Meg Weber is another author on my radar thanks to the 2021 Debuts group. We read and reviewed each other’s work, and now, I’d actually love to meet her in person sometime. While her life, as evidenced by her sexy debut memoir, A Year of Mr. Lucky, may be different from my own, her outlook resonates with me: she describes writing as “the thing that allows her to show up in all the other areas of life with authentic integrity.” That authentic integrity rang out loud and clear in her book, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else she has in store. Meg lives in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, and judging by the number of plates she juggled in her memoir, I know she’s not long on time (plus her book just came out two weeks ago, and launching books is tough work). As always, I’m grateful for the time Meg took to spend with me.

Christina: At what point did you know you would write about the relationship featured in A Year of Mr. Lucky? 

Meg: Since this relationship began in writing, it seemed likely that it could turn into something bigger than just our email correspondence right from the start. Mr. Lucky and I spent three weeks flirting, negotiating, and getting to know one another via email before we met in person. The sizzle of our words back and forth woke up my libido, but it also sent a spark to my writer self. Once he and I met and played for the first time, I wrote my response to and reflections on that scene right away, which became the finished Scene Number One in the book. 

Christina: Scenes, play, negotiate…Your book has been referred to as a memoir of submission, loss, and longing and is set within the context of a BDSM relationship. What is it like to write about that world – both for an audience who might be also be kinky and for those who are unfamiliar with these experiences?

Meg: That’s been one of the most interesting parts of writing and publishing this memoir. I wanted it to be accessible and compelling to folks all along the spectrum of interest and experience with kink. It’s hard to say whether it’s my writing style in general, or my clinical training as a mental health therapist, but I write about BDSM in a way that I’ve been told is not scary for folks who aren’t into power exchange, sensation play, or the rough sex that is often involved. This is important to me. I wanted to accurately tell my story without pigeon-holing it into a niche where only kinky folks would want to read it. The themes of unrequited love, grief and loss, and finding one’s own agency and voice are applicable to a much wider audience and I wanted to be sure the kink didn’t scare readers away. I was careful to explain any terms that needed clarification as I wrote, so folks weren’t left in the dark. 

Christina: What has been the response to your book from family members, friends, writing peers, etc.?

Meg: The response has been resoundingly positive response. Admittedly, I was terrified to publish it. Revealing in this much detail a relationship that most folks in my life didn’t know about while it was happening, as well as coming out about dating men and being kinky is a lot to take on in a debut publishing experience. My family is proud of me for realizing my dream of publishing my first book, and they are aware of the subject matter. I described it as similar to Fifty Shades but with better writing and with me as the main character. Most of them, I think, will choose not to read it, which I understand. Reading a graphically sexual memoir about your relative could be awkward. Friends and writing peers were phenomenally supportive of me while I was in this relationship, and while I wrote, revised, and now published the memoir. 

Christina: I have to ask: Has Mr. Lucky read the book? 

Meg: Yes! He said all along he wanted to read it when it was a finished book I could hand to him. But as it turned out, the publisher needed him to read it before it came out to make sure he would accept the book as is and not be any sort of legal threat. And she needed confirmation that he had indeed agreed to me including his emails, as he wrote them to me, in the book. He read it toward the end of 2020 and said he enjoyed it. He thought I’d done a good job with telling the story. 

Christina: What’s up next for you in your writing life? 

Meg: I’ve got a handful of personal essays in various degrees of development. In 2021 I’d like to finish and submit many of them for publication. And I’m deep into the development of my second memoir. That second book has changed a bit as I’ve worked on it, but it will tell more of my stories of grief and loss, and how I learned to use BDSM to process my emotions through my body. 

Christina: Where can we find out more about your writing and buy your book? 

Meg: My work can be found at www.MegWeberWriter.com and you can buy the book at Buy now at Bookshop.

Thanks to Meg for agreeing to this interview! If you know of an author who’d like to be featured in an interview (or you are an author who would like to be featured), feel free to leave a comment or email me via my contact page.