Hi Readers,
You know what I like just as much as reading? It’s spending time with great authors like Melissa Banczak. Recently, I was able to catch up with her for an interview. Let me share my experience with you.
Melissa, thank you so much for the opportunity to steal you away from your busy life to answer some questions for my readers. So, let’s begin.
- Tell me a bit about one of your favorites that you wrote.
I was a screenwriter for ten years so there were a lot of great characters that I created and still think about. Some produced, some not. I switched to novels a couple of years ago when I’d had enough of that life. So far, I’ve only written one full length book and a prequel, so I’m going with the novel, How to Sex Your Snake. It started as a nanowrimo back in 2004 with a place holder title of, The Aha Moment – A woman falls in love with a guy who collects snakes and then gets caught up in a murder mystery, all while trying to figure out what she wants out of life. I hit the word count but the story was only 2/3rds of the way done and I had no idea how to end it. So I set it aside. Then a couple of years later, my husband left me in charge of his 100 or so snakes (most were babies) while he was out of the country for a year.
One of the first days, I walked into the bathroom and found myself nose to nose with a 9 foot boa hanging from the bathroom light. My daughter had put the snake in the shower and when she’d been done, the snake had climbed up on the light to dry. Everyday was something new and by the time my husband got back, I had the changes I needed for my book, a great new title, and a heroine who had no one to blame for her misery but herself thanks to her bad choices. Maybe because June is completely my creation, she is my favorite. There won’t be an actress to make choices and change how she interacts with the world. She’s all mine.
2. Writing is a difficult endeavor. What makes you continue to write?
I have no idea! I’m horribly lazy. Notes from my readers help. People asking for the next in the series or what else I’m working on. Seeing sales on my amazon dashboard and knowing I have no idea who those people are. I’m a tiny bit ambitious so that helps me pop my computer in the case and head out to the coffee house. I hate the idea of my characters being stuck in limbo. (my head)
- What do you look forward to every day?
Chocolate cake! Some days, one of the only ways to get out the door, is to tell myself I’ll get a slice of chocolate cake and eat it while I write. I never do, though. I look at the cake in the case and think about how great it would taste. And then at the last minute, I change my mind. I think about how crappy I’ll feel with all that sugar in my system. And I just get tea. But, I absolutely love chocolate cake, so on some days, the very idea of it is the only way to get me on my way. I never write at home. Too many distractions.
- How do you define success? What makes you successful?
Selling books! As long as people are buying I’m a happy camper. I have enough sales on Amazon to suggest that I’m building an audience. Hopefully, they want more. As I write the sequel to How to Sex Your Snake, I’m world building two additional series. I plan on holding back both until they’re complete then rapid releasing. Probably one every month. When readers find a series they like they want to binge. I know I do.
- Any tips for a newbie writer?
You know your story. Don’t ever let anyone talk you out of telling it. Yeah, an editor will help you shape it but if there’s something that you really don’t want to change, fight for it. But understand why you want to keep whatever it is. And be able to explain the reason. If you can’t, you don’t need whatever it was.
How to sex your snake is available on Amazon!
Follow Melissa:
https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Banczak/e/B01N7UG4ZW
https://www.facebook.com/melissabanczakauthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7103263.Melissa_Banczak
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A pool of blood…A missing body…A famous brother accused of murder. June Nash has the worst luck. Get the first 56 pages of my new book, How to Sex Your Snake, free! https://melissabanczak.com/mailing-list/
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