Ask the Author: Melissa Addey
Answered Questions (8)
Melissa Addey
Thank you Pat I'm so glad you enjoyed the book overall even if you did need a bath to recover! I know, it made for very sad research, I was as shocked as Maggie is when I read that they would use the chair-rotation for hours, rather than (as I had expected) a few turns. I do love Regency romance with all its elegance and love stories but there were a lot of less pleasant aspects to the era and I wanted to root my story in reality as well as celebrate the nice parts! I at least knew Edward would be happy at the end ;-)
Melissa Addey
Hello Clare! Thank you for the invitation, what a nice group idea. My own garden is a bit wild, I'm not sure I could ever create something quite as beautiful as the Garden of Perfect Brightness... I was lucky enough to visit it as part of my research for the novel and it is wonderful, full of waterways, it reminded me of a countryside version of Venice! If you want to see pictures of it, you can visit the book's page on my website, where I have a link to a photo album from my trip. Happy reading! Melissa
Melissa Addey
My historical novel The Fragrant Concubine: I read a book called China Road which briefly mentioned the legend of the fragrant concubine, which is partly based on a real person but with so many different versions of the story that I found myself wondering whether it was possible to draw all the versions together - The Fragrant Concubine is the result!
My 100 Things to do while Breastfeeding book: I was breastfeeding my baby daughter and doing other stuff (to-do lists, reading books, watching telly) and then I started scribbling down what else you might do in that situation… turned into a book!
My 100 Things to do while Breastfeeding book: I was breastfeeding my baby daughter and doing other stuff (to-do lists, reading books, watching telly) and then I started scribbling down what else you might do in that situation… turned into a book!
Melissa Addey
I get ideas from reading, especially history books. It's usually a tiny footnote that sparks an idea. For the Breastfeeding book… breastfeeding my baby daughter!
Melissa Addey
Another non-fiction book, a freebie novella for my Readers Group and a full-length historical fiction novel, this time set in Morocco and the first in a trilogy. Keeping busy!
Melissa Addey
Read lots of books across a lot of genres. Write as much as you can in every spare second you get. Always have a notebook and pen on you. Read up on the publishing industry (including self publishing) so that you understand what might work and what doesn't.
Melissa Addey
Writing! I just really enjoy the process and especially when I get into the 'zone' and the words just pour out, it's great. Oh, and the wonderful moment when you open a parcel and hold your new book in your hands - gets me every time!
Melissa Addey
I go and write something else that's unrelated (to-do lists, other work-in-progress) and allow whatever was stuck to unstick itself in my head… usually works!
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