Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan… not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. She is now back in NZ and lives with her husband and two sons, but is moving to China in August 2012.
“I think I am quite good at writing a page-turner. I like to keep my work pacey, with lots of great dialogue and intense action. I’m not a huge fan of too much description and therefore my stories tend to move along quite quickly. I think I’m pretty good at character development too and writing relationships that the audience really want to see work out,” she says.
Marketing is the part of being an indie writer Melissa finds most challenging. “It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I just have so much to learn and I often think I could be doing way better. I still have two young kids to think about though and I promised myself I would always put them first.”
She continues to study marketing strategies and implement what she can. “As the boys get older and move on to full time schooling, I will have more time up my sleeve and I have plenty more books in me. With each new release, I will hopefully be able to improve my marketing skills and establish myself as a full time author. That’s the plan anyway.”
Melissa says the key to her relationship with her readers is her accessibility. “If anyone leaves a message on my blogs, Twitter, Facebook or Goodreads, I always try and respond. If someone has left me an excellent review, I make sure I take the time to thank them.”
She recruits readers by running giveaways, getting exposure through guest posts, etc and her debut novel, Golden Blood, will be featured in a blog tour at the end of March. “I’m hoping for really good things from this exposure. When you’re an indie author positive ‘word of mouth’ is your best friend.”
She has also decided to release her trilogy in paperback. “Golden Blood is now available and I am trying to get around some of the local schools to do readings and talk about writing. I had my first appearance at a middle school the other day and it went so well. The kids were so enthusiastic and keen to read the book. They asked such fantastic questions. It was such a cool experience. I’m looking forward to my next one in a couple of weeks.”
Melissa uses all the usual social media forums to interact with other members of the indie community, but she is also a member of the Romance Writer’s Guild in NZ. She also formed a group with three other writers for mutual support and exchange of ideas. “I think this close connection to other writers has been really helpful. This business is hard and you can feel very isolated. It’s nice to have so much support around.”
She says the indie author movement is a great chance for really good writers to share their work with the world. “The publishing industry is so hard to break into and this movement has opened the door for people out there who are very capable, but have not had that lucky break. I do think Indie writers need to be careful that they are producing top-notch work. Because we have all the control, it would be easy to pump average work out quickly and this does the writing world no favours. If we aim for excellence and can produce books that readers will love then we are benefiting everyone. Readers get access to cheaper books and writers are able to write what they love and release it when they want to.”
Her advice to aspiring writers? “Write what you love to write. Read lots of books in that genre – study and analyze what those authors have done. Study the craft and be open to critique of your work. You want to write stuff that people will love to read so your goal should be excellence. I used to think writing a book was so easy until I decided to take some courses and study some books on the craft. I realized there was a lot more to it than I thought. I’m so glad I did though, because the books I’ve produced of late, compared to my first few are so much better and finally worthy of publishing.”
Melissa Pearl’s debut novel is Golden Blood (Book One of Time Spirit Trilogy)
Gemma Hart never knows when her father is going to whisk her back in time. Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected.
Gemma’s parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be “used and abused”, as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew… Harrison Granger.
Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can’t stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.
Golden Blood is available from Smashwords and Amazon. You can learn more about author Melissa Pearl and her writing at her blogs, Melissa Pearl and YALicious. You can also find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
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Melissa Pearl is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. She loves immersing herself in YA stories full of romance, action and adventure. She is also passionate about improving in the craft of writing and dedicates herself to make each new book better than the last.
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Romance AND time travel. That should keep the teens engaged. Maybe even my 26 year old. 🙂
Thanks Yvonne.
I hope so!
I’ve had readers of all ages giving me good feedback 🙂
I just read the sample of Smashwords and the teenager inside me is hooked!
Yay – that is so cool 🙂 I hope you enjoy the book.