I want to thank and welcome fantastic young adult author, Melanie Hooyenga for sharing her personal writing journey with us on my blog today. Melanie’s last book in her Flicker Effect Trilogy, Faded can be purchased from Amazon, and other on-line bookstores. Bonus: For a chance to win an ebook bundle of the Flicker Effect Trilogy please enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post. So let’s get this interview rolling…
How long have you been writing, Melanie?
I first started writing in middle school and wrote a lot of overly-emotional poems, songs, and short stories (didn’t we all?). I stopped writing creatively when I graduated from college and didn’t pick it back up again until I was in my 30s, while living in Mexico. When I was getting ready to move, a coworker said, “Now you can write the great American novel!” I think he was half-joking, but it’s what got me back to writing. It’s been eight years and I haven’t stopped since.
I believe we’re kindred spirits since I didn’t start writing until I was in my 30s too!
Where did you get your idea and inspiration to write Faded?
Faded is the third book in my trilogy, the Flicker Effect, so I’ll answer this about the first book, Flicker. You know how when you’re driving on a sunny day, the sun filters through the trees and makes a strobe-like effect? Well that really messes with my eyes, to the point where I have to shield them in order to keep them open (and watching the road!). I experienced it while driving to see my gramma in the hospital in December 2009 and wondered, “what if there was a girl who when this happens, she goes back to yesterday?” The rest, as they say, is history.
I was working on another (unpublished) novel at the time so didn’t start writing Flicker until NaNoWriMo in 2010. When I first wrote it I didn’t plan for it to be a trilogy, but when I realized it had the potential for a series (plus series are very popular in YA) I wrote a one-page synopsis for Fracture and Faded. So while I didn’t write Faded until 2014, I knew how the series would end way back in 2012.
Great foresight, Melanie! What sets Faded apart from other books/series in the same genre?
Parents are often an after-thought in YA -- which makes sense since the story is about the teens -- but when parents ARE present, they’re often cruel, detached, or uncaring. Especially the fathers. That’s why I decided to make the dad in my series the most important person in Biz’s life. I wanted to show that even kids with loving, involved parents have very real struggles and face life-changing issues.
True that! Teen readers need those kinds of stories. As a YA author, what is your writing process?
I don’t have a set process for the actual writing, but I do for plotting and outlining. Writers are split between outliners and pantsers (those who write by the seat of their pants), and I am firmly in the outliners camp. I cannot write a novel unless I know how it’s going to end. I don’t need to know all the in-between stuff, but it helps me to know what I’m writing towards. My outline is basically a sentence or two describing what happens in each chapter, so there’s a lot of freedom to change things along the way.
As for the actual writing, I aim for 1000 words per day, but if I only have time for 500, then I only write 500. I have a full-time day-job so I try to concentrate on moving the story forward rather than getting hung up on the numbers. When I’m on a roll, I can write 1000 words in 45-60 minutes, but as all writers know, some days the words just refuse to come.
Oh, I’ve had plenty of those days! How long did it take for you to start and finish Faded?
I wrote the synopsis for Faded in 2012, then outlined it at the beginning of 2014, but I didn’t start writing until the summer of 2014 because I was getting Fractureready for publication. I finished the first draft on New Year’s Day and edited for five months. So start to finish was about a year, but the plotting had already happened.
Do you have any advice for other writers striving to write in your genre, Melanie?
There are two things I tell writers who are just starting out: try to write every day and set very low word-count goals. When I wrote my first novel I was in a group that had to write 100 words per day. 100 words is nothing. It’s barely a paragraph. Because it’s so short, it’s really hard to make excuses not to write it, and more times than not, once you’ve started, you keep going. And if you don’t, you’ve written 100 words and progressed the story. The worst thing for me is to go several days knowing I’m STILL on the same passage where I last left off. As you write more, you’ll learn what works best for you.
I think it’s important to read a lot in the genre that you write. That doesn’t mean you can’t read other genres, too, but you need to know what works, what doesn’t, and why. It also helps to eavesdrop on teenagers when you have the chance. ;)
Finally, just keep writing! This is a very solitary endeavor and it’s easy to let self-doubt take over, but there’s nothing like the feeling when you type ‘The End’.
Sage advice! What’s next for Melanie Hooyenga the author?
I’m glad you asked! I’m writing a new book that’s more light-hearted, romantic, and (hopefully) funny. Biz (from the Flicker Effect) is very sarcastic and tough on herself, so I have to remind myself to let this new character experience her emotions and wear her heart on her sleeve.
Okay, here’s one for me, since I’m writing a time travel series—If you could time travel anywhere into Earth’s past, where would you go and why?
The first thing that popped into my head was ancient Greece, but I think that’s because I’m craving feta cheese and kalamata olives. If I could go anywhere, I think I’d like to be around when women fought for the right to vote. I recently went through papers I wrote in high school and was surprised to see how strongly I felt about women’s rights. It’s always been an important issue for me, but I wrote a term paper on Title IX and a satire piece where, among other things, men weren’t allowed to speak until women had finished their thoughts. I think it would be inspiring to live in a time when women fought so passionately for a right we now take for granted.
Blurb for Faded:
When an anonymous email threatens to reveal her secret, Biz must decide if flickering is all it’s cracked up to be, or if she needs to stop. Forever.
Book links:
Melanie Hooyenga first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group. She has lived in Washington DC, Chicago, and Mexico, but has finally settled down in her home state of Michigan with her husband Jeremy. When not at her day job as a graphic designer, you can find Melanie attempting to wrangle her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with Jeremy.
Connect with Melanie:
https://instagram.com/melaniehoo/
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hello again! The RNSL team was lucky enough to be able to attend the
Megan Miranda signing at
Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena last week. Megan was there to sign her newly released book,
Fracture. Look at that gorgeous cover!
Megan was a bit late due to L.A. traffic, which people from out of town tend to underestimate. There a good crowd there. The event did start a bit early at 6 pm and most of us actually had to leave work early to make it on time. Megan arrived, a bit breathless but she was very excited and animated. She started off with a brief talk about the evolution of the book and her background in writing.
She said that she always loved writing but, over time and as life happened, it fell to the wayside and became something that she used to do instead of something she did. One evening, after a particularly frustrating day, her husband came home and (to alleviate the tension) asked her how that book she was writing came along. Megan started writing again that night. Fast forward a few months and Miranda finishes the first draft of Fracture. Then comes the process of finding an agent. Megan said that she had to rewrite the book twice and that only the first four sentences of the original draft made it into the final cut!
Megan was gracious enough to answer questions from the audience and signed her books afterwards. Also in attendance were authors
Lissa Price and
Laurisa White Reyes. Price's book
Starters and Reyes's book
Rock of Ivanore will both be coming out later this year. Alethea randomly had an ARC of
Starters with her and was able to get it signed. All in all we had a fabulous time. Megan was super fun and sweet and we love Vroman's.
Check out some pics from the event below.
 |
| Megan |
3 Comments on Megan Miranda at Vromans - Event Recap, last added: 2/5/2012
Young Adult Giveaway Hop
January 27th to 31st
Today, we are giving away a signed ARC of
Fracture by
Megan Miranda! The prize has no cover art, just a plain blue cover. You are getting the ARC because, frankly, the cover is
gorgeous and even though I had one I could not resist buying a finished one. I suspect I will be buying more as gifts, as well (and hey, if you don't win and are looking for a signed copy, you should call up
Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA--they should have some signed stock!)
From Goodreads:
Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage.
Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?
US and Canada only, please! The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on the Rafflecopter widget on Feb. 1. Don't forget to visit all the other fantastic blogs on this hop for more chances to win YA books!
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Happy Hopping!
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By: fishgirl182,
on 1/23/2012
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Hi, everyone. Just stopping by with a quick post to let you know about some of the upcoming events in the SoCal area.
Megan Miranda signs Fracture
695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena CA 91101
Megan Miranda is signing her book Fracture at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena this coming Wed. The RNSL team will be there along with some of our friends. If you see us, please say hi!
Jay Asher & Caroline Mackler sign The Future of Us
1030 Bonita Ave, La Verne CA 91750
2207 Honolulu Ave, Montrose, CA 91020
Megan Miranda's
Fracture is coming in January and is already starting to get massive buzz.
Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine -despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?
Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?
For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.
Know what I love about this book? Everything! Seriously not one thing I don't like - well except that it could have been longer because I didn't want it to end!
I love love the cover! Gorgeous and eerie and spooky all in one.
I love the tension - seriously I read it in one day.
I love the setting - cold and dark and spooky.
I love Decker - he's hot....yeah.
I love that I love the book because Megan is a great friend of mine and I get to watch her succeed in something she loves and is good at it.
I love that not only is she a great writer, but she is one smart cookie. She won some kind of big award for research in bioengineering at MIT. TWICE! Do you hate her yet?? Smart, cute, and published! She first became interested in brain injuries after supporting a friend who suffered a serious traumatic brain injury.
Although this book isn't as much about "brain injury" as it is about what makes us - US. But knowing that she knows what's behind an injury just adds more believability.
Check out more Bookanista Buzz!
Elana Johnson interviews Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise
1 Comments on Bookaniasta Buzz- Fracture by Megan Miranda, last added: 9/30/2011
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For parents back to school season can be quite stressful. If your child consistently pleads with you to stay home from school, skips school, or has anxiety related to attending school then they may have “school refusal behavior.” Christopher A. Kearney, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of the UNLV Child School Refusal and Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His new book, Getting Your Child to Say “Yes” To School: A Guide for Parents With School Refusal Behavior is filled with concrete strategies and step-by-step instructions to make painful morning more routine. Below are some guidelines excerpted from the book about when you should allow your child to stay home.
Parents often ask which somatic complaints should keep a child home from school. We recommend a child go to school except when there is: (more…)
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I was working on another (unpublished) novel at the time so didn’t start writing Flicker until NaNoWriMo in 2010. When I first wrote it I didn’t plan for it to be a trilogy, but when I realized it had the potential for a series (plus series are very popular in YA) I wrote a one-page synopsis for Fracture and Faded. So while I didn’t write Faded until 2014, I knew how the series would end way back in 2012.
Biz didn’t think life could get worse after the tragic events that surrounded her last flicker, but when she accidentally flickers on her eighteenth birthday after doing shots of vodka—she’s forced to face the consequences of her actions in a way she never imagined. 
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Yay! Megan Miranda. You guys are so lucky to meet her. Fracture was a great read!
Wow, fantastic! I recently read Fracture and I really enjoyed it. I wish I could meet the author. :)
Thanks for sharing - please visit me sometime and enter my giveaway. :)
Stephanie @ Stepping Out of the Page
I haven't read Fracture yet- but it is on my list! I would love to read it. The event sounds like fun. I really enjoyed seeing the pictures and hearing about the day!
~Jess
http://thesecretdmsfilesoffairdaymorrow.blogspot.com/