This Week’s Feature Author Interview with
Melody Klink
Hi Melody Klink, welcome to the Indie Publishing Group website. Introduce yourself to us. Tell everyone who you are, where you’re from, what do you enjoy doing, hobbies and interests.
Hi all, I’m Melody Klink! I’m from the Mid-South USA- land of delicious BBQ, tons of superstitions, and soul music. I love writing all sorts of Fantasy works, and mostly write Young Adult. When I’m not writing, I enjoy gaming (mostly on Xbox, but I’ve got them all! No console wars here.), reading (a shocker, I know), crafting with any medium I can get my hands on, and singing.
When did you start writing and why?
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I wrote little stories about anthropomorphic animals living their daily lives- I’m sure their trips to the grocery store were ultra exciting! My nieces and nephews thought so, anyway. I’ve always had a story living just under my skin, and since I can’t draw worth a flip, I dove into writing. But hey- I may not be able to draw a stick figure for you, but I can describe one!
Which is your favorite book you have written and what gave you the idea for it?
This feels like asking me my favorite child! Oh man. GODEATER, a mythology adventure book, was my first novel, and it’ll always be near and dear to me, but… I think Diamond Marked: The Tale of El’Anret has to be my favorite. It’s a Faerie story, mortals and creatures, two worlds, lots of danger and a little bit of romance. It’s a much more emotional story, and the main character, Hazel Leigh Mac Tíre, may or may not be very much like myself.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
Both titles were straightforward, honestly; GODEATER is named after the ultimate enemy of the work, who happens to be able to kill gods and steal their immortality. Diamond Marked and the three novellas within, Queen of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, and King of Diamonds, all came to me because of the hierarchy of royalty within their Faerie Court. They also fell like the royalty in a card deck, which I liked a lot (despite being a little out of order, but Hazel Leigh is Jack’s mom, and the chicken had to come before that egg.) “Diamond Marked” is how the Queens of El’Anret become queen- they are marked by fire, and the fires leave diamond-shaped burns on their arms.
Who helped you with the cover? Or did your design it yourself? What was your inspiration for your cover design?
One of my best friends actually helped make the Diamond Marked + novella covers! I came up with the basic designs, and he worked his graphical magic to make them happen. Each design is based on the main character of that novella, and the lavender ribbon shared between the covers represents a character from the series. The Diamond Marked cover is all three backgrounds put together! They’re colorful and I love them so.
What are some of the themes of your story?
Family is a huge theme- whether it be your blood family, or the family you choose. Loyalty. Remaining good in the face of grave adversity, and standing up for what is right, even if it isn’t easy. That love is natural and welcome, even if it’s totally by surprise.
What’s your process when you sit down and decide to start writing a book? What is your process and do you have a system?
Ideas spring into my head all the time, and sometimes in the most inconvenient places; I’m usually sudsy in the shower, or… well, doing other things in a bathroom, when they hit me. Driving, sometimes. But this one flash of lightning will illuminate my brain, and it’s like the current hitting a circuit board- BOOM, it zaps through all these little passageways, and I’m off! I scurry to write them all down, then whichever one demands the most attention is the one to be written. Once all that zany-ness happens, I start doing a simple outline; one or two sentences that lead each scene into the next. I learned from GODEATER that full-blown outlines sometimes don’t work out- that story went WAY off track after about 20% of this really detailed outline, and it was for the better! So a few sentences to hit the big points, and then I start forcing words out. GODEATER was more of a struggle, because I tried to make each scene perfect as I wrote it. Again, a learning moment: first draft like crazy, edit it to perfection. Add coffee to that, and it’s the whole writing system.
Who are some of your favorite characters and why?
Noah from GODEATER, because he’s an incredibly good friend, he’s crack-whip smart, and he happens to be Odin from Norse mythology. He’s a gentle soul who inherited a not-always-gentle soul, and it made for a rough journey for him.
I also love Gilly, or Lady Gillefeyn, from Diamond Marked; she’s a Deer shapeshifter, fierce and defiant to those who don’t deserve her loyalty, and her Scottish-esque accent is so fun to write (and imagine hearing!) She’s intense and soft at the same time.
Lastly, a bad guy: Alexandria from Diamond Marked. Gah, is this chick evil. She doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks. She didn’t become bad by being wronged in love or anything like that- she wanted to be Queen of El’Anret, so she killed lots and lots of people to get there. She’s weirdly fun to write, because she has a bad mouth, a quick wit, and… ugh, she’s so venomous!
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Maggie Stiefvater, Neil Gaiman, Lisa Mantchev, Zac Brewer, Sarah Addison Allen, Yasmine Galenorn, David Clement-Davies, Anne Bishop… there are so many! And they’re all pretty different from one another- a good balance.
Have you got anything you’re working on now?
Diamond Marked (and King of Diamonds separately) comes out later this month, so that’s taken a lot of my focus. I am conjuring up something though- it has to do with that old saying that redheads don’t have souls of their own… It won’t be Young Adult this time!
If you could have any super powers what would they be?
CAN I TELEPORT?! Oh man, slow down Melody, let’s think this through. Time travel, teleportation, the ability to fly or heal people… they all have their boons and curses. But wouldn’t it be cool to teleport around?! Just don’t pull a Kitty Pryde and get stuck in a wall or something…
If you could travel to any location in the world where would you go?
Any location- this is tough. I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland- see the rolling hills of my ancestors. Aside from that, Greece, Rome– anywhere that I could experience great history and mythology firsthand, really. Mythology is in my heart and veins, and to be able to see the ruins or remains of a previous time than our own would just be incredible.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years’ time?
Writing another great book, being able to meet even more people through my work, learning and growing in my craft, traveling… This path isn’t as straightforward as my old jobs, where it was “be *this* boss” or “be *that* position,” so just further expanding my reach through the awesome magic of books!
Thanks so much for taking the time to do an author interview. Take a minute and check Melody Klink out on the links below. Melody Klink’s book, Diamond Marked: The Tale of El’Anret, is available now on Amazon!
Melody Klink Twitter
Melody Klink Author Website & Blog
