Interview with Mesu Andrews

Shelf Life is thrilled to have author Mesu Andrews join us for an interview today.

Andrews is the author of the Biblical fiction novel Love Amid the Ashes, and she avidly devotes herself to studying Scripture. 

I've heard so many wonderful things about her debut novel, and I had the privilege of reviewing her newest, sophomore novel! 

Today's interview will be shorter than previous interviews, since Andrews is on a deadline (yay!--another book!)

Join us today as she talks about her newest novel, Love's Sacred Song!

About Love's Sacred Song

Wisdom came as God's gift, but sacred love was forged through passion's fire

Standing in the shadow of his famous father, young King Solomon wavers between fear and bravado, longing for a love that is true and pure--a love that can be his cornerstone.

A shepherdess in the northern city of Shunem, Arielah has known since she first laid eyes on Solomon that it was her destiny to become his bride. When her father secures a promise from Solomon to marry Arielah as a treaty bride to help unite the kingdom, it seems her dreams will come true.

But how can this simple shepherdess live as part of Solomon's harem? Can Solomon set aside his distractions to give himself completely to just one woman? Or will he let duty, deception, and the daily routine divide his heart?

Read Shelf Life's review of Love's Sacred Song

Questions and Answers with Mesu Andrews

You write Biblical fiction. It's well known that authors usually write about that which intrigues them. What intrigues you the most about Biblical fiction?

My joy and passion is to study God’s Word, but I’m dreadfully practical. I need a purpose, or I feel as if I’m wasting time. Before chronic health issues robbed my energy level, I was a busy Bible teacher. I spoke at retreats and conferences, taught local Bible studies and adult Sunday school classes. When I could no longer GO and DO, I needed something to fulfill my yearning to learn and to teach.

I sought publication for Bible studies, but I had no formal training or credentials. A friend pointed out Jesus’ method of teaching through parables and suggested I try my hand at writing novels, incorporating God’s truths through story. THAT’S what intrigues me about biblical fiction—the fact that I’m writing a fictional story about real people who learned real lessons from a real God. How fascinating is that?

In your novel you include one of the most beautiful (and my personal favorite) psalms in the Bible, psalm 45, which is indicated as a wedding psalm. Can you tell is a little more about this psalm?  

I actually hadn’t planned on adding the wedding psalm until the last round of edits. My fabulous editor, Vicki Crumpton, really liked the character of Bathsheba and asked if we could expand her role in the book. The scene in the Mikvah was one of the ways we did that.

I didn’t want Arielah’s wedding night with Solomon to be a cliché of frightened virgin taken by a harem-bored king. The Beloved had been actively pursuing Solomon’s love, but her pursuit wasn’t for selfish gain—as all Solomon’s other brides were. I felt their wedding night should reflect Arielah’s characteristic determination with an appropriate amount of virgin trepidation, of course! Ha!

I loved Psalm 45 as her sacred song because it infused Solomon with confidence—as I believe every wife is called to do. It affirmed her love, her trust, her hopes and dreams for him. Our husbands aren’t any more perfect than Solomon was, but they’re our one-flesh partner given by God. We win when we encourage them.

 What verse from the Songs of Solomon do you like most, and why?

   SoS 8:6-7 – “...love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.”

You know how everyone reads 1 Corinthians 13, the “love chapter,” at weddings? “Love is patient, love is kind...” Well, I think they should also read Solomon’s definition of love at all the weddings! *-* Love is all those nice, fluffy, smooshy feelings in 1 Corinthians, but it’s also all these intense, passionate, scary things in SoS 8:6-7!

And here’s the REAL kicker—God’s love is all of the above. My little buzz line for the books I write is: “New Treasure of Love in Old Testament Tales.” I’m passionate about writing Old Testament stories because so many Christ-followers believe the God in the Old Covenant is mean, and the New Testament God is nice. Nope. He’s the same God—yesterday, today, and forever. He’s 1 Corinthians 13 AND Song of Songs 8. He relentlessly pursues those He loves and died to save.

I'm not going to lie-the model for Solomon on the cover is gorgeous! The model for Arielah is beautiful as well. If Love's Sacred Song were to become a movie, who would you cast to play their roles?

Hahaha! I’m not gonna lie either. I’m old enough to be the cover model’s mother, and I think he’s gorgeous, too! I love this question, and it’s actually one that Revell used to ask authors when they were trying to create the covers. I’ve recently created a Pinterest Board called “Character Faces” and added these two as my potential Solomon and Arielah. Visit me on Pinterest and tell me what you think!

Minka Kelly as Arielah 

Darren Criss as Solomon 

Can you tell us what you're working on next?

I continue to write my weekly e-devotionals and hope to someday publish those. (You can sign-up to receive your free Monday devotional at my website: http://www.mesuandrews.com/)

I’m contracted with Revell for two more biblical novels:

Love in a Broken Vessel is scheduled to release March 2013, telling the story of Hosea and Gomer—Can Hosea’s faith overpower Gomer’s unfaithfulness?

Love’s Saving Light is scheduled to release March 2014, telling the story of Queen Athaliah and Baby Joash—Will Jezebel’s daughter snuff out the last king on David’s throne.

I can't Wait! They sound absolutely amazing! Some of my favorite Biblical accounts too!

It's been a thrill and honor to have you here! I thoroughly enjoyed hosting you for this interview!

Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to share a bit with your readers!

 Connect with Mesu Andrews on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!

Also, Shelf Life is giving away this awesome book for this month's giveaway! Don't forget to enter for the chance to win!

Interview with Rosslyn Elliott

Shelf Life is pleased to present this interview with Rosslyn Elliott, the award-winning author of Fairer Than the Morning, the first novel in the Saddler Legacy series.

Rossyln is a graduate from Yale University, where she earned a BA in English and Theater. In 2006, she also earned her Ph.D. in English from Emory University. When she's not writing, she is homeschooling her daughter or teaching in children's ministry. 

Let's give a warm welcome to Rossyln Elliott, as she talks about her newest release, Sweeter Than Birdsong. 


Read the review for Sweeter Than Birdsong 

Questions & Answers with Rossyln Elliott 

Can you tell us a little bit about your book? 

Sweeter than Birdsong is based on the true love story of Kate Winter, a brilliant, beautiful woman crippled by her shyness, and Ben Hanby, a genius composer who also leads a secret life working to free fugitive slaves. Both of them lived in Ohio in 1855 and attended Otterbein College, which still stands in the town of Westerville. 

In the novel, Ben casts Kate to sing in his musical, but the whole time she is quietly planning to use the performance to mask her escape from town and her suffocating family life. But when a frightening accident throws Ben and Kate together, their lives and secrets mingle in ways they could never have expected. Kate must find her courage and her voice if she is to sing a new song for their future.

What inspired you to write Sweeter Than Birdsong?

In 2006, when I got up the nerve to try my hand at writing my first historical novel, I was living in Westerville, Ohio.  I decided to go visit a small local house museum so I could research all the kitchen artifacts and farm tools. Before the tour, a guide took me into an outbuilding and showed me a video about the Hanby family, who had lived in that house. By the time I stood up thirty minutes later, I knew that I had just been given an amazing true story that needed to be told. The Hanbys lived romantic, action-filled lives marked by courage, and most importantly, they served others out of faith and love.

Do you find it difficult to write real-life historical figures as your characters?

I find it easier than writing completely fictional characters. I am passionate about telling real history and keeping it alive, so anytime I can engage that passion, it’s easier to love my story, and that helps me write. 

Also, it’s a fun kind of puzzle to decide how to weave the history and the fiction together to make the most engaging story without losing its real essence. However, I do feel a deep responsibility to the people in my story to portray them fairly and accurately, as I would want to be portrayed if it were my own life being fictionalized. If I don’t have enough information to portray a real person with reasonable accuracy, I’ll change that person’s name.

When researching these characters, what did you admire most about them?

There’s a lot to admire about many people in the Hanby/Miller/Winter families at the center of this trilogy. But I think what admired most about Ben Hanby was his burning commitment to help others and end slavery. As a boy, he watched a fugitive slave die in his family home, and it changed him forever. The strong faith his father passed on to him left him unable to become complacent or forget the suffering of others. 

And what I admired most about Kate Winter was that even though she was very shy, she showed a lot of courage by becoming one of the first women to graduate from college in America. Women attending college was a very controversial subject in her time, so she would have known that she would be criticized for daring to do it.

Which character could you relate to the most?

I relate to all of them in different ways, but the way I empathize with Kate is in her quest as a young woman to rise above the expectations of others and learn what she herself considers important. It’s easy to start living someone else’s life in order to please those around you, and hard to find the truth and stand up for it.

Reading the stories of slaves and abolitionists has to be tough. Do you ever find yourself writing and researching with a box of tissues handy? 

Oh yes! The research doesn’t usually make me cry, but in order to sit down and write this material in the way it deserves, I have to connect emotionally with the scene. When my friend once stopped by unexpectedly while I was writing, I was all red-eyed and weepy. Fortunately, she understood when I explained that I had just been writing a really tough scene. It’s good to have friends who can put up with these things. 

Sweeter Than Birdsong appropriately encompasses a love for music. Do you have any favorite musical instrument that you enjoy to hear more than others?

I love the whole orchestra, but if I had to pick one, it would be the harp. I often need to find a place of peace and calm, and harp is excellent for that.

You mention that your heroine, Kate, sings like an angel. Did you have any modern day songstress in mind when imagining her voice? 

I imagine her voice as a silvery light soprano, with a hint of an Irish sound. If you listen to “She Moved Through the Fair” on Youtube with Charlotte Church or Orla Fallon, Kate’s voice is somewhere between those two sounds.

If Sweeter Than Birdsong became a movie, who would you cast to play Ben and Kate?

I’d probably cast Liv Tyler as Kate, because she has the right coloring and she’s very good at playing the kind of delicate but courageous woman that Kate needs to be. The mystery of Arwen in Lord of the Rings is a good match for Kate, even though Kate’s not quite as exotic-looking as Liv Tyler can sometimes be. Ben is really, really hard to cast. I’ve never been able to find an actor who looks just like him, but for his personality, I’d cast a young Ioan Gruffudd. He has the intensity and artistic side to play Ben.

I love how this story deals with abolition. I've become involved with the modern day abolition movement myself and have found some of your words encouraging. If you could go back in time, what would you say to encourage abolitionists?

I’d say stick with it!

The hardest part about fighting social evils is how long it takes to change people’s hearts. 

The movie Amazing Grace is a great depiction of the necessary perseverance, as William Wilberforce spends his whole life to fight chattel slavery in the British Empire.

Your novel also deals with women's rights. What are you most grateful for as a result of the courage of women like Kate?

The right to vote.  Though Kate wasn’t a suffragette, women’s attendance at college proved that women were not intellectually inferior to men. Unbelievable as it sounds to us today, it was quite common in Kate’s time for men to argue that women would be damaged by attending college. Many Victorians believed that women never ‘matured,’ that they were always somewhat childlike compared to men. So I’m grateful for the greater respect that we received as a result of the achievements of women like Kate.

Sadly slavery has not ceased to exist. Many women are trapped in sexual slavery. There's a generation that is rising up, much like the abolitionists movement you've written about. I loved this line in your novel. You said, "This tragedy will not end until every voice cries out!" Do you believe this is true to abolishing modern day slavery? 

Yes! I believe the chief problem with modern day slavery is that it’s harder to mobilize people against something illegal than it is to fight an unjust law like the slavery laws of the early1800s. In Ben Hanby’s time, Americans were furious that they were expected to be complicit in returning slaves to their masters because of the Fugitive Slave Law. I think we tend to think of human trafficking/slavery as “law enforcement’s problem,” instead of feeling a personal responsibility to stop it. But I’m very hopeful about the groundswell of support among young people to fight modern-day slavery. 

What do you hope readers will take away from your novel?

I hope they will be encouraged to put their compassion for others into action, as both Kate and Ben do in this novel. Many people are already trying to help the oppressed and the poor, and for them I hope that the story will remind them that someday, all those seeds they’re planting are going to burst into flowers.

Can you tell us what you're working on now?

The third novel in the series, Lovelier than Daylight, takes place another twenty years after Sweeter than Birdsong. It’s about the Hanby family and their part in an explosive battle over temperance in Westerville in 1875, known as “the Westerville Whiskey Wars.” Susanna Hanby just wants to prevent families from suffering by shutting down the town saloon, but the handsome son of a German-American brewer stands in her way!

 Thank you so much for joining us today! What an honor to have you here. 

Also, Rosslyn Elliott has a blog where she welcomes comments from readers. You can also follow her on Twitter or Facebook. Check out her beautiful website as well!



Don't Miss the Opportunity to Get to Know Rosslyn Some More with Her Facebook Chat and Giveaway!

To celebrate the music in all of us, Rosslyn and Thomas Nelson are hosting this "sweet giveaway". 

One fortunate winner will receive:

• A Brand new iPod Nano (Winner's choice of color!)
• Fairer than Morning by Rosslyn Elliott
• Sweeter than Birdsong by Rosslyn Elliott

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on February 28th. Winner will be announced at Sweeter than Birdsong Author Chat Facebook Party on 2/28. Rosslyn will be chatting with guests, sharing a sneak peek of the next book in the series, hosting a trivia contest, and more! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, season 1 of DowntownAbbey, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club AND a LIVE Author Chat for your group with Rosslyn.)

So grab your copy of Sweeter than Birdsong and join Rosslyn and friends on the evening of the 28th for an evening of fun.

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 28th!

Interview with Betsy St. Amant

I'm super thrilled to have author Betsy St. Amant with us today! Betsy is a multi-published author through Steeple Hill. She also has a short story that appeared in a Tyndale compilation. In addition, she freelances for her local newspaper. She is the proud wife of a fireman, busy mommy to a toddler, and an avid reader. 

Today, Betsy is here to talk with us about her first young adult novel, which releases this January!  

Questions & Answers with Betsy St. Amant 

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. Most of your books have been written for the romance market. Why the switch to young adult fiction? 

The way this story came about is nothing short of a God-thing. It started when a publisher requested my romance proposal at an ACFW conference a few years ago. She rejected the story because of the current market but asked if I wrote YA. I’d always wanted to try it, but never had. I thought I’d give it a shot, because who would say no to a publisher’s request anyway? ::wink:: I brainstormed with a friend for a YA plot and we both realized that my “secret book” was already perfect for what the publisher wanted – my secret book being a novel I had started recently as a just-for-fun, never-see-the-light-of-day book, that only this particular friend knew about. The really interesting part is that while that publisher ended up rejecting Addison at committee level, Barbour swooped in and picked it up immediately after. Talk about God opening doors! And I still write romance, as evidenced by the strong romance thread in Addison’s story. I can’t help it J

Did you find it more difficult than you anticipated to write a young adult novel?

Actually, I think it was easier. Writing first person and really becoming Addison for a time made me feel like I was putting back on my own teenage skin. It was a really fun experience!

Compared to most authors in this genre, you're still fairly young yourself. At what age were you first published?

I still get carded at the movie theater, but I’m 27 J My first novel was published in January 2007 by The Wild Rose Press’s (now known as White Rose Publishing) inspirational line. It’s a romantic suspense titled MIDNIGHT ANGEL and while everyone looks back with a little bit of embarrassment at their first book, it will always be special to me.  J So to answer your question, when the book released in January 2007 I was 23.

Can you tell us a little bit about your newest novel? 

So glad you asked! J I can’t tell you how much I love Addison. Her story is one I felt led to tell. While I’m not a PK (preacher’s kid) I did grow up in a large church that my grandparents helped found. I had labels and was always “so and so’s grandchild”, not ME. That was a lot of pressure, so I had an idea of what Addison went through, in a lesser extreme. 

I’m also passionate about helping teenagers realize (as I had to realize for myself not too long ago) that they need to KNOW what they believe and why, not just absorb what they’ve heard growing up in church. They need to ask themselves the hard questions, investigate doubts, and go on a spiritual journey for themselves. Otherwise their “hand me down” faith will be nothing but ash at the end. I wanted to compose a story of a character going through that same faith journey. She doesn’t drink like her friends at school—okay, why? She isn’t having sex—okay, why? Addison has to answer those questions among daily temptations that are real and relatable to teens today. 

Before reading this book, I never imagined the pressure that pastor's children must feel. What inspired you to write about a pastor's kid? 

(see above, I already answered this on accident. Lol)

What do you hope young adults will gain from reading this novel?

I hope they’ll laugh and smile and enjoy the story for entertainment purposes, of course, but ultimately, I hope reading Addison Blakely, Confession of a PK will make teenagers evaluate their own hearts—especially those who grew up in church but might not have ever actually made their faith personal and real for themselves. I hope the story will also show non-Christian readers that Christians aren’t perfect and we don’t have all the answers, and that the story will help lead them to Jesus. 

Now, I've been dying to ask this question. Do you use celebrity pictures to cast your characters?  

Sometimes I do, but for this story, I did not. However, a book trailer from my publisher will be coming out soon and you can get a visual on Addison and all her friends then. :)

You deal rather openly with the issue of a personal relationship with Jesus in this novel. Would you be willing to share your own experience with readers?

Of course! I grew up Southern Baptist and had a salvation experience at the age of 7, after a Sunday night church service on heaven and hell that shook me up. I remember talking to my mom in my room on my bed that night and praying the prayer of salvation. Later, I always doubted if that “took” or not, because of my age. I wrestled with the doubts for years, until finally as a teenager, I “got saved again” at a youth rally and really got lit on fire for Jesus. 

Looking back now, I feel confident that my heartfelt prayer as a child was all I needed to be saved, but it was nice to nail down the doubts and know for sure. For me growing up, it was hard to hear preachers talk about “How are you different since you’ve been saved?” Because, well, I was a kid. I didn’t steal or kill or really even lie or cheat as a young child. When you grow up in church, and don’t have a lot of trouble being a “good girl” in the first place, it’s hard to answer those questions. But now I see that it’s such a blessing when Jesus calls His Children to Him at a young age. It gives that person their entire life to devote to Him. This is part of what Addison struggles with in the novel. Is her faith real for herself, or is she just living out what got handed down to her?

What did you personally learn while writing this novel?

I learned how much I truly love mochas with sprinkles :). Seriously, I learned a lot about the craft of writing. This was my first story to tell in first-person, so it was one huge craft lesson in tense and pacing. 

You mentioned some classic novels in this story. If you could recommend one to your readers, which would you recommend?   

I would recommend Pride & Prejudice, for sure, and I think every person should read Jane Eyre at least once in their life. I love classics – for the same reasons Addison does :)

We see a lot of coffee in this novel. Are you a regular coffee drinker? If so, what is your favorite coffee? 
I am a die-hard Starbucks white chocolate mocha fan. Their peppermint mocha is a good seasonal break, and one time they had a dark chocolate cherry mocha that was awesome at Valentine’s Day, but I always go back to my true love ;)

Is there any verse in the Bible or biblical account that you love more than others? 

My life verse is Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It’s special to me, because faith is special to me, and I love the mystical/spiritual quality of trusting in what you can’t see. When we trust Jesus to this level, when we show Him our hopelessness and dependency on Him, that’s when He really works in our lives. It’s beautiful.

You mention Carrie Underwood living in your character's ipod? I have to ask this. Do you listen to Carrie Underwood yourself and did you have Cowboy Casanova in mind when you wrote the Wes scenes?   

I LOVE Carrie Underwood and really, I heart country music in general. I’m Louisiana born and raised, and while I adore my high-heeled shoes and flirty dresses and Starbucks mochas, I also love shooting rifles, wearing cowboy boots, cooking deer meat and attempting to shoot my husband’s bow and arrow. Haha! So I had to give Carrie a shout out in this novel. I didn’t have Cowboy Casanova in mind when I wrote Wes’ scenes, but wow it fits, doesn’t it? J  I actually incorporated a lot of emotion and scenes from Taylor Swift’s lyrics in this novel. They’re subtle, but they’re there. 

If you had to recommend one Bible study to young adults for the rest of your life, which one would you choose and why?

This is tough, since I feel like every Beth Moore Bible Study she writes is just better than the last one! I’d have to say though that every teen should do Beth Moore’s “Believing God.”

And finally, can you tell us what to expect next from you? 

Sure! My next Love Inspired romance is coming out in March 2012! It’s called HER FAMILY WISH and is about a female photographer and a hunky vice principal/single dad. It’s a story of internal and external scars, biases, unfulfilled dreams, and God’s unconditional love and acceptance—along with a strong romance thread, of course :) I hope you’ll love Hannah and Jude as much as I do!

Looking forward to it! It's been wonderful to have you on here today! Thank you so much for stopping by Shelf Life!

If you'd like to learn more about Betsy, you can visit her website and blog, or find her on Facebook and Twitter!

Right now, Betsy has an awesome quiz on her website!

Find out which character you would date from Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK!

Interview with Melanie Dickerson!

I'm so stoked about this interview with author Melanie Dickerson. If you haven't read her novels yet, you have to. Melanie Dickerson is the award-winning author of TheHealer's Apprentice, her debut novel which won Best First Book at the National Readers' Choice Awards and came in fourth at the Family Fiction Awards. The novel also finaled for a Christy and Golden Quill award, and it earned a HOLT Medaillion Award of Merit.

Melanie has joined us today to talk about her newest release, The Merchant's Daughter! Please give her a warm welcome.

Questions & Answers with Melanie Dickerson 

The first thing I really want to bring up is that you have a unique position in the Christian Young Adult market because there aren't too many historicals in this Young Adult genre. Were you initially worried when your first novel released?

Of course, authors always wonder how their first book will be received. But I believed my book would fill a void in the market and that young people who wanted a good historical romance—older readers too—would enjoy my book. Publishers worry about putting out something that is too “different” from the other things that are out there, but I wasn’t worried about that. I believed something fresh and different would be welcome.

The second thing that really makes your stories unique is the fact they're based off of fairy tales. How do you research the tales you choose to write about?

I do go back and read the original fairy tale, but sometimes I base my stories off the more familiar versions of the story. For instance, with my Sleeping Beauty story, The Healer’s Apprentice, I based it more on the Disney version than on the original Grimm’s fairy tale, which I found to be bizarre.

Is it a challenge to take a well-known, beloved fairy tale and spin it into something new and fresh that will capture and engage readers?

It is a challenge, but it’s fun. I like taking the basic story and asking myself what this story would look like without the magic, more fleshed out, and with a more realistic and historically accurate setting.

Can you tell us a little about your newest release?

The Merchant’s Daughter is based on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. It’s set in Medieval England and is basically a love story between two very unlikely people who gradually fall in love and realize that God makes all things new.

What do you hope readers will take away from this re-telling of "Beauty and the Beast" that they may have missed in the traditional version?

I hope they will take away an appreciation for the original themes of the story, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that what’s inside a person is more important than the outside. It’s also a coming of age story, where a girl becomes a woman with a woman’s feelings and leaves behind her childish assumptions about men and about life, and even about God, in my version. My heroine and hero both mature and come to a better understanding of God’s nature.

When writing The Merchant's Daughter, did you cast your characters with certain actors? 

No, I don’t really do that. I have a picture of them in my mind, but I don’t use real people. But it would be fun to pick the actors to play in a movie version. J 

Have you traveled to the countries where your stories are set, and if so, what place did you most enjoy?

I lived in Germany one summer, in the town of Hildesheim, which was the inspiration for the walled town of Hagenheim in my first book, The Healer’s Apprentice.

Once Upon a Time

I've been dying to ask this question. What's your take on the new abc series Once Upon A Time?

I am actually watching it, and I like it. I haven’t followed a TV show in probably twenty years, but I thought I would end my hiatus and watch this one. So far it is holding my attention. I like the twists on the classic tales. The possibilities are endless.

So far, whose story in the series do you like best?

The one episode I missed was the one about Cinderella, but I’ve been planning on trying to watch it online.

Which do you prefer most: Grimm or Once Upon a Time?

I haven’t watched Grimm. I don’t like scary stuff, and the original Grimm’s fairy tales are pretty ... grim.

What fairy tale was your childhood favorite?

I think Beauty and the Beast was always my favorite. I even wrote my own version of the story when I was about eighteen. I still have that story and just discovered a few weeks ago. Apparently I sent it off to a magazine, but they must have rejected it.

What does a typical writing day look like for you?

I take my kids to school, then have a little Bible reading and prayer time, then check my email and read a blog or two and check facebook, which I really shouldn’t do until later because I usually get bogged down with that for an hour or more. Then I write until 3:00, when my kids come home from school on the bus. Actually, this is an ideal day, when no one is sick, and I don’t have pressing errands or other unavoidable distractions. Lately I’ve also been doing a lot of marketing stuff, like interviews such as this one.

Now, I want to shift directions a bit. Since it's Christmas time, I'd like to ask a few questions pertaining to that. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Actually, O Come, O Come Emmanuel is my favorite Christmas song, and I was very excited when I was able to use it in my latest book, The Merchant’s Daughter. It’s a very old song, from the 1200’s, and it fit perfectly into the scenes I used it in.

What do you enjoy most about Christmas?

I enjoy the general feeling of good cheer, the excitement of my two kids, and just the freshness of it. Christmas is always new, somehow. Something different about Jesus hits me, and I realize how blessed I am all over again.

What medieval Christmas tradition do you find most interesting?

The Medieval people loved tradition, and they loved holidays. They really knew how to celebrate! They would drink wassail, which was mulled cider or ale spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sugar. They also would cut down a huge log to place in their enormous fireplace—the Yule log—and let it burn for days. Medieval Christmas traditions are a fascinating study.

What is the last book you read?  

I’m not even sure. I’ve been reading a lot of research materials lately, non-fiction stuff for the books I’m working on.

What can we expect from you next? 

Well, Holly, I have a Snow White story, as yet untitled, that is a sequel to The Healer’s Apprentice of sorts, as the hero is the son of Rose and Wilhelm. You might see it in stores come August. But that’s just a rumor right now (wink-wink).

That sounds exciting. I think we'll all be eagerly expecting it :) It's been great to have you on Shelf Life today!

If you'd like to stay in touch with Melanie Dickerson, you can check out her website and blog, or follow her on facebook. 

Shelf Life is currently giving away a copy of The Merchant's Daughter. 

Click here to enter the giveaway!