Scott: Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to have a chat to us about you latest book and writing in general.
In your Blue Bloods series there are fallen angels reincarnated repeatedly as vampires, trying to work off their sins from when they fell with Lucifer in Heaven. How did you think readers would react to this very unique and original rewriting of the vampire lore?
Melissa: I didn't really think about reader reaction, because there's no way to predict it. I hoped they would think it was cool, since I certainly did! It was a "lightbulb" moment creating fallen angel vampires, and I was really, really excited about it. I hoped it would resonate, but you never know.
Scott: What is your favourite vampire book and movie?
Melissa: My favorite vampire book is Lestat by Anne Rice. MMM. Lestat. Tragic, cruel, beautiful, monstrous! Love! Vampire movies are way too scary for me, but I'd have to say Let The Right One In is high up there.
Scott: So what’s your favourite type of music to listen to? Favourite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
Melissa: I am completely stuck in the 80s and 90s new wave, alterno, goth, punk. So I still listen to the Smiths, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, Bauhaus, the Sex Pistols and the Clash, which is the music I used to listen to as a teen. My favorite band growing up was Duran Duran and the Cure. I don't listen to music while writing, I have to have complete silence. But I do listen to music during breaks. I dance around to old Madonna or new Lady Gaga and the Scissor Sisters.
Scott: What is a typical day of writing for you? Do you try and achieve a set number of pages or words and how many hours would you spend on a normal day or writing?
Melissa: I usually try to work from about 10AM-5PM and then work at night when the deadlines are very near, again at 8PM - midnight. For a first draft I try to get about 2000-3000 words a day. In rewrites I don't count words anymore, just trying to shape the story then.
Scott: Who are your five favourite authors?
Melissa: Too many to mention, for fantasy, JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Frank Herbert, George RR Martin. Stephen King and Anne Rice when I was younger. My favorite book ever is Tolstoy's War and Peace. I also like Dawn Powell for her New York stories. These days I read a lot of lady fiction, I love Lionel Shriver, Kate Christensen, Cherly Mendelsohn. Oh wait, you asked for five. Okay: JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Leo Tolstoy and Stephen King.
Scott: What are you reading at the moment?
Melissa: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. I have not read a lot of YA fantasy since I began writing Blue Bloods and I'm excited to get back into it, I missed it. I have Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Cassie Clare, Alyson Noel, Margie Stohl & Kami Garcia's books on my TBR shelf! I can't wait to dive back into the genre.
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