Fridays with Friends.
Pull up a chair; pour yourself a beverage of your choice. Make
yourself comfortable to chat with my guest. Today I have with me my friend, Melissa
Kendall, author of Fall In love. I’m lucky to call Melissa not only my
friend, but one of my CPs.
Welcome, Mel.
1.
What part of your book took you
most out of your comfort zone? In this particular book there wasn’t really
anything that took me out of my comfort zone.
2.
What was the easiest part to write? Probably
the locations because this book is set in my home state of Western Australia.
3.
How many books have you written? I
have completed 6 novellas and one novel but I have a at least ideas for ten
more works in my ideas file.
4.
How many books have you sold? I’m
cussing you mean contracted and so far three Titles? Fall In Love / Life in
Suitcases / Curve My Appetite
5.
What drew you to your sub-genre? It
is what I like to read my self so it was only logical to write the same genre.
6.
Do you write more than one
sub-genre? Yes I write Romance, Erotic Romance, Erotica and romantic suspense.
7.
Have you ever started a book, and
lost interest? Not half way through a book but I have a 70000 word novel
written that has issues and I am finding very hard to have the motivation to
not just delete the document rather than fix it.
8.
Do you find writing the hero or
heroine easier? Definitely the Hero I am a bit of a tomboy myself so I find it
hard writing girls.
9.
Has a secondary character ever
threatened to take over your book? Not take over completely. But I did start
writing a book and about half way through the book I had given all the male characters
their own books and made it a series. Have you had to give them their own
book?
10.
What is your next project? In the
new year my Novelette’s Life in Suitcases and Curve My Appetite should be out.
Melissa
Kendall
Michael Dunbar runs his family's cattle
station in the far north of Western Australia. Station life is lonely and he
wishes there was a way he could find a companion that wouldn’t mind living the
outback life with him. In hopes of finding a woman, Michael heads to Broome for
a few weeks holiday. What he finds is something he never expected.
Mia Mason is a Perth girl who longs to
leave the city behind for a life in the country.
Can two like minds fall in love? Only
destiny knows.
About The Author:
Melissa is a 37 year-old stay at home mum
and part-time Software Support Consultant. She lives in Perth
Western Australia the most isolated capital city in the world.
She’s always loved to read and write and
spent most of her teens scribbling poetry and short stories on any scrap of paper
she could get her hands on. Over the years as daily life pressures got in the
way she lost the passion for it. After her son was born, she discovered online
books and her interest in writing was rekindled. It has been a large part of
her life ever since.
Excerpt:
The white sands and the deep-blue sea of
Cable Beach never ceased to amaze me. As a child we’d visited Broome a couple
of times for family holidays, though we had a pond at home, it was nothing
compared to the ocean.
As I admired the scenery around me, I saw a
camel train headed my way. Of all the things I’d experienced on previous visits
to Broome, a camel ride wasn’t one of them. I decided I’d correct that on my
trip.
Just as the camels passed
by, the wind whipped something at my face. It scared the crap out of me. At
once I grabbed the item and held it out in front of me—a straw hat. I searched
around for an owner.
When I glanced up, I saw a stunning,
petite brunette looking down at me from her seat on one of the camels. She
appeared very apologetic as the camel train continued to move forward. I ran to
catch up with the sluggish animals and I handed the hat back to the beautiful
woman, feeling lucky I was tall enough to reach.
“Thank you,” she said as she tried to
shake my hand.
It
worried me she might fall off the camel as she reached for my hand, so, I just
waved her away and said, “You’re welcome.”
I watched the camels
continue up the beach for a little ways before I resumed my walk.
As
I walked along the beach, every now and then, the waves lapped on to my feet.
My mind wandered to the brown haired beauty perched on the camel’s back. I
could tell from her thank you she had an Aussie accent. I wondered where she
was from, or if I would ever see her again. If ever there were a woman whose
beauty optimised what I viewed as perfection, she would be it. Her beauty was
natural and understated, not marred by tonnes of make-up. And, although she was
by no means fat, she wasn’t one of those stick thin girls you see with
absolutely no curves. I wasn’t one to shy away from the fact I liked my women
with curves.
I walked for about an hour then sat down
on the beach and watched the red and yellow colours dance across the sky as the
sun sank below the horizon.
After a while, I became hungry so I headed
back to the hotel to grab some dinner at the restaurant.
One
of the main things I looked forward to during my holiday was the chance to eat
something other than meat and vegetables
for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, my mum was a great cook and no one did a better
steak and mash than her. However, they say variety is the spice of life and I
planned to spice up my life with many different dishes.
I headed back to my room to change before
dinner. After a quick shower to rid myself of the salt from the beach, I pulled
on a pair of well-worn jeans and a button-down shirt. I rolled the sleeves up
to my elbows and on my way out the door, I grabbed the book I brought to read
while I ate.
Though dining alone wasn’t one of my
favourite things, I’d done it quite a few times. After the first couple of
times I sat bored and twiddled my thumbs as I waited for my food, I now found
time passed quicker if I had a book to read. This time around, I’d brought with
me the latest John Grisham novel.
After ordering deep fried Camembert and
cranberries for entrée and garlic butter lobster for the main course, I opened
my book and began to read. I’d only read a few lines when I heard a very quiet,
“Excuse me.”
When I looked up from my book, I expected
to see a waitress with my entrée but instead, I saw the gorgeous woman from
earlier. “Hi?” I said.
“It looks like you’re eating alone. Would
you mind if I joined you?”
Stunned that she asked to sit with me, it
took a few seconds for my thoughts to catch up. All I managed to say was, “Of
course.”
“I’m Mia Mason,” she said as she took the
seat opposite me and held her hand out to me.
“Michael Dunbar,” I replied as I shook her
hand.
The moment we touched, I felt a strange,
yet pleasurable sensation move up my arm and quickly spread throughout my body.
“Nice to meet you.” A cheeky grin lit up
her face—as if she knew a secret nobody else did.

Great interview ladies. Melissa, I loved your excerpt.
ReplyDeletethanks Ella
DeleteHi Melissa! Hi D'Ann!
ReplyDeleteLove those Aussie settings :)
Thanks Sheri i do too.
Deletewonderful excerpt, Melissa, sounds like a fab book. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristina
DeleteYour cover is beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you nothing reminds me of home like a red sky sunset.
DeleteHi, Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI think it makes good sense to use Aussie settings because you live in and know Australia. Authenticity is so important to creating a believable novel. Wishing you much success.
Thank you so much Jaqueline i don't often write Aussie settings because my target book market aren't big on them but it is nice when i do get the chance too.
DeleteThank you so much for hosting D'Ann
ReplyDeleteIt's a great to meet a new author from down under.
ReplyDeleteJanice~
Thanks Janice i keep finding new Aussie authors all the time.
DeleteLove your answer to #4...HA!
ReplyDeleteAbout losing interest in what you're writing...I've done that, too and can't seem to delete the book. I guess we always think "I'll go back and revise it."
Beautiful sky on your cover!
Thanks Marianne i actually meant to write guessing not cussing but they both work LOL
DeleteI love the sky on the cover too they are one of my favourite things about living in Western Australia.
I wouldn't give up on the 70k novel either. Hang onto it, you might want to revisit one day. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new author career.
Rose