Have you ever “met” someone online and known you would be close-knit friends if you ever hung out in real life? That is how it was with Megan! I watched her launch her author career in 2024, with the release of Protector. Then God saw it fit for our paths to cross last summer at Realm Makers. We became fast friends, and it was so fun to spend quality time with her and celebrate her book’s success as a finalist in the Realm Awards!
As 2025 sped by, I watched Protector WIN an American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award and be a finalist for an Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Christy Award. It was so fun to check in with Megan and cheer her on every step of the way. Her success is so inspiring!
Fast forward nine months, and now I have signed with WhiteCrown, and my books will be published alongside hers! It is a dream come true to work with friends who are also incredibly talented and successful.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my friend and award-winning author, Megan Schaulis!
Thank you for sharing a “behind-the-pages” look into your life as an author.
Can you share a bit about your author journey from unpublished to published?
Protector was the second book I ever wrote. The first still lives on my computer. After I wrote that first book, I set out to get it published and collected the typical rejections along the way.
However, one publisher showed great interest after asking for some big (and very helpful) revisions. The book sat with this publisher for about two years in what I call “Publishing Purgatory.”
This was such a tough season. I was so excited to hear the book was going to Pub Board (a group of decision makers who ultimately decide which books the publisher will contract), only to be left hanging for months…only to find out the publisher was restructuring and not publishing my genre anymore.
Amid this back and forth, I was at church one Sunday when my pastor said in his sermon, “Get up! It’s time to go!” And God whispered to my heart that it was time to write something new. Great, I thought. What do I write? God didn’t say. So, I turned to my ever-growing list of book ideas and found: What if Esther was a bodyguard instead of a bride? What if she led her people into battle?
And the Susa Chronicles were born. Within twelve months of writing the first word, I had finished and edited the book, received more rejections, AND been offered my first publishing contract. The acquisitions editor at WhiteCrown read my entire book in less than a day and instantly became my biggest cheerleader. It was such a joyfully different experience from the waiting and wondering I’d been through. God is so faithful.
Where did you find your inspiration for The Susa Chronicles?
The original duology, Protector and Proclaimer, is based on Esther. While I was digging into the Bible’s account, I remembered that Ezra and Nehemiah take place around the same time in biblical history. That sparked an idea. What if a character from Protector could later have his own Nehemiah-inspired adventure?
And there was no doubt in my mind that character would be Hatch. So now, in Rebuilder, Hatch has just 52 days to install a nanotech “fence” to protect his new island home from sinking.
What is the most inspiring feedback you’ve ever received from a reader?
Throughout all three books, my characters have conversations with Alpha, the name I’ve chosen for God in my storyworld. These are deep conversations. Playful conversations. Conversations that sound as if they’re speaking face-to-face.
For me, those moments are the heart of the series, so I’ve been delighted by the many reviews and emails from readers saying these honest, personal conversations with God were their favorite part of the series, too. I’ve had comments about how they’ve encouraged readers to have a more open, heartfelt relationship with God or to be more willing to talk to Him about anything and everything.
Hearing someone say, “I am closer to God because I read your book,” is the most inspiring feedback imaginable!
While writing, did your characters run away with your plot, adding in unexpected twists and turns? Or did they stick to the script? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I am a proud plantser—half and half. For each book, I start with a beat sheet, meaning an outline of the major milestones in the plot. As long as I know the catalyst (after this point, nothing is the same), the break into Act 2 (enter the upside-down world), the midpoint (usually a twist that raises the stakes), and the climax (final battle), I can start writing.
I’ll loosely map out how to get from page one to the catalyst. Then I sit down and start with page one. Once I get to that first milestone, I usually stop and take a day or two to work out the steps from there to the midpoint. Then I hop back in and write. And so on.
In the meantime, I jot down all my random “wouldn’t it be fun” ideas on sticky notes because they’re less permanent than a written outline and my very linear brain is free to wander and play.
Along the way, I discover all kinds of things I didn’t know existed until the second I write them, like…
Do you have a favorite character? If so, who?
In Rebuilder, this has to be Calder, a surfer-type who accidentally becomes Hatch’s first friend on the island.
Calder is special because he wasn’t supposed to exist. In chapter one, Hatch arrives on the sand-covered island. On crutches. He hobbles his way to his new home, a beachy mansion called Sand Palace, but I realized he can’t carry his bags as he goes. So, spur of the moment, I invented a random local who carries Hatch’s bags to Sand Palace—and isn’t real happy about doing it.
Then when Hatch found himself trapped on a balcony after an earthquake, this moment happened, again not planned, cementing Calder as a major (and beloved) character:
I pull myself onto one knee. “Hello?” The word catches in my throat, and I cough and try again, hating how needy I sound. “Up here.” I wave an arm and the man spins until his attention narrows onto me.
“Governor?”
Relief and humiliation take turns pummeling my stomach. It’s the local guy who carried my bags from the ship.
He jogs up the ramp of sand and peers at me from below the balcony.
“I’m stuck up here. Normally I’d jump, but with this leg…”
My unspoken request hangs in the humid air.
“Can you get yourself over the ledge, or do you need me up there?”
“I’ll get over.” If it kills me.
A painful minute later, I land against the man’s chest. He shuffles deftly on the sloping sand and keeps us both from rolling down the hill. I find my feet and, with my arm across his shoulders, we work our way down the embankment. Instead of turning toward the mansion’s front entrance, he directs us around the side of the building and I let him. He’s obviously familiar with Sand Palace.
“Thanks.” My neck heats with the words but I can’t not say them. “That was, um…” Kind? Humiliating? A moment we should agree never to discuss, ever, especially not in front of the people I’m supposed to lead?
“You act like you’ve never leapt into a man’s arms before.” A grin colors his voice.
The heat spreads to my ears and face. “That was a first. And last.”
What was the weirdest thing you researched while writing these books?
Oh man, Rebuilder combines so many fascinating topics that I’m sure my search history is a riotous mess of randomness. However, Myah, my leading lady is a glassblower, and that led to all kinds of research fun.
I’m in utter awe of artists who can take molten glass and breathe life into it to create something wild and original. Hands down, the coolest art form in my opinion. Our local fair had a glassblowing expo while I was writing Rebuilder and I basically told my family, “Have fun at the fair. I’ll be camped out here for the next hour.” It was mesmerizing.
Do you have a recent young adult, 5-star read you would like to recommend?
I just read Illuminary and Perplexity by Chawna Schroeder, and I adored them both. In fact, I might have emailed Chawna to gush over her clever mix of inspirations and wondrous world-building and to share my reader predictions. Illuminary and Protector have a few things in common, including eastern settings (Illuminary is set in fantasy India and Protector in future Persia) and competitions. But our writing styles are very different. Still, I was all-in and can’t wait for the final book in the series.
What other up-and-coming projects do you have in the works?
I’ve actually been sitting on a secret project for a while now, and I can’t quite share the details yet. To know more, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter!
Where can people find you online to follow along on your author journey?
My favorite way to connect with readers is through my newsletter. I send an encouraging message twice a month, and you get a free short story as my gift for subscribing. (Sign up on my website.)
Instagram is my most reliable social media, and I’m so thankful for the friends I’ve made there. *winks at Elise*
If you’d like to check out Megan’s books: