Hi, I’m Melissa Stone and I write adult fantasy and YA urban fantasy. Presently, I have 9 books out spread across two series. My AF series is Children of An’katerr (3 books, one short story collection). For YA I have Stars of Destiny (5 books).
2. What are your favourite books?
I’m a huge fan of the Heralds of Valdemar series as well as the Pern novels.
3. When did you know you wanted to be an author?
I’ve given this one a lot of thought, actually. I remember spending my recesses inside as much as possible back in the 3rd grade. All the other kids signed out the gym equipment passes, but no one ever wanted the library ones, so I took those as much as I could. I’d spend my time in the library reading or making books. I always loved writing stories, though. It wasn’t until I was older, probably 12 or so, when I started to take my writing more seriously, creating a fictional world and stories with my best friend.
4. What is your favourite part of the writing process? What is your least favourite and how do you get through it?
I love creating characters and worldbuilding. I’ve spent hours going down rabbit holes of research.
On the flip side, I hate the beta reading process. I’m terrible at selling myself, so I’m never sure if my blurbs are uninteresting or if it’s my writing/stories that no one’s all that interested in.
5. What is your writing routine?
I prefer to work in a quiet room, ideally one with as few distractions as possible. I have a laptop just for writing, so I’ll get that out and set up my mouse. On a typical writing day I have my writing program open, my worldbuilding/novel notes, and a web browser just in case I need to look something up. From there I spend anywhere from a half hour to 4 hours working.
6. How do you balance writing (and everything else to do with it) with the rest of your life?
I did a lot of writing while I was still employed. There were often large stretches of the day where I had nothing to do and no one was coming in. At home, I do most of my writing either in the afternoon while my son is doing independent school work or in the evening when everyone else is doing their own thing.
7. What inspires you? How do you beat writers block?
I don’t so much beat writer’s block as circumvent it. I have several projects in various stages of completion. If I can’t progress forward with one project, I’ll either jump to another or do artwork related to the project (characters, animals, plants, common objects). It might take me longer to finish a project, but it works for me.
I also like to do world building challenges to jog my brain.
8. How do you keep consistent/write a lot?
I’m not consistent about my writing. I’ve had entire months where nothing got done. Those were busy life/work months or times when my physical and/or mental health wasn’t great.
9. Does anyone read or edit your work before publication? If so, how did you find them?
Not as many people as I’d like read my work pre-publication. I have terrible luck finding beta readers and the few I find either give very little feedback or vanish. They also tend to completely ignore my feedback questions, which is unhelpful.
8. How do you keep consistent/write a lot?
I’m not consistent about my writing. I’ve had entire months where nothing got done. Those were busy life/work months or times when my physical and/or mental health wasn’t great.
9. Does anyone read or edit your work before publication? If so, how did you find them?
Not as many people as I’d like read my work pre-publication. I have terrible luck finding beta readers and the few I find either give very little feedback or vanish. They also tend to completely ignore my feedback questions, which is unhelpful.
I find them on Twitter, Discord, and Betareader.io
10. Can we have a sneaky look at your future plans?
For sure!
10. Can we have a sneaky look at your future plans?
For sure!
There are 2 more books planned in the Children of An’katerr series. (Children of the Tiger and Children of the Shark respectively.) These are taking a back seat to my current projects, unfortunately.
I’m in the process of rewriting a project called Angels of the Night (adult fantasy), though it remains to be seen if it’ll keep that title or not.
The first book in the Keverynn trilogy, Path of the Warrior, is in the beta stages. The first three chapters are available on my website for anyone looking to see if reading it would be their cup of tea.
I’m also picking away at the next Stars of Destiny books: Heart of the Dragon and Olympians.
11. Finally, what advice would you give to other writers (inspiring, those publishing and those published)?
Save up for an editor and a cover artist.
A professionally done map is an amazing thing. My self-made map is lovely, the one I paid for is even more amazing and worth every penny.
Don’t write in a bubble. That was my biggest mistake.
When your book is ‘done’, get beta readers. Get a lot of them. Preferably people who don’t know you and aren’t related to you. You’ll get better feedback. Honest.
Social media is your friend. It won’t bite. Much.
You don’t need the most expensive tools all the other writers talk about. There are less expensive alternatives that do the same thing.
Melissa's linktree with all her links
11. Finally, what advice would you give to other writers (inspiring, those publishing and those published)?
Save up for an editor and a cover artist.
A professionally done map is an amazing thing. My self-made map is lovely, the one I paid for is even more amazing and worth every penny.
Don’t write in a bubble. That was my biggest mistake.
When your book is ‘done’, get beta readers. Get a lot of them. Preferably people who don’t know you and aren’t related to you. You’ll get better feedback. Honest.
Social media is your friend. It won’t bite. Much.
You don’t need the most expensive tools all the other writers talk about. There are less expensive alternatives that do the same thing.
Melissa's linktree with all her links
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