What is the title of your latest release?
SING THE NIGHT
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A Phantom of the Opera-inspired gothic fantasy about an ambitious soprano willing to do whatever it takes to win a magical singing competition - even learn forbidden magic from a ghost.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Mondreves is a French-inspired secondary world which allowed my all the aesthetica with half of the research.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely, though I’m a little afraid of her. I’d love to see her perform!
What are three words that describe your hero?
Ambitious, relentless, empathetic
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I luckily came prepared with a music degree to handle the musical magic system for this book, but I brushed up on my music theory and also spent a lot of time researching the fashion of the late 1800s. I have an astonishing knowledge of buttons (though didn’t end up using it in the book).
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I usually go over the previous day’s writing and do light editing to get me into the character’s voice before I write new words. I generally try to just keep writing to finish the draft, but sometimes will go and fix something (lest I forget)
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Potatoes will heal the world. Any and all forms. I’m also a beverage snob and require at least three to write.
Describe your writing space/office!
I have a little office lined with overstuffed bookshelves and dappled with the vintage teacups I collect. I’ve been working on curating art for the walls and I’m very happy with how that is shaking up. It’s generally a little chaotic but SING THE NIGHT was drafted in a closet (that’s where my desk used to be in our old house) so this feels very spacious.
Who is an author you admire?
There are so many. Holly Black, Stephen Graham Jones, L.M. Montgomery, N.K. Jemison, Tod Goldberg, Sylva Plath
Is there a book that changed your life?
I was lucky to read ANNE OF GREEN GABLES at a young age. It was the first time I saw myself in fiction.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
SING THE NIGHT has been on quite a journey. The first time it sold I actually didn’t have a call - the time zones were too challenging, so we accepted via e-mail (though my agent did call me and it was very early in the morning). Then of course that publisher shut down just after I received my ARCs. It was devastating but my agent took the book on sub. I got the first offer while I was in the hospital having a baby and then we ended up going to auction! The morning of the auction I got up early to make breakfast and noticed I had seven missing calls from my agent. She made sure I was sitting down - SING THE NIGHT sold in a life-changing deal. It was all a whirlwind of joy.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I always come back to fantasy and horror, though I’ve been on a nonfiction kick lately.
What’s your favorite movie?
This is a terribly hard question because I love so many movies. I always find myself coming back to The Last Unicorn, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Prestige, and The Phantom of the Opera.
What is your favorite season?
Autumn
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Surrounded by my family, usually with a detour to a bookstore or the beach.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’m a huge Mike Flanagan fan and live and die by the Haunting of Hill House which I rewatch on an endless loop.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I live in Southern California, so the only correct answer is Mexican food.
What do you do when you have free time?
Lately I’ve picked up watercolor painting, which has been so cathartic and fun to play with. I think it’s really important for writers to have an artistic hobby that isn’t a job, so I dabble. I also like hiking and rotting on my bed watching movies with my kids.
What can readers expect from you next?
REST THE DAWN, the second book in the Opera Magique duology, comes out in February! I’m also working on a cozy fantasy inspired by ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and a very secret project involving dragons.
For as long as Selene remembers, she's only wanted one thing: to sing the boldest, brightest magic into existence and win L'Opéra du Magician. To the winner goes the spoils of being declared King's Mage, a position her father held years ago, before he lost control of his magic and spiraled into madness, leaving Selene an orphan. But when the competition turns cutthroat and a competitor steals Selene's song, the chance to redeem her father's legacy begins to slip through her fingers.
Until, in the depths of the opera house, she discovers a mysterious and beautiful man trapped within a mirror. He offers not only the magic of music, but a darker sorcery of shadow, blood, and want. He can help Selene if she helps him in return—but his forbidden magic may not be worth the cost.
As the competition continues and mages are driven to ruin competing for the king's favor, Selene must navigate betrayal, the return of childhood love, and the price of ambition.
Horror | Fantasy Dark [ Grand Central Publishing, On Sale: November 3, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781538781357 / ]
Megan Jauregui Eccles is a former soprano who holds a BA in Music from the University of San Diego and an MFA in Fiction from University of California Riverside, Palm Desert. When she’s not milking goats or rehoming rattlesnakes on her ranch in the foothills of San Diego, she plays Dungeons & Dragons with her five young sons and newborn baby girl
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