An Interview with Melissa A.

Q: How many books have you published?
Judge by the Cover would be my first full-length novel but I also published The Lad in the Lake, which is a short story.

Q: How would you describe your writing style? Pantser, Planner or a mix of both?
I’m a planner. If I don’t I’ll lose motivation and feel like the story is going nowhere. Also plot-holes aren’t fun.

Q: Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
Imagination, definitely. But I’ve met people who are like the characters I created and in turn inspired my writing also. The whole thing about the pressure to fit in and pleasing others is something I’ve dealt with too. But I think it’s part of growing up, and is relatable to everyone.

Q: Do you have any works in progress?
The second and third books in this [the Hafu Sans Halo] series!

Q: What was your favorite character to write about?
I love writing Ryu’s character. He’s a teenager and the human manifestation of Id and Ego (some psychology lingo there). This is in contrast to the protagonist, Haruna who represents the Super-Ego. So she's a character who is very by the book and places a high value on virtue (so quite prudish). Meanwhile, Ryu is just a weird, walking bag of pent-up rage and desire. He’s confident in himself despite what others think of him. He’s introspective but at the same time in denial. Right now he’s snarky. He says whatever he feels like but is often guarded. He’s deeply emotional even if on the surface he appears calm and apathetic. He struggles internally. He allows me to explore the deep questions and that’s always a lot of fun.
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Q: Share a funny mistake you made when writing the rough draft of a story.
So this is really bad. I described a character as being 6 feet tall and another as being “a whole head shorter.” My editor pointed out that that would make them something like 5 foot 2—so way off the mark from what I was going for. I’ve decided to eliminate that cliche from my vocabulary forever. 


Interview courtesy of author A.S. McGowan who was kind enough to feature me on her page.  
If you are a romance reader, be sure to check out her Centaur Agency series. 

And stay tuned for part two, an interview with another character. And if you've seen the last one, you know they can get... interesting. ​