Melody Carlson
https://www.facebook.com/melodycarlsonauthor
Author of: The Christmas Tree Farm
T4JYM: You have written soooo many books. HOW do you find time for yourself? Your family?
MC: For starters I’ve always been a very fast writer. Besides that, I always treated writing as my ‘job’ – meaning I worked regular office hours on weekdays. The rest of the time was my own. But that was in the years I was publishing up to ten books a year. As I write that now, I’m sort of astonished. I’ve purposely slowed it all down in the last several years. And now I am caring for my husband, who has early onset dementia, so I limit myself to 2-3 books a year. Perhaps more than ever now, I enjoy writing as a therapeutic escape from the everyday pressures. I really need to write!
T4JYM: How do you decide what to write about? I see that you travel around and spend time in nature and draw inspiration from that. But how do you take it from there and create an actual story?
MC: It’s hard to explain, but story just seems to flow from me naturally. But I’ve learned that ‘gifts’ are like that. Almost unexplainable. But I can look at almost any situation or person and imagine a story with it. So the possibilities are limitless. I can’t write about all of them, but when a story really strikes me as special – and worthy of sharing – I try to focus on that. For instance I just wrote a novel about a family dealing with a character with dementia, which is obviously inspired by my own life.
T4JYM: What’s next? What is in the works for you and what can readers be watching for since you just launched a new book?
MC: Oops, I guess I just answered that in the previous question. But the title of the book is Welcome to the Honey B & B and releases in March 2025. It’s got three generations living on the same small farm (teen girl, her mom, and the grandparents) trying to help with the patriarch CT and manage their own somewhat challenged lives – and open a B & B.
T4JYM: Tell our readers a little about your latest book and what they can expect from it.
MC: The Christmas Tree Farm is about a young woman trying to save her family’s farm. Wildfires have burned part of it and neighbors, developing a dirt bike park, provide some challenges. Not to mention a younger sister determined to see the tree farm fail.
T4JYM: Do you have a favorite book from the copious collection of books you have published? Are there any characters who hold a special place in your heart?
MC: My usual answer is Finding Alice… for a number of reasons. But I also get very attached to whatever project I’m working on.
T4JYM: You have a number of awards under your belt. Can you tell our readers a little about each one and what it meant to you to be awarded with them?
MC: Between the Carols and Christys and Gold Medallions and Ritas… the Rita stands out so I’ll tell you about that one. It was very early in my writing career and I had just given up my day job (a stressful position in a struggling publishing company) and was having some serious doubts about that decision. Could I really make a living writing? We’d recently uprooted to a new small town, that we all loved, and my family was partly dependent on my income there. I’d already published a number of books, but would anyone want another one? That year I received a Gold Medallion (for a children’s book) and just being nominated for the prestigious Rita was like a dream come true. I had no expectation to win, the other nominees were well known and, in my opinion, better writers. My novel was only my second one! But I went to LA for the big national conference and was shocked to win – with no acceptance speech. But it encouraged me that deciding to go full time to writing was the right decision after all!
T4JYM: Do you have any formal education? Any training in writing?
MC: Not really! I took a few classes and joined a critique group and attended some seminars and worked for a publishing company. But mostly I just loved to write and stuck with it. Despite the plethora of book rejections, I kept on writing. By the time I contracted my first book, I had five more lined up for publication. I feel like I’ve been learning all along the way.
T4JYM: If you could spend 30 minutes with Jesus, what would it look like?
MC: After I stopped crying and got back onto my feet – if I could do that within 30 minutes – I think I would just thank Him for rescuing me when I was fifteen and lost… and for sticking with me for all these years!
T4JYM: If you could meet any 3 people – past, present, or future – who would they be and why?
MC: Good question… maybe my paternal grandmother since my dad was put in an orphanage as an infant and his ancestry is a total mystery… I’d like to hear the true story. And maybe Oprah Winfrey since she is pretty amazing and I’d like to run some things by her – haha! And perhaps someone – anyone – from the future to hear about how things turn out!
T4JYM: Can you share how you came to know Jesus as your Savior? Did you have any periods in your life when you turned away?
MC: I grew up un-churched in a ‘broken’ home (that’s what they called it back then!) and declared myself an atheist at age twelve. After several years of being rebellious and unhappy, I met Jesus through Young Life when I heard the gospel message for the first time and was smitten! My life did a complete 180 and all I wanted was to serve Him with my all.
T4JYM: What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?
MC: Matthew. It has so much of Jesus’ words and teaching.
T4JYM: Who is someone you look up to and why?
MC: Despite my husband’s dementia, I look up to him (well, he’s six foot six inches so I have to – haha) but he is the most Christ-like person I’ve ever known – after all he was born on Jesus’ birthday. But seriously, he’s always been a sweet, humble man with a true servant’s heart. Even with his deteriorating mental condition, he’s caring and kind and good-natured.
T4JYM: What would you say to someone interested in publishing their work?
MC: Read the kind of things you aspire to write. Get the kind of training that works best for you (classroom, online, critique group…). Develop thick skin… and just write and write and write.
T4JYM: What advice would you give to the youth of this world?
MC: Spend less time on the internet, more time with real people, read real books, and write about what’s real in your life… but most of all put your trust in our gracious God and let Him lead you.
T4JYM: Any final thoughts you want to share?
MC: Just a big thank you to my readers! I appreciate all of you more than I can ever express!
Be the first to comment