World Blog Tour—Catching Up with Edie Melson

Christian writers support and encourage one another by letting our readers know about other new writers they may like. We do this through blog tours. Lori Stanley Roeleveld invited me to answer four questions and then point you toward three authors whose work I support.

I’m trying to get more comfortable with Vlogging, so I’m going to answer these questions on video. (I’ll also post a recap below for those who don’t want to watch).

Next on the world blog tour, I’d like to introduce you to these writers:

Ane Mulligan: Ane Mulligan is President of Novel Rocket. She writes Southern-fried fiction served with a tall, sweet iced tea. She's published dozens of plays, numerous articles, and humor columns. Her debut novel, Chapel Springs Revival releases Sept 8, 2014.  She lives in Suwanee, GA with her artist husband, her chef son, and two shorthair wooly mammoths. To learn more about her, visit her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

Alycia Morales: Alycia Morales serves as an Associate Editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, is the Senior Editor of www.InspireAFire.com, and has successfully established her freelance editing business, Perfecting Pages Editing Service. In the three years she’s been active in the publishing business, she has edited best-selling and award-winning authors. Alycia is also an agented author with multiple published articles and devotions. She enjoys teaching at writers’ conferences across the United States and encouraging other writers to pursue their publishing dreams. She is a member of ACFW, The Christian PEN, and My Book Therapy. When she isn’t busy making others’ words shine and writing her own, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their four children as they move from state to state. To find more encouragement, join Alycia at her award-winning blog: www.alyciawmorales.com and on her editing blog with Andrea Merrill, The Write Editing.

Andrea Merrill: Andrea Merrill has been writing for as long as she can remember, but her career took a serious turn about fifteen years ago when she and her husband attended a marriage retreat. One morning when the speaker asked about hobbies and passions, she mentioned writing. “Yes, and I’ll bet that’s at the bottom of your priority list,” was his response. When she admitted it was, he said, “Well, it’s time to get it off the bottom and put it on the top.” Then he leaned in a little closer and said, “After all, you’re not getting any younger, you know!” Andrea went home, started writing seriously, and has never turned back.

She’s been published in various online venues and a number of anthologies. Her first book, Murder of a Manuscript: Writing and Editing Tips to Keep Your Book Out of the Editorial Graveyard, was released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (LPC) in early 2014. Her next book, Praying for the Prodigal, will be released by LPC in 2015. She writes devotions for ChristianDevotions.us and CBN.com, and is currently working on three novels.

Besides her love of words and putting them on paper, Andrea loves to use her editing skills to help other writers become the best they can be. Being a newbie in the writing and publishing industry can be very intimidating, and she strives to be an encourager and mentor to those seeking to learn the trade and sharpen their skills. She is Associate Editor with Christian Devotions Ministries and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and has taught classes at Writers Advance Boot Camp, Kentucky Christian Writers Conference (KCWC), and the CLASS Christian Writers Conference. She is also a freelance editor and would love to help you get your manuscript ready for submission.

Thank you to Eddie Jones for starting this World Blog Tour and for being a publisher who cares about furthering God’s kingdom through the ministry of the written word!

I'd love to know what you thought of the Vlog! Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Don't forget to join the conversation,

Blessings,

Edie

A Recap of the Vlog

What am I working on now? As always, several things. My agent, David Van Diest is helping me refine a couple of nonfiction ideas that a publisher has requested. I’m excited about this because nonfiction is where I began my career. These are all three ideas I’m passionate about and now I have the platform to be considered for these projects. As I look back on the past few years that I’ve spent growing my online presence, it’s gratifying to see that my work is beginning to bear fruit.

I’m also working on a Steampunk fiction project. I love Steampunk and I’m excited about the possibility that I can find a home for Steampunk in the Christian market.

Finally, as always, I’m blogging. This site has grown by leaps and bounds since I made the commitment to post seven days a week. I’m also super excited about my Guideposts blog for military families and the communities that minister to them. It can be found at www.Guideposts.org/blogs/While-They-Serve.

How does my work differ from others in it’s genre? I think that no matter what I write, my goal is to give people hope. Whether it’s the encouragement someone needs to start or stick with a writing career, the redemptive hope that underlies one of my fiction efforts, or the hope that a family facing deployment needs, it’s always present. I don’t know that this is different from others, a lot of writers speak from a foundation of hope.

Why do I write what I write? To paraphrase Isaac Asimov, because if I didn’t I’d die. Writing is how I process life. Beyond that, when God shares something with me, or I experience something that might help someone else, it seems to be the ultimate illustration of selfishness to keep it hidden.

How does my writing process work? Painfully? There’s no shortcut to the writing process, at least none that I’ve found. It’s a discipline that I’ve had to develop through years of practice. I used to believe that writers wrote from a place of inspiration. I think that inspiration helped us choose this path, and it definitely keeps us writing, but the process is so much more.

I’ve learned to write when I’m inspired and when I’m not. When I want to and when I don’t. When it brings joy and when it brings pain.