Interview with YA sci-fi author Melody Dempsey

Young adult science fiction/fantasy author Melody Dempsey is here today as  a stop during her virtual book tour for her novel The Forest Portal.

She's raffling off a signed paper copy of her novel to a lucky winner. You can enter via the raffle copy form at the bottom of the interview.

Bio: Born in Chelsea, MA, Melody has two grown daughters, and seven "furry babies." Three cats, two dogs and two pet mice. 

She's enjoyed writing ever since she was in elementary school. Melody can remember the feeling of excitement she would get whenever her English teacher wanted the class to write a story. Once, in the third grade, the teacher wanted all of the class to write a short story of any topic of their choosing. Melody wrote a comedy about a dog and a cat. Unable to remember all of the story now, she does remember reading it and the class loved it! Melody also remembers the story was about the comedic antics of one dog and a mean cat. The story ended with the dog being chased up a tree. That image is still funny and it got her the first place blue ribbon! 

Melody actually started to write seriously when she was around 14 years old. During the summer months she found that she had more time on my hands, loving to read more in her early teen years. After reflecting back on the materials read, she would find herself with pen in hand, paper in front of her, (there were no home computers back then), and she would start to create her own stories. 

Melody has always been very fond of fiction, adventure, human interest stories, mystery, and thriller novels and also enjoys comedies, and of course, stories about animals. 

Welcome, Melody. Please tell us about your current release, The Forest Portal.
This book tells of three teens as they embark on a time traveling journey into the past. They are swept up in an unknown world where they save the life of a rapist, obviously not knowing it at the time. Chaos ensues as they also save a young woman from being raped by the same man they saved from certain death, but they inadvertently end up ruining the life of the young woman as well as wiping her entire family off the face of the earth! The three teens end up wreaking havoc, not only in their lives and not only in the life of the young woman they save, but in the lives of others they touch in the past as they probe deeper and deeper into the past. 

What inspired you to write this book?
I love Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery books. I wrote this book at first, for my own enjoyment, but as the story progressed, I was inspired to actually challenge myself to see just exactly what I could create. During the process of completing my manuscript, I entertained the possibility of publication, but naturally, I was hesitant about actually submitting it after I finished it. Well, I decided to go ahead and send in my manuscript. I sent it in to 3 different publishers. To my total surprise, they all accepted my work! I could not have been happier! I decided to go with Publish America because I thought that was the best choice at the time. I felt I made the right decision.

Excerpt:
Karen moved uncomfortably in her chair. “That no good scum bag came after my daughter about three months after you kids rescued her. He didn’t come around here again. No, this time that scuz bag saw her in town and dragged her behind a building and.…he.…raped her! Oh God!” she cried as she buried her face in her hands.

Collette felt as if she couldn’t breathe hearing what had happened to her friend, but she quickly went over to where Karen was sitting, placing a comforting arm around her and started to cry.

Taden spoke up. “That sorry Bastard!.” he growled between clinched teeth.

Cam turned very pale. “Oh my God! I never thought.…I mean the beating that we gave him.….”

Karen looked up, wiping her eyes. Cam came over to her and hugged her tightly.

“I’m so sorry Mrs. Delco.”

She shook her head. “No one could predict what that evil no good was up to.”

Collette wiped the hot stinging tears from her eyes. “Where is Sabrina at now Mrs. Delco?”

Karen glanced at her trying very hard to hold back the burning tears in her eyes. “She’s here, in her bedroom,” she replied, almost in a whisper.

Collette noticed the tears starting to stream down Karen’s face. She put her arm around the middle aged woman’s shoulder. Karen was silent for a few moments. She wiped her eyes.

“Kids, I have to tell you something. Since this horrible thing happened, Sabrina has changed. You see, when she was raped she became pregnant. We didn’t know until she was a couple of months along. She was still reeling from the rape, then finding out that she was carrying that freaks baby made things worse. Sabrina became very depressed. She wouldn’t eat hardly anything; she stopped going places with her friends. She lost the baby a month later, which was a blessing, but she was so devastated by everything that happened, she just shut down altogether.”

Karen sighed. Her eyes, red from crying, “Since then, she just sits and rocks back and forth. She doesn’t talk and she doesn’t seem to recognize anyone.”

Taden and Collette looked at each other; horror etched on their faces.

“Oh my God! That poor sweet girl!.” Collette cried as she sat beside Karen.

Cam clinched his fist. .“That sorry son-of-a-bitch!”

He walked over to the window. .“I’m sorry Mrs. Delco, I.…..”

Karen rose from her chair and walked over to him. It’s ok son,” she replied as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“We tried to contact you all after Sabrina was attacked, but no body seemed to know where you were or where you lived. Where do you live anyway?.” she asked. Cam closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. “We live across the big field near the Maine residence.

Taden spoke up. “Yeah, we haven’t been there too long.”

Collette shot him a cautious look, then looked at Karen.

“Well, actually we’ve been there over a year now.”

She felt terrible for having to lie to this sweet lady.

Cam sighed. .“Mrs. Delco, I feel terrible about not being accessible to you and your family.”

The middle aged woman gave him a weak smile. .“It’s ok son. These things happen.

Collette made a fist. .“Somebody ought to kill that sorry bastard!” She growled.

Karen cleared her throat. “Oh, I have to tell you, everybody wanted to string him up by the neck! That coward left town as far as we know. No one has seen him since he attacked Sabrina.”

She fell silent for a moment. Everybody felt the sad awkwardness that filled the room. Taden nervously cleared his throat.

“Mrs. Delco, I’m wondering if Sabrina sees us, do you think she would recognize us?”

Karen looked at him. “Son, I’m not sure.”

She managed a weak smile. “I suppose anything is worth a try.”

She led the threesome down the hall. They reached Sabrina’s room.

Karen slowly opened the door. Sabrina was sitting in a large overstuffed chair upholstered with a patchwork quilt. She just sat there rocking back and forth. The kids were shocked at what they saw.

Collette drew a breath, putting her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God,.” she gasp, in a hushed voice as tears started to stream down her face.

Cam felt as if his legs were going to turn into water. Taden felt a huge lump starting to form in his throat. Cam closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in disbelief. Collette tried to fight the urge to keep from crying.

She lost the battle. Taden put his arm across her shoulder doing his best to comfort her. Karen took her hand and gently squeezed it.

Taden decided to walk over to Sabrina. He knelt down beside her doing his best to smile, but it didn’t come easy for him.

“Hello Sabrina,” he said, still feeling that lump in his throat.

He feared he himself may start to lose his composure. Tears started to well in his eyes.

Collette swallowed the lump she had in her throat, dried her eyes and walked over to Sabrina. She stood to the side of her and gently gave her a hug. Sabrina did not respond. Collette felt the tears coming so she and Taden walked back over to Karen, who was wiping tears from her eyes.

Cam stepped in to the room, hesitated a moment, then walked over to Sabrina, kneeling down in front of her.

He took her hand in his. “Sabrina honey, do you remember me?”

Sabrina looked at him with sad, empty eyes. She looked back down at her hands and continued to rock back and forth. Tears sprang in Cam’s eyes. He looked away to avoid letting her see his tears as they started to fall on his cheeks. He wiped them away as he turned to face Sabrina. He gazed at her sad, sweet face.

“I’m sorry Sabrina.” He whispered in her ear. “I’m going to fix this. You will have your life back, I promise you that.”

Cam got up and walked back over to the doorway. Collette was sobbing.

“I know sweetie, I know,” he said softly, trying to comfort her.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I am currently working on the sequel to The Forest Portal.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Well, actually it wasn’t until I wrote The Forest Portal that I saw myself as a writer. My very first desire to write came about when I was 14 years old.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Unfortunately right now, no I do not write full time. I would like to eventually be a full time Author. 

I am currently working in the Health Care Field. In my spare time, I am working on promoting my book and working on ideas for my upcoming sequel to The Forest Portal. 

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I would say that my writing quirk would be that I absolutely have to have my manuscript typed with my sentences double spaced. Typing in single space drives me nuts and really messes with my eyes! lol! 

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an English Teacher.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I have always enjoyed writing and expressing what is on my mind, whether it be about something going on in my life, or if I had a story in me that I wanted to get down on paper. 

Ways to connect with  me: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Goodreads

Thanks, Melody!

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