Meghan Carver Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. My husband and I will celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary next month, and we have six children ages six to seventeen. After I finished a bachelor’s degree in English, I went to law school. Halfway through, I knew I wanted to stay home when I had babies, but my husband urged me to finish so I would have the degree to fall back on if I needed it. I did finish it and passed the bar exam, but I am not currently practicing law. Still, though, I think I use my analytical and debate skills in homeschooling those six children.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A. My grade school provided numerous opportunities for involvement in writing talent searches and contests. That continued into middle school, and by sixth grade I had realized how much I enjoyed stringing words together. By high school, I had won a couple of regional contests, taken Creative Writing twice (by special permission of my guidance counselor), and decided on an English major for college.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?
A. This highlight reel won’t last long since this is only my second book! ? My writing got sidelined after college when I went to law school and then birthed six babies. When I was pregnant with my sixth, that writing itch returned, and it seemed like the right time to brainstorm and plot and see if I could write an entire novel. A local writers’ conference introduced me to ACFW. Over the next four years, I wrote four complete novels and started several others, two of which semi-finaled in the ACFW Genesis contest. At ACFW, I met a writer who introduced me to her Love Inspired editor. My break came through the Killer Voices search. I passed through the different levels of the search successfully, but my final manuscript was rejected. This, however, was the open door – the contact with an editor who saw promise in my writing. My next submission became my first book, Under Duress.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release DEADLY DISCLOSURE?
A: From the back cover: Getting shot at on her way to work is only the first shock of
law student Hannah McClarnon’s day. The second is when FBI agent Derek Chambers—her first love—reveals the truth about Hannah’s family. Though Hannah was raised by a wealthy Indianapolis couple, her birth father was with the Chicago mafia. And now, convinced she has information against them, they’re hunting her down. Derek’s first
big assignment is to protect Hannah, and it’s becoming more personal every minute. He’s never revealed why he left long ago, and he still believes Hannah deserves someone better. But with the enemy in relentless pursuit, he’ll risk his life to be the man she needs— and loves—again.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for DEADLY DISCLOSURE?
A: You’ve seen in the back cover blurb that the heroine is adopted. This story is near and dear to me for one big reason: I’m adopted. I got the idea for the story when I was gathering my family’s birth certificates to apply for passports. When I have anything written in my hands, I read it word for word. You can blame my love of reading as well as a legal education for that. ? That day, I thoroughly read each birth certificate, and I quickly noticed that there was a huge discrepancy between my date of birth and the date of issue of the birth certificate. I have always known I was adopted, so this didn’t surprise me like it surprises my heroine. That difference in the dates is the time it took for my adoption to be finalized and a new birth certificate with the names of my adoptive parents to be issued. As I examined my birth certificate, an idea began to form. What if someone discovered as an adult that she was adopted? What if there was danger in her birth family that found her even before she discovered she was adopted? From there, my imagination took off. Let me reassure you, then, that the similarities between me and Hannah are few. We are both adopted, and we both went to law school. The end. ?

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: Adoption into the family of God is not only the ultimate adoption, but also it’s available to everybody. Hannah is shocked to learn that she was adopted, and she questions her entire life. But Derek, having struggled with his faith in his own circumstances and then emerged victorious, is there to remind her that all believers are adopted…into the family of God. Romans 8:15 tells us that we can approach our Heavenly Father without fear but with love and confidence. What a blessed assurance!

Q: What inspires you to write?
A. That’s difficult to pinpoint because I’ve always enjoyed words and story. Writing seems to be a natural outflow of my love of reading. As an introvert, writing comes much easier to me than speaking, so that’s my preferred form of communication. I’ve encouraged my children to be avid readers, so when my teen daughters want to know when my next story will be ready for them to read, that inspires me as well.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. There are always a few ideas rolling around, but right now, I’m plotting an Amish suspense. There are so many things I love about the Amish…their strong faith, their simple lifestyle, their sense of community. It’s been a joy to get to know more about them.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?
A. I adore spending time with my husband and children. They are the most fun people I know! We love homeschooling, talking about the books we’re reading, playing board and card games, and traveling.