Today’s romance novels… I always say give them a chance because you’ll be surprised. Because yes, there is a love story, but I assure you there is so much more to it.
—Have you ever thought about perhaps changing genres or are you sticking to romantic literature?
— I’ll stick with romance, because there are so many subgenres. I write erotica, contemporary, medieval, and I also have a book written that is a murder thriller.
How did Megan Maxwell deal with the success of ‘Pídeme lo que quieres’?
—Many of your readers became familiar with your novels thanks to the erotic literature series ‘Pídeme lo que quieres’. How did you come up with the idea of writing this book? How did you get the inspiration?
— My editor Esther said to me: “Would you dare to write an erotic book?” And I said no and she wanted to know why. And I said: “I don’t know how to write erotica.” And she rebutted me: “But you put sex in all your books.” And yes, but one thing is putting sex in and another thing is writing an erotic book. But then at night I thought: “I love challenges.” And what happened was what happened.
—And it has been one of your most famous, best-known sagas.
— Yes, you could say that people know me for my books, but thanks to ‘Pídeme lo que quieres’ they know me much more and, in fact, the film is about to come out now.
—And what are your expectations in this regard?
— I’m very nervous. It’s coming out at the end of the year and, honestly, I’m super happy. I really like how it turned out. I always say that no one ever forgets that it’s an adaptation of the book, but I’m happy and I hope that people like it a lot.
—Although your best-known novels are erotic literature, the protagonists are of different ages and all of them have quite strong personalities. How important is it to portray these types of characters?
— I think that women are great at 20, divine at 30, wonderful at 40 and indestructible after 50, right? I have been through all those ages and I hope to go through many more… It is often said that a woman becomes invisible when she is 50 and I wanted to make it clear that this is not the case.
How did Megan Maxwell deal with rejection from publishers early in her career?
—You struggled with publishing for almost 12 years, unable to reach an agreement with the publishers. How did that make you feel?
— Well, I’m a person who tends to be quite patient (laughs). Many times when I sent my novels to publishers they would say: “We can publish it, but if you delay the character of the women.” And I refused. My friends told me that they would never publish me. But I wanted that, if they published me, they would do it with the stories that I like. So, seeing that today what people like most about my novels is that character that I give to women, makes me feel delighted. And why do I give that character? Because the first one who has that character is me.
—And when success finally came, which was totally unexpected, how did you feel after so much waiting?
— I don’t know how to explain it. I had been writing for 12 years and when ‘Pídeme lo que quieres’ became a success, I had been publishing for 3 years, so I had been doing this for 15 years. And suddenly that success came along and… it made me feel really good. I said to myself: “I knew that one day this was going to happen. I just had to give myself a chance.”
Megan Maxwell and the sweet gesture she had with her Peruvian fans
—Another thing about your readers is that, the last time you came to the FIL LIMA, you stayed signing books until 1:00 a.m. According to estimates, I understand that there were 600 to 900 copies signed that night.
— There were so many people and no one was there to tell people not to wait in line anymore. They told me that the fair closed in three hours and I asked myself: “Will all these people be able to get through in three hours?” So I said that it was no problem, I could sit outside because these people had been waiting for three hours and it was raining. They brought me a table and I stayed there until I signed the last person in. How would I look as a person if I left with these people waiting?
Megan Maxwell had a massive meeting with her fans at the FIL LIMA 2024, where she signed thousands of copies and met again with her public who welcomed her with open arms. You can find her novels in all the bookstores in the country and on the Editorial Planeta website.
