Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Melissa Marr | Kisses and Disaster at a Magical Community College Filled with Missing People
Author Guest / February 28, 2024

1–What is the title of your latest release? REMEDIAL MAGIC 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Kisses and disaster at a magical community college filled with “missing” people. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It initially took place in the Midwest, but as I drafted, I realized that my brain was filling in images from Ligonier, Pennsylvania. So I changed it.   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes, I would. I have multiple protags, including Ellie the librarian, Prospero the Victorian witch, Maggie the mom/Southern lawyer. Admittedly, I like Prospero or Maggie the most.   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? For Ellie—curious, bold, clever. For Prospero—ruthless, amoral, focused. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? How often people who vanish fall into one of several categories: crime related, National Parks, spousal, or custody disputes (kids).   7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit some each day as I draft AND when I’m done.   8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Right now? Tillamook Sugar Cookie Limited Edition Ice Cream.  Sometimes I treat myself to an Aztec…

Melissa Marr Interview – Tales of the Fae
Author Guest , Interviews / April 14, 2022

Your book DARK SUN involves the faery world. What is it about the fae that you find compelling as an author? I grew up on folklore, so I draw on that old lore of the faeries. The faeries have a removed world, but they visit ours, and they can be invisible to the eye at their will and whim. Iron is toxic. They offer bargains that seem like a good idea, but they’re always clever in ways we aren’t. Beautiful, dangerous, tempting, and ancient. Yes, please. And, as every tale goes, mortals arrogantly think we can successfully outwit them—in part because the faeries cannot lie. What’s not to love there? So many possibilities!   What would you say is the central conflict in DARK SUN? Would you say there is an equal mix of action and romance? The question of the book is coming to terms with who you are and what you seek in this life. In Katherine and Urian’s case, love changes everything for both of them. Romance? Definitely. Action? Yes. It’s also a story that draws us back toward the original characters. We see where our first WL protagonists are about five years after that series ended….

Melissa Marr | Secret Passages & Mirrors? Not So Much.
Uncategorized / December 11, 2007

As a writer, I’ve found the misconceptions about writing fascinating. Now, as a rule, I don’t tell people what I do, but somehow or another it almost always eventually comes out–at which point there are several typical responses. 1. “Who’d you know? You have to know someone to sell a book.”– This is utterly false. I wrote a book, researched agents, queried, wrote another book, queried some more, signed with an agent who shopped my book. Then I accepted an offer. There were no secret passageways, networking, muttered passwords, or any of those things. No tricks. Write, research, repeat as needed. It’s pretty straight-forward.2. “Who are you in the book?”– I’ve been astounded by how many people ask this. I write multiple points of view, so there are various guesses. Ash likes photography, so do I . . . so maybe she’s “me.” Hmm. I have friends who like photography too, but I’m not them either. Having an interest in common with a character isn’t being that character. Those commonalities help me write the characters, but each character has something of my beliefs or interests or ant-interest or anti-beliefs. It’s an exercise in adding veracity, not a mirror into the…