An Interview with Melissa Mayhue

The Reading Cafe is happy to welcome the wonderful Melissa Mayhue as our guest today.

Melissa just released Warrior Reborn, her newest book in her Warrior series.  We posted our review of Warrior Reborn yesterday. 

Let’s begin our interview with Melissa.

Hi Melissa. Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions today. We are always looking forward to reading about the author behind the book. We are big fans of your book, and it is a pleasure to have you here at The Reading Café.

TRC: Will you please tell us about yourself?

Melissa: This is always the hardest question I get! Truly, I am one of the most uninteresting people I know. Maybe that’s why I spend so much time in my own imaginary worlds!  I love writing – obviously! – and the research involved in the writing. In fact, I’m such a research nerd, I have to really be strict with myself not to get lost in that part of preparing for the stories. In addition to writing, I love to travel and hunt down my family genealogy [which feeds my joy for research]. I love spending time with my grandsons and, of course, reading has always been a passion. My favorite way to unwind is playing games on Facebook, which is why I maintain a personal page [for the games] and an Author Page where I can connect with the readers who don’t want to see all the game updates.  I live in Northern Colorado with my husband and two wonderful Boston Terriers who are so much like kids that my husband jokes if we’d bought them first, we might not have three sons! 🙂

TRC: When and how did you become interested in writing? Have you always liked to write?

Melissa: Because I’ve always been a reader, I think there has always been a part of me that wanted to be a writer. Especially when I’d read a book that didn’t end the way I wanted it to! I attempted my first book when I was around thirteen… and gave up after only a few pages because it was HARD!  But I’ve been inventing stories since I was really young and playing with my Barbie dolls!

TRC: How did you come up with the idea of Daughters of the Glen series? Was 30 Nights with a Highlander your first book?

Melissa: Thirty Nights was my first book. It had been percolating around in the back of my brain for years and when we went to Scotland on vacation, it just sort of forced its way out! I always loved reading fantasy and romance, so I knew whatever I wrote would have to include those elements. And it HAD to have my Happy Ever After! I loved time travel and historical and paranormal romances, so when I found myself sitting in a place called The Fairy Glen, well, it all just fell into place.

TRC: I love the time-traveling theme in DOTG. How did you come up with that idea?

Melissa: I had been reading a lot of time travel romance before I sat down to write that story. Flora Speer, Diana Gabaldon, Karen Marie Moning, Terri Brisbin and so, so many other wonderful authors shaped my love for the genre in the years before I began working on Thirty Nights. Time Travel just seemed the perfect fit for me to combine my love of historical and my love of fantasy.

TRC: Warrior Redemption was the first book in your new Warrior series. Why did you decide to spin this off from DOTG, rather then make it part of the same series?

Melissa: We were already eight books into the DOTG series and with Warrior’s Redemption we were adding a whole new dimension of magic into the stories. It seemed like a good thing to do. I didn’t want it to be an entirely NEW series [thus the “spin-off”] because there are still too many characters from the older books who are nagging to have their stories told! 🙂

TRC: On that same note, will we get to see our favorites again from Daughters of Glen? There are so many wonderful characters ( Dair, Sim, Dallyn) that still need their story told, not to mention the wonderful children, such as Rosie, to come in the future.

Melissa: As long as the readers keep buying the books, I’ll keep telling the stories of the characters who keep speaking to me!

TRC: Warrior Reborn, which was just recently released on October 30th, is the second book of the Warrior series. Can you tell us the premise of this story, and who are the heroine and hero?

Melissa: The hero in this story is a young man who was only mentioned in the DOTG series, Chase Noble. [Interestingly enough, I’ve gotten LOTS of emails from readers wanting to know more about him ever since he first showed up!]. Chase has basically spent his life on his own since his mother’s death, never giving up on believing in the promise his father [a full-blood Faerie] made to him. He’s spent the last decade searching, unsuccessfully, for the place he belongs. He just didn’t realize the place the Fae had chosen for him was seven hundred years in the past!

The heroine is Christiana MacDowylt, who readers met in Warrior’s Redemption. When she assured her brother that she’d already seen the man who would save her, it was Chase she was talking about. Her only problem is how to get him from his time to hers.

LINKS TO PRE-ORDER: Amazon / Barnes and Noble/ The Book Depository /

TRC: What are you working on now?

Melissa: I’m working on the third full book in the Warrior Series, which doesn’t really have a title yet. [I’m playing with Warrior Untamed, but I’m not sure it will stick]. It’s the story of two characters you’ll meet in Warrior Reborn, so I won’t go into a lot of detail right now. Don’t want to ruin any surprises!

TRC: What is your writing process? Do you have a favorite spot or time? Do you like to outline your stories or just go with the flow?

Melissa: I begin with a rough idea of who my characters are and what their major obstacles will be but, other than that, the stories come as they come. 🙂

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Melissa: I’d love to invite your readers to stop by my Website if they have time. www.MelissaMayhue.com. On there they’ll find family genealogy charts for the characters and information about my research and the stories/mythologies that inspired many bits and pieces of the books. They can also sign up for my newsletter which is where I conduct all contests when I have a new release.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food: – Chicken Fried steak and French fries with white cream gravy [any wonder I have a weight problem???]

Favorite Dessert: – Chocolate Lava cake [ditto the above comment]

Favorite Author: – There are just too, too many whose work I love to even attempt to narrow this down! And it changes all the time, depending on whose book I just read!!  Though I will admit to having books by Mary Stewart, Douglas Adams, and Charlaine Harris on my Forever Keeper Shelf.

Favorite Movie: Varies depending on the mood I’m in. The American President and The 13th Warrior are two that are always on my Keeper List. [Unless it’s close to Christmas and then, bar none, it’s The Christmas Story].

Favorite TV Show: It’s a tie. The Newsroom [because the characters banter is quick and witty and you really have to pay attention] and Restaurant Impossible [because it usually makes me cry – in a good way].

Milk or Dark Chocolate: No hesitation here. Milk chocolate. Definitely milk chocolate

Favorite character (male & female) not written by you:
Female: Kate Schechter – in Douglas Adams’ Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul
Male: Thor – same book

Melissa: As a matter of fact, though this is supposed to be the lightening round, it was that book that ultimately made me decide to sit down and write my first book. I felt just one more chapter in that book and Adams could have given me the Happy Ever After I wanted. But, no matter how many times I read it [and I have read it MANY times] it never morphed into the romance is should have been. 🙂

TRC: Thank you, Melissa for answering our questions. We look forward to continuing to read your books, and to work with you in the future.

Melissa: Thank you so much for hosting me here today and allowing me to chat with your readers!!

If you would like to learn more about Melissa, you can find her at the following links:

Website: http://www.melissamayhue.com/
Twitter:
Facebook:
Goodreads:

Melissa has graciously offered to give a member of The Reading Café a chance to win a copy of their choice of one book from her backlist (Daughters of the Glen or Warrior’s Redemption)

1.  You must be a member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, please register using the Log-In at the top of the page, or by using one of our social log-ins.

2.  If you are using a social log-in e.g. Twitter, please leave your email address along with your comment.

3.  Please post a comment and say Hi to Melissa

4.  Giveaway open to U.S. & Canada Only

5.  Contest runs from November 14th – November 17th