Meg Shaffer Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Meg Shaffer is a bestselling author of “The Wishing Game,” a critically acclaimed fiction novel that she published in 2023. Her novel is an adventure novel that will provide all manner of thrills that you can escape into.
While she is known for her novels, she is still a student at the Columbia, Missouri-based Stephens College as an MFA candidate majoring in screenwriting and TV.

Shaffer’s life changed when she read Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” when she was in the 5th grade. As a fifth grader, the work captured her imagination like nothing she had ever read before.

This was quite something given that ever since she was in kindergarten she had always been a voracious reader. It combined everything she found fascinating from hope, magic, romance, fantasy, philosophy, religion, and science.
It was also perfect for her since it was not too occult for Christians or too religious for atheists. The work hit her heart and she even took the name Meg as a pseudonym in honor of Meg Murry.

Meg can now be found either at home or online writing Star Trek fan fiction and watching Alfred Hitchcock films when she should be doing her homework.

Shaffer has always loved “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory” the film. She particularly likes the version by Gene Wilder, which she was introduced to in the third grade by Mrs. Glenn who showed it to her class one sunny morning.
For several years, she had been thinking about making something of a Willy Wonka rendition for grown-ups in a long-form novel fiction format.

At last, she chanced upon the idea of making Charlie into a young teacher and Willy Wonka into a children’s fiction author.

Like many authors who make it, it would take at least four years from when she had the idea before she began writing the manuscript for her debut. Still, it was not smooth sailing as the editor she showed it to told her that it would never work.
She never let go of the idea as she was convinced it was a good one. For several years, she let it percolate in her brain just waiting for the perfect time to release it into the world.

During that time, she read “The Anatomy of Story” by John Truby and was convinced that her story lacked a few critical components.

In the original manuscript, Lucy her protagonist had been separated from her horrible parents for years and never reconciles with them. She did not have any big moments of forgiveness and grace and practically no character arc.
When she realized these things, she set out to improve her character and particularly her relationships which needed a lot of work. Once she polished up the work and it was good enough, she finally published it in 2023.

Like many authors, Meg Shaffer has many inspirations ranging from books to film and TV shows.

The book she loves most and wishes her memory would be wiped so that she could read and be blown away again is Iain Pears’ “An Instance of the Fingerpost.” She has often said that she has never recovered from the brilliant twists and turns in the book.
As for TV and movies, the best inspiration for Meg Shaffer has to be “The Twilight Zone,” which she often goes through from time to time.

Even though she would never wish to live in the 1950s she would not mind hanging with Rod Sterling and Ray Bradbury.

She thinks there was something very special about the old science-fiction shows that often made directors come up with one twisted idea after another.

Outside of her writing, movie, and TV show watching, she is a huge introvert who needs to be bribed or gently coaxed to leave the house.

Her happiest days are often when she gets to spend all of her time at home watching something good on the TV with her husband, reading, eating ice cream, and sleeping.
They both love “Charade,” the film which they recently discovered and now watch over and over again whenever they have nothing new to watch.

They usually watch the Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant starring films on DVD with the Henry Mancini soundtrack on vinyl.

Meg Shaffer’s novel “The Wishing Game” is an interesting work of fiction that introduces a woman named Lucy Hart.

Growing up, there was nothing she loved more than reading the “Clock Island” fiction novels. But she often felt unloved at home and always dreamed of escaping to the Clock Island world where she could have adventures as Master Mastermind’s sidekick.
As an adult, there is nothing Lucy desires more than to be the surrogate mother to a foster child named Christopher who attends her school.

But given that she does not have the money to take care of him it does seem that her wish will remain a dream for the time being.

It does seem that Lucy will get her wish especially when she gets a letter asking if she would be interested in visiting the real Clock Island, where she will meet Jack Masterson and enter a competition, where she stands to win his long-awaited book.
She will be going up against a bookstore owner, a lawyer, and a doctor who Jack treats as his own children, even if they are competitors.

The competitors soon become fast friends even as a tender romance is blooming between Hugo Reese the weary artist and Lucy.

However, Lucy needs to compete with everything she has and remain focused since she believes that were she to lose, she will never have the family she wants to have with Christopher.
With each riddle and game, the stakes rise higher until the contestants have to confront their fears if they are to have the slightest chance of winning.

Lucy is up for a nasty surprise and it remains to be seen if she will be up for the challenge or maybe she will run and lose everything.