This week features a new-to-me author. Perhaps she’s new to you as well, so let’s learn more about her.

Melanie Stevenson ~ Stories for the Soul

Melanie is an award-winning author and lives in Ontario, Canada, surrounded by her husband, four children, and two grandchildren. She attended the University of Waterloo and obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Melanie’s first novel, One More Tomorrow, won Best Romantic Fiction at the 2020 Word Awards—Canada’s top Christian literary awards. She also received Best New Canadian Author at the Word Awards the same year.

Melanie maintains a blog where she posts devotionals. In 2019, she published Soul Focus – Trials, a collection of devotionals. She is also the Faith Editor at BE Magazine, an online magazine for the modern woman of faith, and a regular contributor to Christian Life in London Magazine.

Melanie writes with sensitivity and discretion, often tackling complex topics to kindle compassion and hope. She weaves in beauty with unusual depth and humor while encouraging the reader that although we are collectively flawed, hope and goodness can be found. Her mission is to create stories of excellence that impact hearts and lives. Paper, canvas, and dirt are her favorite blank pages.

And, now for some questions:

What inspired you to write your latest book, and how did the story idea first come to you?

The idea for “Where My Heart Belongs” (part of the I’ll Be Home anthology) came to me when the Fab Four (a group that includes me and three other writer friends) were returning from a writer’s conference. Someone came up with the idea that we should write an anthology. Since I had just completed a rom-com manuscript, it made sense to continue in that genre. We each chose a location in Canada. “Where My Heart Belongs” is set in Quebec City. The first line came to me as I awoke one morning. I typed it into my phone and kept going. Before I knew it, I had written for three hours while still lying in bed!

Can you share a bit about your writing process? Do you have any rituals or routines that help you stay creative?

Often, an idea springs into my head while doing a mundane task such as driving. Since ideas are slippery, I write them in a notebook, or if I’m on the road, I’ll dictate the idea into my phone. It might be a bit of dialogue or part of a scene. From there, my mind builds it out, and by the time I’m at the keyboard I have a general sense of what is going to happen. I’m not strict and leave myself open for the characters to take things in a direction I hadn’t premeditated. Even if I don’t feel inspired, I sit at my computer, and the words and ideas begin to flow.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspect of your writing career so far?

It’s always amazing to hear feedback from readers telling you how they enjoyed your story. For “Where My Heart Belongs” I received several emails from readers who wrote to tell me that my story made them both laugh out loud and cry. That warmed my heart because it let me know that my story had an impact and brought a measure of joy and warmth to their hearts.

Now that you’ve gotten to know her, you can find Melanie at www.melaniestevenson.com and melanie@melaniestevenson.com or visit her blog at www.scentofheaven.me Sign up for her newsletter to receive updates at https://scentofheaven.me/subscribe/

Thank you for joining me. I pray this week will bring a closer walk with the Lord. Que les vayan con Dios!