Today we’re welcoming Melanie McFarlane, talking about building her futuristic world inside a dome. Giveaway at the end of the post. Woohoo!
Hi there, Mel! Which did you come up with first, the characters for your story, or did the world come first and then the characters?
When I wrote There Once Were Stars, the world came to me fast and furious. I wrote my first draft in three months.
I had always wanted to write a story about people who lived in a domed city, because of radiation from a nuclear war. But it wasn’t until I was watching The Walking Dead that I realized I wanted the story to be about people trying to survive after a global pandemic. From there the character of Natalie Greyes developed. I needed someone sweet, yet broken by the system – which is where the idea of the death of her parents developed. But I also needed her to be so innocent and naïve that the thought of a rebellion from inside the safety of a dome was a challenge to her. I tried to give her the personal stakes, similar to Katniss in the Hunger Games, but without the inborn survival skills.
When it came to developing the dome, I researched biodomes, ventilation systems, and basic engineering. I stayed away from writing any hard science, and let my imagination take over from there. To do this I focused on three things, making them important to the plot – the exterior had to be able to withstand a nuclear war, the Outer Forest needed to exist inside the Continue reading
If you’d like to see my son’s review of Book on, 
I am such an insecure person it’s not even funny. I never think I’m good enough at anything I do. There is always a better mom, a better wife, a better friend, a better writer. Sometimes I feel you could put me next to another person and we could write the same exact story, yet his/hers would become a best seller, and mine would end up at the bottom of a kitty litter box. Sometimes, I get so down and depressed, I think “Why try?” So, I don’t. I go into shutdown mode, and the story sits there and waits. Sometimes its days; other times its weeks or months before I decide to get back to work. My own self-doubt can be so crippling at times that I wonder how I ever completed three novels.
expectations for this final book in the Nameless Series and I had only four months to turn in a solid manuscript to my publisher. Usually, I like to take about 4-6 months to write a first draft of a novel. Then I usually give the book to a few trusted readers for feedback, and spend another two months editing and revising.
Every now and then, opportunities arise in our lives that force us to do things we normally never would have thought possible. Necessity really is the mother of invention.
In exactly twenty-three days, Gryphon will offer his life to Chief Barnabas in exchange for the lives of his best friend and mess brothers. Until then, he must keep his plans from Zo while avoiding the Wolves of the Allied Camp. But Gryphon is not the only one harboring secrets. To spare her own life, Zo has made a blood oath promising to help the Kodiak Clan free their families living as Nameless slaves. When Gryphon learns the truth — that the peaceful life he’d planned for Zo is not secure — he divulges a secret that will give the Allies the upper hand against the Ram.
With my degree in History and Secondary Education, I had every intention of teaching teens to love George Washington and appreciate the finer points of ancient battle stratagem. (Seriously, I’m obsessed with ancient warfare. Weird? I know.) However, life had different plans in store when the writing began. As a proud member of Writers Cubed, and a co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, I feel blessed to be able to fulfill both my ambition to work with teens as well as write Young Adult fiction.
I was not prepared for how hard it would be to write the sequel to Emerge. The plot wasn’t difficult; I’d known the storyline of Submerge (and of Book 3, Immerse) since before my agent and I went on submission with the series. In fact, the finished novel that’s coming out this week lines up almost exactly with that outline because the paths these characters needed to travel have always been very clear to me. What I struggled with was the shift from being a writer to being a professional author.
Writing Submerge was therefore a completely different experience than writing Emerge. With Book 1, I wrote on my own schedule and had no one to answer to but myself. I knew very little about the publishing industry at that point and just wrote what I wanted to read without a consideration for how marketable a specific idea was, what I would say about a certain plot point on a panel, what would sell, etc.
Roll over?! Pun intended? Haha.
I was at the tail end of writing Must Love Wieners when my partner came into my life, along with his three wonderful kids and, get this, two wiener dogs (they look weirdly similar to the two in the book).
A wedding Tale, book three of A Rescue Dog Romance series is out now!
Casey Griffin can often be found at comic conventions on her days off from her day job, driving 400 ton dump trucks in Northern Alberta, Canada. 
As it turns out, once I opened the doors to a possibility I never considered, I discovered a passion and a talent I love more and more every day. More characters and stories came knocking (some far more insistently and impatiently than others) and my young adult contemporary romance is sitting on the desk of a US literary agent as I type.
When not reading, writing or working with teens, Tamar can be found with her ever-patient husband and two beautiful sons enjoying country life on their small acreage in the Australian bush.
Noah – the guy who’s spent two years drifting aimlessly, not knowing why he failed to come of age as every one of his ancestors has.
Melissa J. Crispin lives in Connecticut with her husband, two kids, and an adorable Siberian Husky. She spends her days in the corporate world, and pursues her passion for writing in the late nights and early mornings.
Law One: A summoner is responsible for all creatures it lets through from the netherworld.
Whether it’s uncovering the corruption of the future, or traveling to other worlds to save the universe, Melanie McFarlane jumps in with both hands on her keyboard. Though she can be found obsessing over zombies from time to time, Melanie has focused her powers on her YA debut There Once Were Stars, and her YA urban fantasy Summoner Rising.
Adrianna Bottom always wanted to be liked. But this wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. Now, she’s in the spotlight…and out of her geeky comfort zone. She’ll do whatever it takes to turn the rumor mill in her favor—even if it means keeping secrets. So far, it’s working.
Jennifer M Eaton 