This week we will be having an author spotlight on some of today’s best young adult authors. Today’s spotlight is on Melissa Walker, author of Small Town Sinners.
Along with the author spotlight, we will be giving away some great prizes, like signed books from each author. Today we add a signed copy of It’s Not Summer Without You. Check back daily for the new spotlight as well as the new prizes!
What is your most recent work and why were you inspired to write it?
Unbreak My Heart is my latest novel. It is the story of a girl named Clem who is spending the summer with her family on a sailboat. She is suffering from a friend break up. I have always wanted to set a story on a sailboat because I spent a lot of time sailing with my family when I was younger. It is an amazing location where all emotions are heightened and magnified and you get no alone time and everything is super intense. The friend break up is something that happens and can be just as painful as a romantic break up but they are not as talked about.
What was easier to write the first line or the last line? And if you can. quote it!
I think that the first line is easier for me partially because I just rush into writing the first chapter. And then later I’ll go back and make sure it is ok, but I don’t think I’ve ever changed a first line. The last lines are always harder because I never know when I am done.
What is one YA book that is out now that you wish was out when you were a teen?
I am going to say Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I have to say when I was a teen I was obsessed with what it was like to be the most popular girl and in that group. I was more of the smart group, which was fine, but I always wondered. I like books that analyze the pathos of popularity and that wasn’t around as much when I was a teen. It was just a given that the popular girls were written about.
Links for Melissa:
Website
Twitter
Facebook