Saturday, February 22, 2014

Author Saturday Spotlight : Melanie L. Moreland *Interview and Giveaway*

Melanie Moreland isn't new to writing, even if Into the Storm is the only book of hers you will find on Goodreads for her. She is however a rising star. Her talent will take her far if Into the Storm is any indication.

Blurb:
She is a woman on the run. Pain, loneliness and terror are what she is leaving. Where she is headed doesn’t matter as long as it’s away from the hell her life has become.

Joshua Bennett is trapped in a prison of his own making by the memories of his past. Traumatized and isolated, he is a reclusive writer, living a quiet, lonely life, his only companion his dog, Bear. It is what he knows, what he has accepted to be his life.

One dark night, one huge storm, and one ice patch brings them together. He finds himself with an unexpected houseguest with no memory. She wakes up a stranger to herself and the man watching her. Even more mysterious is the lack of any sort of identification with her or in her car. She is an enigma to both of them.

Trapped by the storm and isolated from the outside world, they slowly open up, learning to trust and love, until the world once again shows up, threatening the fragile peace of their newly discovered world, and tearing them apart.

There are many twists and turns as they struggle to find each other, overcoming both the mental and physical elements that keep them apart.

A story about overcoming our fears, finding love and learning to live again.

MORE ABOUT MELANIE'S BOOK ON GOODREADS > MELANIE ON GR 

This story will make you laugh, cry and keep you on the edge of your seat. Great engaging plot and characters you will find yourself clinging to and connecting with easily!

Melanie is a remarkable woman. When I asked her if I could do an interview she jumped in and I am so thrilled! Here's a little bit about this great author!

***INTERVIEW***



1.     Becoming a writer to some isn't a choice. Many say the voices made them do it...lol. So, when you took the plunge to embrace the chaos, how did it happen? What made you choose to put yourself out there like this? 

   I have always made up stories in my head about things. People I would see, pictures that interested me. I told a friend of mine about an idea that I had and she told me to write it. I thought she was crazy since I had no idea how to write a book. It would be like a musician who couldn’t read music. But she kept at me and one day I opened a doc and started.  The rest, as they say, is history.


2. If a reader asked you to tell them what you love most about Into the Storm, what would you say?  

The love story of Josh and Rabbit. The way the love for another person helps you to find the strength you need to put them first.

3. Do you have inspirations, a muse? Can you tell us? 

I find inspiration in the strangest places.  A phrase or a song lyric —sometimes even the way someone is sitting and I wonder why they are hunched into themselves and my imagination takes off. Into the Storm happened because my husband and I were caught in a storm and spun out on the road and I kept going over it in my head wondering what if…


4. This question is a dangerous one, and not one that many writers like to answer but I'll give it a go... Do you have a favorite author? Maybe more than one?

 I have many and it depends on the genre.  I love Lawrence Sanders for a good whodunit. Maeve Binchy for anything she writes. Jodi Picoult.  J.R. Ward for a great vampire read. Louisa May Alcott for her epic Little women series. So many different ones.  If I listed them all it would be pages long.


5. Do you write with an outline, wing it? How does the whole thing begin? 

 It usually begins with a thought.  Something that had caught my eye or attention that I can’t stop thinking about and I start building the what-if’s in my head. I’ll keep a document with thoughts and idea and a general outline but often the story writes itself so yes there is a lot of winging.  I often write chapters as they come to me—out of order—which I have been told is strange but it works for me.

6. In Into the Storm, do you identify with any character more than the other, who?

 Hmmm that is a hard one. Maybe Josh with his unwillingness to be part of the outside world and his fears of the unknown. I am very shy in real life and I do tend to hide somewhat. I build my world around the place I am comfortable in.

7. Research is one thing when it comes to writing a book, but do you also use your personal experiences to work a story, or do you refuse to? 

Often my story contains something personal. I think we all draw on personal feelings when writing a character—how we would react to a situation they are facing.

8. What's the hardest part about writing?

 The writing itself. LOL. Sometimes it is all there—right there in my head but I can’t get it out. I type and edit but it isn’t right and I delete, start over, and the same thing happens. Hours can disappear and I have written 400 words I am happy with and discarded 4000.

9. Many writers say their dream it to publish, well, you've done that. What's your next dream?

  To publish another book.

10. If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?

Probably to not be so hard on myself all the time. I tend to expect nothing but perfection and of course usually fall short.  Nobody is perfect. I’d also tell her to embrace life with everything and never let fear stop her from doing something.
 

Of course Melanie is working hard, currently, on another book. So following her career would be VERY WISE! She is sure to release more amazing books like, Into the Storm and get our emotions in a tizzy! (I CAN'T WAIT!)

Now the giveaway is coming but if you don't win but you still want to purchase this GREAT book simply clink the link and purchase, easy peasy! >>> Into the Storm on Amazon

On top of this Awesome giveaway of 1 ebook of Into the Storm, Melanie will be picking 3 YES 3 people who like her authors page on FB and send you an autographed bookmark! EEP! How awesome is she! SO make sure to enter this giveaway and like her authors page!!!!

***GIVEAWAY***

 



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