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Melinda Woodhall

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

https://www.melindawoodhall.com/

Twitter

MelindaWoodhall

Genre

Thriller, Suspense, Crime

Member Since

January 2018

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How do you get inspired to write?

Melinda Woodhall It’s the soul-searching question that every aspiring writer ponders, and every seasoned writer attempts to answer over and over again: what motivates …moreIt’s the soul-searching question that every aspiring writer ponders, and every seasoned writer attempts to answer over and over again: what motivates and inspires you to write (and finish) a novel? Of course, the answer differs from writer to writer, and evolves throughout a writer’s career.
I turned to writing novels after decades of telling myself I was too busy raising a family and working sixty hours a week to ever have the time. Eventually I had to admit I was letting my dream slip away. Anne Lamott’s words resonated within me when she said, “Oh my God, what if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written…it’s gonna break your heart.”
I knew I needed to make time and space to write, but when I did manage to finagle some alone time, words and ideas didn’t flow onto the page as easily as I’d foolishly hoped. I soon began to understand that I needed time to think and plan and dream before I could write. As Joyce Carol Oates so elegantly pointed out, “Novels begin not on the page, but in meditation and daydreaming—in thinking, not writing.”
After much contemplation and musing I felt I had a solid idea for a novel – one that I would actually want to read myself – and I sat down to write the story that was starting to come to life in my head. I was determined to follow Ray Bradbury’s suggestion to, “enjoy the first draft, in the hope that your joy will seek and find others in the world who, by reading your story, will catch fire, too.”
But writer’s doubt, which I’ve found to be more debilitating than writer’s block, crept in as I read over my first 95,000-word draft. I was sure that no one would want to read it. It’s a lonely feeling to have labored long and hard to produce something you are unable to share.
Franz Kafka’s insight that “writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself” seemed disturbingly true to me at that stage, but I forced myself to revise the draft and sent it to an editor for advice. It was hard to hear that my labor of love was deeply flawed (as are most first drafts), but I learned that a novel isn’t born pretty. It comes out raw and red and needs attention. You have to edit and revise (and revise and revise) to make it ready to bring out in public.
In the midst of many rewrites it was reassuring to read the wonderful John Irving admit that “half my life is an act of revision.” I suddenly felt like I was in very good company. All the fabulous writers that had inspired and thrilled me in the past had also slogged through endless edits and rewrites. The knowledge made me feel slightly (undeservedly) smug and decidedly less sorry for myself.
Once I held an author’s copy of my finished book in my hands, I relished the gratifying feeling of achievement. I had finished and nothing could take that away from me. It was the blissful moment just before I asked myself, “Okay, what should I write next?”
As for the inspiration used to write my other novels (and any novels I have the privilege to finish in the future) I rely on Isabel Allende’s admonition to “show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.”
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Hi Melinda, thanks for writing such great books! You have Bridget Bishop seeing a therapist and having nightmares about the horrific things she's seen in the cases she's been involved with. I can't help wondering, how do you start imagining them, and how does thinking and writing about them affect you?I And thanks for the romantic ending in Bridget's latest book!

Melinda Woodhall Hi Jacqueline, thanks for the kind feedback and the very good question as to how I think up my stories and how the horrifying parts impact me.
I’ve alw…moreHi Jacqueline, thanks for the kind feedback and the very good question as to how I think up my stories and how the horrifying parts impact me.
I’ve always been a daydreamer and an avid reader, spending much of my childhood either reading other people’s stories or making up my own, often getting lost in my own thoughts during classes or as I tried to fall asleep at night in a hot Florida house which had no air conditioning at the time.
Looking back, I can see I was probably trying to escape some of the more disturbing aspects of my life by disappearing into a good book or into my own active imagination where, unlike reality, even the scariest situations had a happy ending.
My habit of reading everything I could get my hands on stayed with me into adulthood as I delved into true crime, current news, and the latest thrillers and mystery fiction (not to mention romance and even the classics) which provided me with a lot of background source material for my future books.
My habit of spending much of my time mentally plotting out my own stories stayed with me as well as I commuted back and forth from a hectic job, waited for my kids to finish their sports or dance classes, or tossed and turned at night as I tried not to worry about whatever problem was going on at the time.
Now, as a full-time writer, I still spend much of my time daydreaming, researching, thinking up “what-ifs”, and outlining different scenarios, first mentally and then on paper. Only when I have a terrifying idea and lots of possible twists and turns waiting to be unraveled, do I begin to type out a draft that very often takes on a life of its own, leading me to the horrifying events and ultimately happy(ish) ending I usually come to.
The process to write realistic accounts of death, violence, fear, and sadness can take an emotional toll, which is why I always try to counter the darkness in my stories with a little humor, romance, and the overriding hope that good people and good actions will ultimately prevail.
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Melinda Woodhall’s books

Average rating: 4.49 · 24,074 ratings · 2,563 reviews · 44 distinct works • Similar authors

	Lessons in Evil (Bridget Bishop FBI, #1) 4.49 avg rating — 1,496 ratings — published 2022 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Taken by Evil (Bridget Bishop FBI, #2) 4.57 avg rating — 1,280 ratings — published 2022 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Where Evil Hides (Bridget Bishop FBI Mystery Thriller Book 3) 4.56 avg rating — 1,178 ratings — published 2022 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Road to Evil (Bridget Bishop FBI Mystery Thriller Book 4) 4.64 avg rating — 1,129 ratings — published 2022 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The River Girls (Mercy Harbor Thriller, #1) 4.23 avg rating — 1,166 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Her Last Summer (Veronica Lee Thriller #1) 4.20 avg rating — 1,161 ratings — published 2020 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Veronica Lee Thriller Collection: A Veronica Lee Thriller: Box Set Includes Books 1-4 4.55 avg rating — 1,023 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	When Evil Calls (Bridget Bishop FBI Mystery Thriller Book 5) 4.55 avg rating — 923 ratings — published 2023 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Valley of Evil (Bridget Bishop FBI Mystery Thriller Book 6) 4.57 avg rating — 807 ratings — published 2023 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vanishing Angels (Bailey Flynn FBI Mystery Thriller Book One) 4.40 avg rating — 808 ratings — published 2024 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Melinda Woodhall…

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Melinda Woodhall's Blog: Read it, Write it, Love it

Dangerous Midnight Now Available!

The latest book in my Bailey Flynn series, Dangerous Midnight: A Bailey Flynn FBI Mystery Thriller, Book Ten, is now available! Get your copy on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRSP6X8V or read for free with Kindle Unlimited!
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Published on March 09, 2026 20:20

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Series by Melinda Woodhall

Bridget Bishop FBI (8 books)
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Melinda Woodhall (Goodreads Author)

4.57 avg rating — 8,318 ratings

Veronica Lee Thriller (8 books)
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Melinda Woodhall (Goodreads Author)

4.45 avg rating — 5,181 ratings

Bailey Flynn FBI (6 books)
by

Melinda Woodhall (Goodreads Author)

4.47 avg rating — 3,475 ratings

Mercy Harbor Thriller (4 books)
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Melinda Woodhall (Goodreads Author)

4.41 avg rating — 2,952 ratings

Detective Nessa Ainsley (4 books)
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Melinda Woodhall (Goodreads Author)

4.29 avg rating — 1,256 ratings

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Melinda Woodhall wrote a new blog post Read Heartless Highway Now! #wsite-video-container-147004825162288535{ background: url(//www.weebly.com/uploads/b/13951055-367... } #video-iframe-1470048251 Read more of this blog post »
Mar 09, 2026 08:26PM · like
Melinda Woodhall answered Tom Riggins's question: Thank you for responding so quickly. It's good to hear they are real and not a scam. I will look into using them more deeply. Is there any other promotional platforms that stood out for you? Hi Tom - I've found Facebook/Instagram and Amazon's promotional platforms to be helpful, although I'm sure the best options vary based on the genre of the books you're promoting and the readers you hope to engage. When I started promoting my first se See Full Answer
Dec 12, 2025 11:16AM · like

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Quotes by Melinda Woodhall (?)

“the door”
― Melinda Woodhall, Catch the Girl

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“past”
― Melinda Woodhall, His Heart of Darkness: A Frankie Dawson, P.I. Mystery Thriller

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“Flynn?”
― Melinda Woodhall, Heartless Highway: A Bailey Flynn FBI Mystery Thriller Book Nine

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