Author Interview ~ Melanie Wells

A native of the Texas panhandle, Melanie Wells attended Southern Methodist University on a music scholarship, and later completed graduate degrees at Our Lady of the Lake University and Dallas Theological Seminary. She has taught at the graduate level at both OLLU and DTS, and has been in private practice as a counselor since 1992. She is the founder and director of LifeWorks counseling associates, a collaborative community of creative therapists in Dallas, Texas. Melanie is the author of several novels, including When the Day of Evil Comes. She lives in Dallas with her dog, Gunner, who wishes she wouldn’t spend so much time at the computer.


The Soul Hunter, sequel to When the Day of Evil Comes is coming out next month, is that correct?

Righto. It should be in stores by the end of May. I just got my copy in the mail. It looks GREAT! The cover is extremely high on the creep-o-meter.

Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

I started writing in the mid-nineties. I was living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and had been sick for a few months during the winter. That January, it snowed 15 feet. In one month. All snow, all the time. I’m not a TV person, so I was reading a lot of terrible books. I kept thinking – I could do better than this! So I started writing my first novel. That novel, called The Permian Game, eventually found its way to Rod Morris’s desk at Multnomah, through another Multnomah author I met at a party in Vail (I was already back in Texas, but in Vail for a visit). Multnomah needed something with more obvious spiritual themes, so they couldn’t publish that book.

About six months later, I had a dream at a friend’s house while on a writer’s weekend. The dream became the first chapter of When the Day of Evil Comes.

Rod had said he liked my voice, (he’s the senior fiction editor at Multnomah), so naturally, I began stalking him. I finally met him at a writer’s conference in Amarillo, TX, which happens to be my hometown. I’d seen on some brochure that he was going to be there, so I flew up there and tracked him down. I shoved my chapters (there were three or four by then) under his nose and convinced him to give me a read, which he did. He kept in touch with me over the next couple of years as I pecked away at the book. Eventually, I sent the finished draft in and waited. And waited. And waited. He kept me informed as it passed through each hoop – there are committees involved with this sort of thing.

Finally, about six months after I’d sent the draft in, he e-mailed the magic words: “I like it. I want to publish it.” I started to cry. It was a grand moment. That was almost ten years after I wrote my first word of fiction.

You mentioned in a previous interview that you had a few novels collecting dust that you hoped to get published. How’s that coming along?

The Permian Game is the first of a series, set in Texas, involving a really groovy girl named Abbie Sullivan. It’s now on an editor’s desk in NYC. Wish me luck.

Tell us about the Peter Terry website.

People write me all the time with their creepy Peter Terry stories. (Character from When the Day of Evil Comes and Soul Hunter). I finally just started him his own little blog. He’s got quite a following. He’s very popular, in a sick sort of way.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication?

Well, all of them, really. First, I wrote a really catchy query letter and sent it to one agent and then waited confidently for them to call me. They sent me an unsigned form letter rejection. Lesson: catchy letters are bad. Then I wrote a less catchy but still quippy letter and sent it to several agents. Multiple signed form letter rejections. Lesson: quippy letters are also bad, though not as bad as catchy ones. And so on… I finally learned to follow the formula they give you for query letters in the Guide to Literary Agents.

Eventually, I landed a hot-shot New York agent for The Permian Game. He hired an editor to help me with a re-write. The editor hated the book, but I accomplished the re-write anyway, in spite of the derisive bombs the editor continually lobbed in my direction. After the re-write, the agent let the manuscript sit on his desk for six months and then sent it back to me with a note that he was going to limit his business to non-fiction. Lessons: hot shot agents are not that hot. And even a snobby editor might have something to say. Auxiliary lesson: Thick skin is good.

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

Learn to write. Keep at it. Don’t give up. A good book will eventually find a home.

You mentioned in another interview that growing up in a musical family you had learned to accept criticism and the importance of “being bad out loud.” How would you suggest fledgling novelists get feedback on their work?

I don’t really bother showing my work to other fiction writers. They’re usually insecure and will come up with something picky to say just to feel better about themselves. I do get a lot of feedback from songwriters (I know lots) and writers of non-fiction (ditto). But my best feedback always comes from readers. People who buy a book at the grocery store check-out and then throw it away if it’s not any good. Those are your critics. They’re almost always right. Let them read your work and then listen to what they have to say even if it makes you want to cry (it’s unseemly to cry in front of them – do that in the car on the way home).

What’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

Treat it like a business. Learn to craft your product and be willing to do what it takes to sell it. Don’t be sentimental about it. That’s the kiss of death.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has been speaking to you lately?

Isaiah 54. It came to me in a very difficult time and still provides me with peace in the midst of turmoil. God lights my way with that chapter.

Is there a particularly difficult set back that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

Losing the hot-shot agent was a setback. I gave up for a while after that. I was very emotional about writing during that period of my life. I’d go months and not write a word if I got stuck. Now I’m pretty businesslike about it.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

I read a lot of non-fiction. I had a friend climbing Everest last month, so I’m reading Into Thin Air at the moment. It’s gripping. I also love Anne Lamott. And David Sedaris. I howl with laughter while reading his books. It’s really quite embarrassing. I love Harper Lee and Truman Capote. In Cold Blood is a brilliant book. And of course, every girl wants to be Scout and to have Gregory Peck for a father.

Why write spiritual warfare?

I was in the midst of a tumultuous time in my life when I started writing When the Day of Evil Comes. I felt surrounded. It was a very real, gritty spiritual war which had an unsettling, other-worldly quality to it. The dream happened during that terrible time, and I think it was a reflection of what was going on in my life.

What makes for good suspense?

I think good suspense is all about what you DON’T say. I don’t like gore and I don’t like to scare people in a cheap, goon-in-the-closet way. Peter Terry is a stalker. The sort of being that would come to your house while you’re not there and just move things around. The sort of being that wants you to know he’s there. He’s covert, not overt. That’s what makes my books chilling. Much of the scary action happens while you’re not watching. So you’re left to sort out the results and figure out what might happen next. Also – since the subject matter is so dark, I think it’s crucial to add humor. Dylan is a likeable girl with a fantastic, if cynical, sense of humor. She’s someone you’d want to hang out with.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

That everyone gets paid better than the writer.

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

I only have a couple of days a week to write, since I have a counseling practice also (shameless plug: LifeWorks Counseling Associates in Dallas: www.wefixbrains.com).

So on my writing days, I’m very structured. I get up and have some breakfast, then head upstairs to write. I work for several hours and then take a break for lunch and maybe walk my dog or something. And then I go back upstairs and stay until supper or until I can’t stand it anymore, whichever comes first. And when I finish a chapter, I always write the first line of the next one before I quit. That keeps me moving.

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

My goodness. They’re too numerous to catalog. I aspire to write nuanced, layered prose that’s simple while conveying complex ideas. K.L. Cook is a perfect example of this. K.L. writes literary fiction, so it’s not fair to compare my writing to his, but if I had the time and the dedication, I’d be writing denser paragraphs and saying more with fewer words.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

I hope to continue to turn out readable books that get great reviews. That’s a rare combination. If I can keep that up, I’ll be golden.

How much marketing do you do? Any advice in this area?

Tons, but not enough. I have a publicist in addition to the resources (marketing and publicity) at Multnomah, so they all keep me pretty busy. I’d love to say writing good books is enough, but it isn’t. You have to go out there and sell them. Meeting people is great fun, though. So it’s pleasant work.

Parting words?

Writing is an elusive craft. It’s dreadfully boring and tedious and difficult. But seeing your name on a book cover and opening the book and seeing your words? Unbelievable. Absolutely worth every keystroke.