Today on 10 Questions with… we have the lovely Megan Mayfair. Debut author of The 
Things We Leave Unsaid.
1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
One of my favourite books this year has been The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I thought it was just so fresh and brilliant. I also really enjoyed Chasing the Case by Joan Livingston.
2. Are you working on anything new?
I’m editing my third novel, The Problem with Perfect, due out in 2019 and just starting working on a new manuscript, which is a romance and a mystery.
3. What is your favourite childhood book?
Too many to name, really. I read and re-read a lot of Enid Blyton, especially the Malory Towers and the St Clare’s books. I also loved a 1950s series about a girl called Donna Parker who lived in upstate New York as well as the Trixie Beldon books. I always had my nose in a book, basically.
4. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to?
Not really when I’m writing but I find I listen to the same few songs a lot in the car and they sort of become the soundtrack to the manuscript I’m thinking about at the time.
5. When did you start writing?
I wrote stories as a child and teenager, then stopped as ‘life’ – university, work, meeting my real-life hero etc – took priority. I started writing again a couple of years ago. I wish I’d continued to write through my 20s as I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it until I started again. It’s such an outlet.
6. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I love spending time with my husband and three young children.
My professional background is in corporate communications and public relations. I currently run a public relations consultancy and teach public relations in the higher education sector, which is very enjoyable.
In terms of hobbies, I go to pilates, binge-watch television drama shows like The Wire or The Americans, drink coffee and read.
7. Do you edit as you write or wait until the first draft is finished?
I edit as I write. I like to go back and make structural edits as I go. It means my first draft takes a long time to write but there’s less to move around later.
8. Do you have a favourite writing space? If so, where is it?
I have a study at home that I use to write but also a lovely café near my house where I often perch myself. The baristas see me coming and have my coffee waiting for me.
9. Do you struggle to come up with book titles?
My first book, The Things We Leave Unsaid, had quite a few titles, as did Tangled Vines, so yes, but I like to think I get there in the end. For those books, I needed to know what they were really about before I could properly title them. For my upcoming book, The Problem with Perfect, that only ever had one name and almost from the very start. It just worked.
10. If your book was made into a move, who would play the hero and heroine?
For The Things We Leave Unsaid, I’ve always imagined Mila Kunis as Tessa, and Laura Carmichael (from Downton Abbey) as Clare. As for Tessa’s love interest, Matthew, I think Raza Jaffrey (from Spooks and Homeland) would be perfect.
Powerful compelling read – Goodreads review
Is it the things we don’t say that haunt us the most?
Clare is anxious to start a family with adoring husband, Pete. When she takes on the seemingly simple task of obtaining her late mother’s birth certificate, she finds herself in a family history search that will challenge everything she thought she knew about her life.
Scarred by her parents’ ill-fated marriage, Tessa lives by three rules – dating unavailable men, building her café into a food empire, and avoiding her father. However, when her carefully planned life is thrown into chaos, Tessa is forced to decide which of these rules she’s willing to break.
As Clare and Tessa’s paths cross and their friendship grows, can they both finally unlock their family secrets in order to realise their futures?
You can purchase The Things We Leave Unsaid at Amazon.
Or contact Megan at the following links.
www.meganmayfair.com
https://www.instagram.com/ meganmayfairwrites
https://www.twitter.com/ MayfairMegan
https://www.facebook.com/ meganmayfairauthor
https://www.pinterest.com/ meganmayfairwrites
