Ask the Author: Melanie Weiss
Answered Questions (6)
Melanie Weiss
Having others read your book and love it and connect with it and tell you it made them think!
Melanie Weiss
Take writing classes with deadlines (write the first chapter, write the ending, write a log line, write a character study etc.) and inspired teachers. Listen and refine and meet those deadlines so that you continue moving forward.
Melanie Weiss
It was fun to start my novel in Calabasas, CA. It is a gated community that include estates owned by the singer Drake and the Kardashian families. My husband's cousins have lived in Calabasas their whole lives, and we have visited there many times. The scene in my novel about Drake's YOLO sign disappearing really happened. This unique and special setting of the ultimate privileged environment, and losing that but finding somthing beautiful from it, became the jumping off point for my whole novel.
It was fun to start my novel in Calabasas, CA. It is a gated community that include estates owned by the singer Drake and the Kardashian families. My husband's cousins have lived in Calabasas their whole lives, and we have visited there many times. The scene in my novel about Drake's YOLO sign disappearing really happened. This unique and special setting of the ultimate privileged environment, and losing that but finding somthing beautiful from it, became the jumping off point for my whole novel.
Melanie Weiss
A story about two high school students who are dating but have different views on gun control and gun rights and how an inciting incident brings the issue to the forefront for them to grapple with as a couple.
Melanie Weiss
I thought writing the poetry would be really hard for me as I had to convey the complicated emotions of 15-year-old Roman. I just dug down deep and decided not to be intimidated by anything that would stand in the way of me finishing my novel. One day, I took a walk in a forest preserve and sat on a picnic table to take in the quiet around me. That serenity inspired me to write. I pulled out my cell phone and started composing some thoughts in the notes section. That became the poem Roman performs on stage at his high school during the competition to be chosen for the London Poetry Slam team.
I thought writing the poetry would be really hard for me as I had to convey the complicated emotions of 15-year-old Roman. I just dug down deep and decided not to be intimidated by anything that would stand in the way of me finishing my novel. One day, I took a walk in a forest preserve and sat on a picnic table to take in the quiet around me. That serenity inspired me to write. I pulled out my cell phone and started composing some thoughts in the notes section. That became the poem Roman performs on stage at his high school during the competition to be chosen for the London Poetry Slam team.
Melanie Weiss
I had wanted to write a novel for a really long time. I experimented with different genres and found that my voice and storylines fell easily into the young adult world. I love writing about teenagers as they discover their passions and begin to find their places in the world. One editor told me I am too nice to my characters and I probably need to address that as I delve deeper into my next novel. I fall in love with my characters and want to show how goodness in people prevails and how kindness matters. Spoken has drama and humor and moments of failure and challenges wrapped within the characters' journeys, but (spoiler alert) I believe in happy endings.
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