*waves*
Hi, I’m Melissa. I can be found teaching/writing/mothering or off hiking with wild horses or practicing historical swordfighting.
(Not stage-fights or sport fencing. Historical European Martial Arts includes longsword, single-handed swords, staffs, and poleaxes. The weapons are based on archaeological artifacts, and the manuals are the ones used by swordmasters in the medieval era.)
I’m probably best known to those of you reading on here as the writer of the Wicked Lovely series. From 2007-2012, I wrote about faery courts, and then I wrote about a town where the dead don’t stay dead (Graveminder).
I’ve also written various assorted other things, including a “weird west” (The Arrivals), a YA thriller (Made for You), a picturebook (Bunny Roo, I Love You), et al. In other words, I completely failed at doing-the-branding-thing and wandered off to try new things right regularly. I’ve never read only one genre, and writing in just one for every book isn’t a fit for me.
What I'm Writing:
Right now, I’m tinkering with revisions on a prequel to Wicked Lovely (Cold Iron Heart) that should be out in 2020, as well as writing my first strictly urban fantasy novel (Undead Magic).
Undead Magic came about as a result of getting bitten by a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake earlier this year. After the bite, I paddled my kayak 3 miles to my car, and I was . . . in pain, but alive. And I have nightmares. A lot of snake nightmares. I have not stopped hiking, but I do have a level of fear that is exacerbated by a lifetime of snake encounters. In Virginia, I had a copperhead in my pool multiple times and another in my house. As a child in rural Pennsylvania, I stepped into a tangle of baby snakes. I have always feared them, although I had a pet boa constrictor in my teens. This time, though, I was caught in a bad situation where I had no idea a snake was present until after it was a done deal. A 5 to 6 foot rattler bit me after my kayak had flipped in the current. Yes, rattlesnakes do swim.
Luckily, I didn’t realize what it was and shoved it away from my face while I was under the murky water, thinking it was a very malleable root. But, then . . . well, I had a clear bite on my arm, and symptoms, and . . . it’s been complicated.
So, I’m writing a book. After a lifetime of vampire love, I’m suddenly not so keen on things with big ol’ retractable teeth that jab into your flesh. So, I’m steadily writing what I expect to be a series, with a faery man and a vampire slayer, and it’s the most fun I’ve had writing in years. Undead Magic will come out next year.
As part of the learning about the hybrid life, I also released The Faery Queen's Daughter, my very first novel--written before I sold Wicked Lovely & revised annually for the last decade or so. It's a sweeter faery book, suitable for younger readers and teens. You can find it on audio, as well. Coming Soon:
In early 2020, I’ll also have a psychological thriller (Pretty Broken Things) coming from Audible Originals. It’s very much not Urban Fantasy. It’s a dark story about a woman who escaped a serial killer and a mortician who is targeted by the same killer. In 2014, I wrote story ("The Maiden Thief") about a woman who accidentally marries a serial killer. It was sold via Tor, but it is also now available in ebook.
The night terrors that sparked that story grew intensity, as my mind was trying to process some things I'd packed away. So I started Pretty Broken Things in February 2015 while I was in New Orleans with my then-partner. I woke him during a night terror about my ex who was a felon. The book is not autobiographical, but it is, drawn from a few truths.
It was not precisely fun to write, but I’m proud of it in ways I have never been before. My heart is in that book, and I’ve been working on it for almost 5 years now (as well as editing, teaching, and writing a middle-grade fantasy and a few picturebooks).
However, I’m in need of something less real, not as bloody, and since a rattlesnake decided to inspire me, I’m returning to folklore, sexy faeries, and playing with swords and guns on the page again. More to come on that next month . . .
In the meantime, if you want to stay in touch, I have a few options for you. You can chat with me on Twitter or on Facebook.
If you want to read along/beta read/get exclusive intel, I'm on Patreon.
If you are a writer in search of a mentor, I work one-on-one with about 4-6 people for a 6 month window via Dallas Writers wholly online (unless you are in AZ, at which point, I do meet my students in person as requested).
I'll also be teaching for 5 days in Pennsylvania via Highlightsin July 2020, and I'm the Guest of Honour--doing a speech/lecture/etc--at Seton Hill's MFA in Popular Fiction in the summer, too. (That's in Pennsylvania, too).
Questions? Answers? I am reachable on social media most days.
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