Meg Tilly

Meg Tilly reads selections from her novel Gemma, a disturbing, yet compelling exploration of the complex dynamics between a sexual predator and his teenage victim, told from the perspective of both the pedophile and his prey. Please Note: This podcast contains adult language and situations. (Running Time: 16:30)

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Meg Tilly was born in California on Valentine's Day, 1960. As a child, her large family moved about frequently; she spent much of her childhood in rural British Columbia. After graduating from high school in 1978, she moved to New York City to study ballet. She studied with such luminaries as Gabriella Taub Darvash and Melissa Hayden and was a featured dancer in the movie Fame (1980). After seriously injuring her back, Tilly had to quit dancing. She moved to Los Angeles to become an actress. She starred in approximately 20 films, including Tex, One Dark Night, The Big Chill, Agnes of God, Valmont, The Two Jakesand Sleep With Me. Tilly won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for her role as a disturbed nun in Agnes of God.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tilly began commuting between Los Angeles and British Columbia. She eventually decided to leave the Hollywood scene altogether, move to Canada, and focus on raising her two sons and daughter, while developing her writing. Her debut novel, Singing Songs, the tale of a dysfunctional family in crisis as seen through the eyes of an abused little girl, was published by Penguin Putnam to widespread critical acclaim in 1994. Critics everywhere, from the New York Times to the Palm Beach Post, hailed Ms. Tilly as a talented writer with impressive storytelling skills.

Ms. Tilly's second novel, Gemma, was released by Syren Book Company in October 2006, at the same time that Singing Songs will be reissued with a new foreword, in which Ms. Tilly describes the childhood memories that inspired her to write the book.

Both books already have struck a chord in readers, with Singing Songs reaching #2 and Gemma #11 on Amazon.com within a week of their release, the same day Ms. Tilly was interviewed by Rosie O'Donnell on ABC's The View television talk show.

Ms. Tilly's next book, Porcupine, a young adult (YA) novel, will be published by Tundra (Canada) next year, and she currently is writing Lucky, another YA novel.

Meg Tilly lives with her family in British Columbia.