Melanie Robertson-King
What is your favourite genre to write in?
I’m led towards romance in my writing and all of my books have a romantic element in them, whether that’s the main theme or not. I find it’s a great way of escaping the everyday events around me. In the end, we all want a happy ending, don’t we?
Did you need to do research for your book? If so, how much did you do, how did you do it?
When I’m using actual events and spinning my story around them, I have to do quite a bit of research. One of my nieces who was working in Alberta in the area of the wildfires told me about a book that was written by the firefighters involved so I bought it and a couple of other ones. With the digs in Egypt, I spent hours going through e-magazines, cultural websites, archaeological sites to find what I needed. With that one, I used actual people – Ramadan B. Hussein, an Egyptologist, who sadly passed away in 2022. The Minister of Antiquities, Khaled al-Anani was another actual person.
Would you travel to the area where your book is set?
I have travelled to the locations. My time-travel books (A Shadow in the Past and Shadows from Her Past) are set in the village where my father was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland). I changed the names of the places to protect the guilty. Other times I use the actual place names without disguising them. When I wrote It Happened in Gastown, I’d never been to that part of Vancouver. I had the story written when my husband and I travelled by train from Toronto to Vancouver. I dragged him through some pretty sketchy areas but from just using Google street views, I had the geographical area. The visit confirmed that and I was on the right track and I went back through the novel adding sounds and smells.
How do you feel about killing off popular characters? Is it something you enjoy doing in your own books? Have you done it?
I killed off a couple of characters in WHISPERS THROUGH TIME from the past timeline. Lumber baron, Albert Kembleford (think I’ve watched Father Brown once too often?) and his oldest daughter, Ophelia. Both were suicides. They weren’t major players in life, but are in the afterlife.
Do you write under a pseudonym or your own name?
For this I’m going to say yes and no. It’s my name, but with my surname hyphenated with my maiden name.
Have you ever interviewed someone in relation to your book, in order to make your story more realistic?
I haven’t – yet. I did have a ‘medium’ tell me if I ever needed assistance with research, she was available. A lovely offer, but she didn’t give me any contact information.
Does your family read your work?
My husband has read my short stories, but not my novels. He did read a section of ECHOES THROUGH TIME, though. My main character was using Ancestry for the first time and since he’s into genealogy and uses the site almost daily, I had him read it over to make sure what I was saying was correct.
My husband is a great help. He pitches in on the domestic front doing pretty much everything but cooking, does my bookkeeping, and website maintenance.
How many hours a day or week would you say you spend writing? Is it a potential career for you, is it something you do outside your day job?
I’m lucky to have retired a little over three years ago. Usually, I spend my morning with other things. I love to walk so am out most days for about an hour. Then I settle into the writer’s chair and spend about three-four hours there, sometimes longer. I try to write every day, but there are times when life gets in the way.
Is writing therapeutic for you, or does it cause you to stress out?
I don’t find the writing stressful. It’s quite enjoyable, especially when I get into the zone. Formatting for print and e-book can be stressful.
How do you market your books?
I have my books at Amazon, Kobo (and enrolled in Kobo Plus, which isn’t exclusive like Kindle Unlimited), and at Barnes & Noble. My print books are available at craft shows and farmers’ markets.
Tell me why you market them this way – how it helps. Would you be open to help when it comes to marketing and promoting your work?
I love getting out and about and talking to people. I have a fan base, who spread the word about my books, and have purchased all of them. I’ve let the promotion on the e-book side of things slide, but plan on getting back into that this year.
How do you react to reviews?
I remember when I got my first 1-star review. It stung, but my comment about it was, “I’ve arrived.” A number of traditionally published authors I follow have received stinkers, too. I think we’d all prefer just good reviews, but not everyone likes the same thing so there are bound to be differences. As long as there aren’t any spoilers in them, it’s okay.
You can find more info about Melanie Robertson-King on her website: melanierobertson-king.com/
