If you’ve been following my blog posts, you know I’ve been featuring an author once a month. This month, I’m pleased to introduce you to Melissa Wardell. Be sure to enter for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of her novel, Seasoned Grace.
Melissa, why don’t you start by telling us how long you’ve been writing?
I began my writing journey August 2014, so a little over seven years. It wasn’t something I dreamed of doing but can’t imagine it being anything different.
What is the most difficult part about writing for you?
We are a household of people dealing with various levels of ADHD, so to start writing and staying focused is probably the hardest. The kids forget at some point what is happening in my office and interrupt me each time I’m in there. I get it, so I try not to let it bug me, but I know I fail.
How do you develop your plot and characters?
I focus a great deal on character development and location before I really plot much of the story. My thought is a person’s environment and history can really dictate what direction bumps in life give them. Once I feel like I have a good base, I’ll start writing. I jokingly call myself a plotster – half panster and half plotter.
I like the term panster. I tend to fall into that category myself. How many books have you 
written? Which is your favorite?
At this time, I have ten publications and have contributed to two others. My favorite though is Seasoned Grace from Independence Islands Series. It is a story of grace in several different forms, but all originates from our Creator.
Tell us about your first published book? What was the journey like?
My first publication, What God Brings Together, was a crazy mess. I didn’t know what I was doing or what the proper steps were to publish. I just wrote the story, had someone look over it for errors, then published on Amazon. When I began receiving reviews that it needed better editing, I knew was in trouble.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share?
I just finished writing my fifth book for the Independence Islands series, Delicious Devotion. Now I’m working on a Christmas story that will come out this year as well as my first book in another island series. While I am working on these two projects, I am also plotting a future series that I have been putting together since I started writing. It’s a historical fiction, and because I’m a bit fussy about things, it’s taking me a long time, and a little nudge from my publisher, for it to finally see the light of day.
From where do you draw inspiration?
I draw inspiration from the people around me. Their stories are unique in their own way, but it’s startling how many feel unimportant or overlooked. Take for example, military families and the struggles they endure while their men are away. I like to draw attention to those people to let them know that they are seen and loved.
I’m also a teacher. Not a school teacher or a Sunday school teacher, but a teacher nonetheless, and I’m always looking for ways to share the gospel in unassuming ways. There have been several fiction books that I have read that have ministered to me in one form or another, and I want to do the same for others. This is why I write.
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Be sure to enter for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Seasoned Grace!
Comments 6
About her life
I love learning from Christian books both fiction and nonfiction. Keep teaching and have a blessed year.
Thank you for having me this month, Jennifer.
I pray you and your readers have a blessed new year.
I like Melissa’s books.
Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. Happy New Year. I did not know that Melissa is a teacher.
Suzy? I’m assuming you mean Melissa. I think it is interesting that she spends so much time on character development and location before plotting the actual story. I guess that way the characters actually develop the direction of the plot. Would love to read Seasoned Grace.