Ask the Author: Melody Jackson
Answered Questions (7)
Melody Jackson
Oh my. A mystery? The only mysteries in my life have been rather boring things, unfortunately. It's not like my life is full of mysterious notes and strange occurrences outside of writing. ;) More like "now WHERE did that left sock go? Will we ever know???"
Next bestseller. Totally. ;)
Next bestseller. Totally. ;)
Melody Jackson
Ahh! Don't ask me this question!! O-O LOL. There's way too many to choose from!! Thorne and Cress, Scarlet and Wolf, Cinder and Kai (let's face it: ALL the Lunar Chronicles couples!!), Percy and Annabeth, America and Maxon, Juliette and Warner, how does one CHOOSE? It's impossible, I tell you. And if you just say fictional, that includes TV shows too, and then that makes my list twice as long!! Daniel and Vala from Stargate is definitely one of my favorites. And Fitzsimmons is one of my most infuriating favorites that I still adore to death, mostly because of Fitz. Or Shawn and Jules, or... Man, that technically includes unpublished book couples you guys don't even know about, too! LOL. If you couldn't tell, I love romance, so I have a LOT of favorites! And then there's the Doctor and River... The list goes on forever. So there you go. You have my top... ten-ish, at least. That's about the best you're going to get. ;) I love them because they're either sassy and hilarious or just downright adorable, or a mix of both.
*Sigh* Fine. I'll narrow it down to three. I'd have to say my absolute favorites are Thorne/Cress, Daniel/Vala, and Fitz/Simmons. Is that close enough to 'favorite' for you? ;)
*Sigh* Fine. I'll narrow it down to three. I'd have to say my absolute favorites are Thorne/Cress, Daniel/Vala, and Fitz/Simmons. Is that close enough to 'favorite' for you? ;)
Melody Jackson
Hi Emily! Especially if you're not planning on trying to sell your book, I would recommend Createspace. It's the cheapest print-on-demand (meaning you can order copies whenever you want) company I've found, and you can get whatever number of books you want, too. It's what I used for The Dragon Within, and the books looked great, so I would definitely recommend it.
Melody Jackson
As a matter of fact, I do! There's so much advice I could offer, it would easily take a whole book to discuss it (something I plan to do in the future, actually). But if there were ever a few tips I wish I'd known when I first started out, it'd be these:
1. Just because one person says your work is bad doesn't necessarily mean that it is. There will always, no matter how successful you get, be someone who hates your work. You can't please everyone, and that's just a fact. However, if several people start pointing out the same issues, you might want to take a look at them.
2. There's a lot of debate about everything with writing, as there's no real formula to it. Don't get hung up on how many adverbs to use and whether "said" is bad or good or all the other debated topics of writing. Write for yourself and there'll be someone else who'll love it too. :)
3. The most important advice of all: Never give up. Take as long as you need to write, polish, learn your story. A first novel especially is a giant writing lesson, and the more you study, the better you'll do. :) Read lots of books with a similar style or feel as your own, to learn how best to write.
I hope these tips can be of help to you. :) If you have any other questions related to a more specific part of writing, feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to help other writers. :)
1. Just because one person says your work is bad doesn't necessarily mean that it is. There will always, no matter how successful you get, be someone who hates your work. You can't please everyone, and that's just a fact. However, if several people start pointing out the same issues, you might want to take a look at them.
2. There's a lot of debate about everything with writing, as there's no real formula to it. Don't get hung up on how many adverbs to use and whether "said" is bad or good or all the other debated topics of writing. Write for yourself and there'll be someone else who'll love it too. :)
3. The most important advice of all: Never give up. Take as long as you need to write, polish, learn your story. A first novel especially is a giant writing lesson, and the more you study, the better you'll do. :) Read lots of books with a similar style or feel as your own, to learn how best to write.
I hope these tips can be of help to you. :) If you have any other questions related to a more specific part of writing, feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to help other writers. :)
Melody Jackson
Aww, you're welcome, Emily! :) I hope you enjoy it!
Melody Jackson
Well, there were several reasons, haha, but the most prominent was probably so I could be in control of my book as opposed to having someone else tell me what to do with it and decide how much I'd make and such. I also had a deadline to meet which meant I couldn't just wait around sending out queries and hoping I'd get a bite from a publishing company somewhere. Also, it's somehow just that much more satisfying to actually do an entire book yourself as opposed to just writing it. :)
Melody Jackson
I was 16 when I published "The Dragon Within". :)
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