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“Authors in the News Melody Johnson From South Georgia”
Author Melody Johnson lives and works in southern Georgia. She has a full-time job as a Digital Marketing Manager for a local healthcare system. As such, she has learned quite a bit about marketing and social media. One of the things she has stressed in the marketing planning sessions for her writer’s group, First Coast Romance Writers, and their latest anthology – Romancing the Tropics, was to create a press release when the book was available for preorder. She created one for the book and her author information then submitted it to several news outlets. Luckily, one of the published a nice sized article in their paper. Congratulations Melody! and here is sections of our own interview with Melody for our Jolene’s Book and Writers Talk podcast and this blog article.
Click below to view the article
Tribune&Georgian-FCRW-Feature
Short Bio:
Melody graduated magna cum laude from Lycoming College with her B.A. in creative writing and psychology. Throughout college, she wrote contemporary love stories, but having read and adored the action and dark mystery of vampires her whole life, decided to add her fingerprint to paranormal romance.
Earning the 2021 Maggie Award of Excellence, Beyond the Next Star is an exciting branch from Melody’s paranormal romance roots, keeping the dark grit from her Night Blood Series and taking it to new worlds. Told from the dual perspectives of both human pet and alien owner, Melody’s story weaves a slow-burn romance that explores the bonds of love in all its forms, navigating the main characters’ relationship in delicate stages from oblivious ownership to woke, romantic love.
After moving from her northeast Pennsylvania hometown for some much needed Southern sunshine, Melody works as a digital media coordinator for Southeast Georgia Health System’s marketing department. When she isn’t working or writing, Melody can be found swimming at the beach, reading at the pool, and exploring her new home in southeast Georgia.
Books by the Author
Beyond the Next Start (Love Beyond, Book 1)
Sight Beyond the Sun (Love Beyond, Book 2)
The City Beneath (Night Blood, Book 1)
Sweet Last Drop (Night Blood, Book 2)
Eternal Reign (Night Blood, Book 3)
Day Reaper (Night Blood, Book 4)
Contributed to:
Grave Promises – Witchy Business 1 (Romancing the Holidays Anthology – Volume 1)
Fated by Fire – Witchy Business 3 (Romancing the Holidays Anthology – Volume 2)
‘Til Death Don’t Us Part
Spelled for Survivor – Melody Johnson – Romancing the Tropics Anthology
Contact the Author
Website: http://www.authormelodyjohnson.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://authormelodyjohnson.com/newsletter
Blog: https://authormelodyjohnson.wordpress.com
Email: melody.johnson0510@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormelodyjohnson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormelodyjohnson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelodyMJohnson
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AuthorMelodyJohnson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melody-bradley-20ab7334/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authormelodyjohnson
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@authormelodyjohnson
Amazon Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Melody%20Johnson/author/B00QR7226A
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/authormelodyjohnson
Interview Questions and Promo Video
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing that first draft energizes me. Meeting new characters, discovering their passions and weaknesses and wounds, watching them meet and kiss and tangle themselves into an impossible situation while falling in love, figuring out the twists and turns and trap doors of their adventure, and forcing them to earn that happily ever after is the absolute best. It’s what keeps me going even when I’m struggling to survive the story as desperately as they are. However, once the first draft is complete, the editing process is another beast entirely. Editing absolutely EXHAUSTS me. I suffered through eleven rounds of edits with Sight Beyond the Sun, AFTER having self-edited it. As much as I hate editing however, I love having a published book I can be proud of. Like my characters, I must rise above the challenge to earn my happily ever after.
What did you edit out of this book?
In my book, Sight Beyond the Sun, I deleted a lot. More than I ever edited out before, which I know for a fact because I’m a word hoarder: I keep a delete document. In real life, I’m practical about throwing away my junk, but in my writing life, I have a very difficult time letting go. I keep an entire word document dedicated to deleted scenes that will never see the light of day, but without that document, I wouldn’t have the courage to delete anything. And some of the junk I wrote in Sight Beyond the Sun needed desperately to be deleted: 43,496 words of junk to be exact. My junk could be its own novella! Their first kiss, a scene talking about breasts (his alien species develops them during pregnancy, not puberty), bickering that didn’t drive the plot forward, banter that I thought was funnier than it really was, a different beginning, poorly written descriptions of healing tubes and human-eating plants, droning internal monologues that were sabotaging my action scenes… and the list goes on.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I published my first book—The City Beneath (Night Blood, book 1)—in 2015 with Kensington Publishing/Lyrical Press. The City Beneath was the third full-length novel I’d ever finished and the second I’d pitched to agents and editors in the attempt to acquire a traditional publishing contract. Although I was accustomed to working on deadline for high school and college writing projects, I’d never balanced my writing with a full-time job before. The juggling act became quite the challenge. I was blessed to have signed a four-book deal with Lyrical Press, which meant editing book 1 while writing book 2… and working a 9-5 and moving out of my parents’ house and planning a wedding and and and… and to say the least, it was a crazy year. A fantastic year, but crazy, and it required that I make a huge adjustment in my writing life from writing when I felt inspired to writing whenever the heck I could squeeze in the time to get the job done. At first, the transition was difficult. I felt like I was making compromises and my writing was suffering, but I needed to find a way for the new phases in my life to work. I started waking up earlier, focusing harder, editing fiercer, and by far, I’m a better writer for it.
To see the entire interview check out our Podcast on our YouTube Channel or listen on Spotify. If you would like to be featured in an article on one of our websites check out our Submissions page – CLICK HERE
