Getting to know you Thursday with Melanie Dickerson

Please welcome Melanie to my blog. I meet Melanie a couple of years back when I first started visiting 
blogs and then starting my own blog. I have seen her go from aspiring novelist to now having an upcoming
release. Its been an honor to have her come visit my blog.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi, Jenny! Thanks for having me on your blog.
I am a wife and mother of two daughters, and I write Christian historical
romance novels.

2. When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

Where do I start? I loved to read and I read all kinds of books. I loved
mysteries and adventure stories, and just about everything else. I remember
loving the Ralph Mouse stories by Beverly Cleary. When I got older, I loved
the classics, all the Mark Twain books, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and I
fell in love with Jane Austen's books, especially Pride and Prejudice.

3. Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and right write?

I love historical romance. It's my favorite to read and write. And I seem to
be stuck on teenage heroines, but that works for the time periods for which
I write, since people tended to "grow up" earlier and get married earlier
back then. I love YA--Young Adult--stories in which the characters grow and
learn about themselves as they fall in love and overcome obstacles.

4. Did you have favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

I loved all the classics--such classic stories as Little Women and Oliver
Twist--but I don't know if any one author influenced me more than others.
Unless it might have Harper Lee. Her hometown was only about 40 or 50 miles
from mine, and I used to think it was so cool that she grew up in a kind of
"backward" place just like me (forgive me if you're from south Alabama, but
you know what I mean), and yet she wrote a story straight from her heart and
it became a tremendous bestseller and resonated with so many people. It made
me believe that my dream was possible.

5. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I can't say exactly what age. At least by seventh or eighth grade, probably.

6. How did you go about becoming an author?

When I was in high school, I wrote two novels, but then I quit writing and decided to focus instead on going to college and getting a job to support myself. I started writing again about seven years ago, and I just wrote my heart out! I joined ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and I learned all I possibly could about writing and about how to get published.

7. If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

I've always been fascinated by weather, so I've often thought about being a meteorologist. But I'm probably more suited to being an English or Literature teacher, either high school or college. Truthfully, though, I don't think I'm any good at anything except maybe writing!

8. Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

I like to scrapbook, but I rarely ever make time for it anymore. I like to eat. I like to talk to and cut up with my friends. I like to watch movies. That's about it! (Jenny here I also like scrapbooking but haven't done much for awhile)

9. Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

I want to take my kids to Disney World before they get too old to enjoy it! I also would love to visit old castles in Europe, especially Germany and England.

10. If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and
why?

Beth Moore, because she is so down-to-earth and her love for God is so contagious! Her Bible studies have meant so much to me, and she seems like someone I would enjoy being friends with.

I'd love to talk to Harper Lee about growing up in the South and about her writing and just get to know her.

Kate DiCamillo, because she's such an amazing writer and I'd just like to be her friend!

Finally can you tell us about your current books and/or any that will
be coming out soon. Also where we can find you on the web.

My debut novel, The Healer's Apprentice, is coming out in either September or October. Here's a bit about the book:

When destiny sleeps, it can only be awakened by true love's kiss.
In this historical romance loosely based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, a woodcutter's daughter becomes the town healer's apprentice. Rose's job is to care for the sick and injured in Hagenheim Castle. But Rose gets sick at the sight of blood and is more suited to making up stories than sewing up wounds.
Lord Hamlin, the future ruler of the region, is injured and Rose must overcome her squeamishness to save him. He is everything that is noble and good, but loving him is forbidden. He is already betrothed to a mysterious woman in hiding.
With two noble-born brothers vying for her affections, Rose learns that the people of Hagenheim are not always who they seem, and even her own heart can mislead her.


And you can contact me through my website, http://www.melaniedickerson.com.
Thank you so much, Jenny, for having me on your blog! You are an awesome Aussie! :-)