041Books’ Lauren Hewitt speaks to Meg Chronis about her journey as an indie author and her latest works.
Meg Chronis writes fun, feel-good romcoms full of gorgeous cinnamon-roll heroes, hilarious hijinks, and swoon-worthy happily-ever-afters that will warm your heart.
She has written two romcoms—The Seven Day Switch, and Second Fiddle—both set in South Africa.
She is currently working on the follow-up to The Seven Day Switch, and the first book in a new romcom series set on a modern-day duke’s estate in England.
Meg lives in Joburg with her chemical-engineer husband and two young ‘varsity-going daughters.
She is an amateur violinist and lover of classical music, and is a huge fan of MotoGP motorcycle racing.
MEG’S BOOKS
THE SEVEN DAY SWITCH
A hot wildlife veterinarian who’s as prickly as a porcupine.
A hotel concierge who just wants to keep everybody happy.
And the twin switch that will force them together for a week of hilarious chaos and slow-burn chemistry.
With banter by the bucketload, hijinks, a supporting cast of African animals, and a Labrador with a potato obsession, this is a laugh-out-loud, twin-switch romp.
Available for purchase here: The Seven Day Switch
SECOND FIDDLE
What do you get when you bring together an intern wedding planner trying not to lose her job, a violinist with a secret, and a baboon playing Cupid at a glamorous wedding in the South African bush?
A whole lot of hijinks and a happily-ever-after that’ll melt your heart!
This novella is available as a free welcome gift when signing up to Meg’s newsletter, at: Second Fiddle – Free Gift
Or it is available for purchase here: Second Fiddle
INTERVIEW WITH MEG CHRONIS
1. Tell me a bit about your road to publication in South Africa.
I owe a lot to ROSA, the Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa. This amazing bunch of local romance authors played a huge role in giving me the support I needed to become a published author.
I wrote my first novel, The Seven Day Switch, while on ROSA’s Strelitzia Award mentorship program, winning the Strelitzia that year for best-unpublished romance novel. My romcom novella, Second Fiddle, was written for a ROSA anthology.
I am indie-published, which is hard work, but there’s a lot of freedom and control that goes along with self-publishing.
I signed with a distributor this year, so it’s been amazing seeing The Seven Day Switch on bookshelves in Exclusive Books, Bargain Books, and Wordsworth Books. As for the future, I would still like to get a traditional publishing deal one day. It’s no easy task, getting picked up by one of the Big Four, but I have a literary agent, which is at least one step closer to seeing the dream of ‘going trad’ come true. Until then, I’m enjoying doing all the learning and upskilling that goes with being an indie.
2. What inspired the idea for The Seven Day Switch?
Strangely enough, it came from a conversation I once had with a nursery school teacher who’s an identical twin.
She told me how parents and kids would wave at her twin sister in the shops, thinking it was her. And instead of just waving back and pretending, her sister would outright ignore them and keep walking. The next morning, she’d have to explain to a cross mommy who’d been given the cold shoulder that it wasn’t her, it was her twin sister.
And I had this thought of how strange it must be having someone else out there in the world who looked exactly like you, but who didn’t necessarily act like you. It was just a seed, but the novel began to grow from there.
3. Are any scenes in the book based on real-life events?
Not scenes specifically, but elements. Like the book dog Ella’s habit of carrying around raw potatoes and dropping them on people’s feet. She’s partly based on my own chocolate Lab, Baron, who presented everyone he met with a scatter cushion from our lounge.
The Drakensberg town of Winterberg where the wildlife sanctuary is located is a mash-up of Underberg and Winterton and situated somewhere in the Cathkin Peak/Champagne Castle region of the Berg, which is my favourite part of South Africa. (On the book’s cover, you can see the silhouette of Cathkin Peak in the background.)
4. If your book were made into a movie, which actors would play your characters?
The Seven Day Switch would tick all the boxes for a Netflix romantic comedy! The casting would be tricky though, since the book is set in South Africa, which means we can’t cast Henry Cavill as Sully. Sorry, girls!
Because much as I’d love to see him playing Sully, all gruff and serious and giving off Witcher vibes, I don’t think he’d get the accent right. Honestly, who can?
So who would play Sully? Springbok Rugby’s Malcolm Marx before he got quite so ripped, maybe. (I mean, Sully is big, but he’s not quite Bomb Squad big!) And Becca? I don’t really mind, ha ha…I’m here for the book boyfriends!
5. What is your favourite childhood book?
I read mountains of books as a kid. Lots of reading under the duvet with a torch. If I have to choose one book or series, I was obsessed with Franklin W. Dixon’s Hardy Boys. Or more specifically, I was obsessed with Joe Hardy, the younger of the two boy detectives. I guess he was my first book boyfriend!
CONNECT WITH MEG CHRONIS
I’m @megchronisauthor on Instagram (my favourite platform), Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Join her newsletter and get Second Fiddle as a welcome gift: Sign Up Here
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