Melissa
will be awarding (2) two $25 gift cards (winner's choice of Amazon or BN.com) to (2) two randomly
drawn commenters during the tour. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, visit other tour stops and enter there, too.
Welcome, Melissa. Please tell us a
little bit about yourself.
A friend
asked me once how I chose my pen name. I told her the following: "Melissa,
because when people mix up my first name, it's the most common goof up. Snark,
because it amuses me. A) I love the word 'snarky' and B) I love Lewis
Carroll."
As an
individual, I'm sarcastic, stubborn and blunt to a fault. I have a strange
sense of humor and I like to laugh (usually at my husband or children), but
also at myself. I'm not particularly extroverted, although I do enjoy time with
my family and close friends a great deal.
At the
moment, I'm a stay-at-home mom who writes in my spare time. I've got a B.S.
from Arizona State University in Business, and I've worked a variety of
different jobs, including as a medical device documentation specialist, a
technical writer, and an auto liability adjuster. I live in the San Francisco
East Bay of Northern California with my husband, three kids, and three cats. My
hobbies include roleplaying, cooking and reading.
Readers can
watch for The Mating Game, an erotic
paranormal novel published via The Wild Rose Press, to appear in 2014.
I maintain a
blog, which I update regularly at http://melissasnark.blogspot.com/. I enjoy hearing from my readers, so please
drop me a line at MelissaSnark at gmail dot com.
Please tell us about your current
release.
When I decided to write paranormal fantasy, I wanted to come up with a
fresh angle on the werewolf origin story. Hopefully, something that hadn’t been
done before. I stumbled into the idea for modern day Viking werewolves due to
my love of Norse mythology and history. According to Norse myths, the great
wolf, Fenrir, is descended from the God Loki. I simply extrapolated—what if
Fenrir had sired descendants able to change forms the same as Loki? They became
the werewolves of my Loki's Wolves series. My origin story went on to encompass
Viking colonies along the coast of North America prior to the arrival of
Christopher Columbus. My werewolves were driven from the Norselands and settled
in the New World. Many mated with Native Americans, so many of the werewolves
in my series have a mixed heritage of Norse and Native American blood.
What inspired you to write this book?
Lake Tahoe in the winter. My family goes up there every January or
February on a ski vacation. The snow covered mountains and lake are simply
breathtaking. My imagination conjured the beginning of Hunger Moon during a ski
there about four years ago.
Excerpt:
She
caught the scent of a male wolf behind her. Her hackles rose when his whiskey
voice mocked her. "Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a tiny
woman."
Victoria
spun to face the offending male wolf intruder. Her upper lip peeled back to
reveal her canines and a rumbling snarl issued from her throat. He towered over
her, standing at least a foot and a half taller, and had at least a hundred
pounds of lean muscle on her. He wore a short-sleeve tan shirt featuring a
Chinese dragon, faded blue jeans, and black Doc Martens.
She
assumed a defensive stance, extending her right hand to reach for her dagger,
when he caught her gaze. She found no threat in his amber eyes, only naked lust
and wicked humor. His generous mouth twisted into a smirk. In her assessment,
he did not present an immediate physical threat.
"Well,
halloo, Blondie. Has daddy found himself a new playmate?"
She
modified her snarl into a cold smile. They might be wolves, but they were also
human. She was a guest in his home. Relaxing her guard, she assessed him with
an appreciative glance.
"You
must be Logan."
"I
must be." He regarded her with a lascivious leer.
Victoria
rolled her eyes. She had no doubt. The physical resemblance to Arik became
apparent upon consideration. Father and son shared the same high forehead,
strong thin-profiled nose, cheekbones and jaw. The boy wore his light-brown
hair in a spiky style and lacked his father's sturdy build. Broad shoulders,
long limbs, and a narrow waist kept with his youth. In time, he would fill out.
She could tell he'd be huge once he reached maturity.
A
quick glance over her shoulder revealed that the woman among the trees had
vanished. With a shrug, Victoria dismissed the incident.
"You
have me at a disadvantage. What's your name?" Logan stepped forward,
invading her personal space even more. He tilted his head back, mocking the
surrender of his throat.
She
refused to give ground, so they were almost touching. "Victoria
Storm."
"Victoria—sounds
like an old lady," Logan said. "Can I call you Vicky?"
"Do
so and die." Victoria glared. She expected he got away with murder, thanks
to an uncanny beauty that even a distinct lack of charm failed to eradicate.
Logan
threw back his head and laughed, further exposing his throat. He oozed
arrogance from every pore. "Are you always so defensive, Vic?"
Her
fists clenched, and she reined in the impulse to pummel him. "Does that
facile charm work with the little high school girls? Do they call you Wolverine
and swoon when you walk by?"
"Ouch."
He smirked. "You know, they do. Swoon. But I'm long out of high school and
good ol' dad is to blame for my namesake. Is it my fault he's a secret comic
book fan boy?"
"Our
parents' literary tastes are never our fault." She felt his heat on her
skin and longed to wrap her mouth around the thick column of his throat. He
smelled delicious.
"The
real question is whether it’s your fault that you're a bitter disappointment to
your father?" She delivered the final cut with a cruel smile.
A
facial tick in his jaw showed she had scored a direct hit. His glib tongue
formed a quick reply. "It's always easier to slip under my father's bar
than to try to go over it."
What exciting story are you working on
next?
Currently,
I have two works in progress. Hell on
High Heels is a contemporary romance and the sequel to Learning to Fly. The story follows the relationship between a
wealthy heiress with a shoe fetish and a cool CIA agent over the course of
three-and-a-half-years, weaving together present day sequences with flashbacks.
The second WIP is Battle Cry, which
is a sequel to Hunger Moon. Victoria finally faces her past and returns to
Arizona to avenge her dead lover.
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
Going back,
I guess I came to the realization in 4th grade that I wanted to
write. It's been a lifelong pursuit and there have been times when I was unable
to write due to other constraints but it is the one thing I have always
returned to. Without a doubt, I'd consider it my calling.
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?
No. I'm a
full-time mom. I write during those in-between times when I can grab a few
moments to myself. Some days, I don't have time to write at all but most days I
manage an hour. On good days, I write for two or three hours, but it usually
means that I sacrifice something else that I should (or would like) to be
doing.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
My most
interesting quirk is that some of my most pivotal scenes are the product of
dreams. There are times when an important development in my story will enter my
head as a result of a dream. If the idea really sticks, then I'll add it into
the story. There have been a couple inconvenient moments when dream sequences
altered the course of the story, but more often than not, those scenes prove to
be helpful. Dreams have helped me get past writer's block when I'm stuck and
even given me the ending of stories.
As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?
As a child,
I never wanted to grow up but I planned to become an author once I got too big
to live at home any longer. My parents encouraged me to become something
practical such as an accountant, and so I spent my first three years at Arizona
State University majoring in accounting. As it happened, I despised accounting
with a fiery passion. This unfortunate discovery resulted in a change of major
and an extra year in college, but I eventually graduated with a Business
degree. Since graduation, I've worked in a variety of different professions,
including medical device documentation clerk, technical writer, and claims
adjuster for auto insurance. I'm currently lucky enough to be doing the two
things I always dreamed about doing: mom and author. Author mom. Those two
titles cover a great many hats.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
Yes! Thank
you so much for dropping in today and sticking with me through the entire
interview! And thank you, Lisa, for having me as your guest today.
Where to find Melissa on the Internet:
E-mail:
melissasnark@gmail.com
Hunger Moon
Buy Links:
