I loved it. I’ve had other passions along the way and I earned degrees in theater and teaching. But I never lost sight of the goal of becoming a published author. I see the world through the lens of poetry and story, and I’ve always wanted to make deep connections with readers.

I consistently maintained a personal writing practice, but in the early 2000s, I learned how to submit my poetry to literary journals and anthologies, and my work began to be published. In 2009, I started writing the book that would become my debut novel, and in 2015 my first poetry collection was published. I revised my novel manuscript many times over eight years, and I finally signed with my literary agent in 2018. We sold the book to Simon & Schuster in 2019, and in 2021, eighteen months after I retired from thirty years of teaching, my first novel was published.

The most important lesson I’ve learned is that “for every thing there is a season.” I loved my early life in the theater, I loved my long teaching career, and I adored being a parent and raising my daughter. And now, I’m in my mid-fifties and I’m a debut author. My previous seasons all prepared me in different ways for the skills and experiences I’ve needed to launch a new career in the second half of my life. It’s never too late to manifest your dreams if you’re willing to work hard and stay open to the abundance of the universe.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite kind of tourism includes visiting independent bookstores, and Colorado has the best. My aunt is coming from California in late May, and I’m going to take her on a whirlwind tour. We’ll start with Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins, and then swing down to Niwot to visit my friends Jer and Carissa at The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop. After that we’ll head to Boulder to have a meal at the Dushanbe Teahouse and then browse at the Boulder Bookstore on the Pearl Street Mall, where my daughter took her first steps. Then we’re heading to the mountains for a few days, and we’ll stop in at Next Page Books in Frisco and the Bookworm in Edwards. We’ll finish our trip in Denver, where we’ll indulge ourselves at BookBar, The Bookies, Second Star to the Right, and The Tattered Cover.

In July, my husband and I will be in southwest Colorado for the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, and we’ll definitely spend some time and money at Townie Books while we’re there. We may even pop down to Maria’s Bookshop in Durango and Between the Covers in Telluride.

Next fall, we’ll load up our Labrador and head to the Western Slope, where we’ll stop in at Explore Booksellers in Aspen, White River Books in Carbondale, Out West Books in Grand Junction, and Off the Beaten Path Bookshop in Steamboat Springs. Bookstore tourism is my favorite kind of travel, and Colorado has all the great booksellers needed to inspire plenty of road trips.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Finding the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) was a game changer for me. I joined the Rocky Mountain chapter when I knew nothing about publishing. They provide incredible support, both on the craft and business sides of the industry. Working with them put me on the path to finding a literary agent and landing a book deal, and I’ve made many wonderful friends, as well.

Writing is a solitary endeavor, so it’s been really important to me to create community with other writers. A great resource for that has been Inked Voices. It’s an online platform that brings together aspiring and published writers to provide support, accountability, professional development, and networking. It’s a terrific group to be part of.

And finally, I really appreciate Courtney Maum’s book Before and After the Book Deal. It’s the only resource of its kind that I’m aware of, and it walks aspiring writers through the many nuts and bolts of landing an agent and becoming traditionally published. I recommend it to everyone.

Website: https://www.meganefreeman.com

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