1. When did you start writing?

I first started writing as a kid, and by middle school was entertaining my friends with songs, poems, and short stories. I often joke I supplied my friends with PG-13 smut — I guess I was destined to write romance! I stopped writing when I went to college and focused on graphic design, but I always had an urge to write a novel.

I moved out of the country to Zihuatenejo, Mexico, two weeks before my 33rd birthday, and because I couldn’t work, I threw myself into learning everything I could about the publishing industry. My first full-length manuscript was a memoir about my first year in Mexico, then I moved on to novels and haven’t looked back.

Since returning to the US in 2010, I’ve slowly shifted my day job from strictly graphic design to include writing, and I’ve been very happy with this balance.

2. What was your journey towards becoming an author like?

When I first started writing novels, I swore I would only publish traditionally. I wanted an agent who would do the negotiating for me, and a publishing house to do the editing and marketing. A year and a half into querying my third novel, Flicker, I came close to getting an agent, but their biggest hang-up was no one knew how to market my contemporary time travel story. Now I know it’s called magical realism, but in 2012, that wasn’t a thing yet.

In the meantime, I’d built quite a network of author friends, and had started a freelance business designing covers for authors who were self-publishing. I felt faced with a choice: let my novel gather dust in the bowels of my laptop, or try this self-publishing thing.

By 2012, the stigma had started to lessen and people were making real money, so I went for it. I’ve since published three trilogies and have met wonderful authors from all over the world. I’d love to be a hybrid author — one who both publishes both traditionally and independently — and I’m working toward that goal.

3. What can you tell me about your latest book? (Feel free to include an excerpt.)

Chasing the Moon is the third and final book in the Campfire series, so while I knew from the start there would be a third book, I didn’t know who would be the main characters until I wrote the second book, Chasing the Stars. Melody Thompson is the littler sister of one of the main characters from that book and was supposed to merely be a side character, but her personality burst off the pages. She was only twelve years old, but faced problems that a lot of kids can relate to, including changing friend dynamics and peer pressure.

Chasing the Moon takes place five years later. Melody, or Mel, has a good grasp on who she is as a person, but she’s struggling with decisions about college, her mother’s recent marriage, and the fact that she’s falling for her best friend, Stephanie. Meanwhile Steph, the other main character, is reeling from her parents’ announcement that they’re getting divorced and just wants to spend time with her friends. But of course life is never that simple.

The majority of this story takes place in the Grand Canyon. Not at the canyon—in it. I really hoped to camp there myself before writing the first draft, but the pandemic got in the way of our travel plans. Instead I interviewed several people who have hiked to the bottom and stayed at the campground, and think I captured what it’s like to spend a few days at the bottom of the earth. 

Here's the blurb:

Two best friends. One tiny tent. An attraction that’s impossible to ignore.

Melody

Being a semi-famous science tokker epically rocks because I get to make science accessible for girls. Until I make a mistake and a jerkface tokker ridicules me to his fans. I need to prove I’m not a hack before my followers bail and I ruin my credibility—all before I graduate from high school.

Just one problem: my family’s hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where I won’t have signal for a week. Oh, and I’m sharing a tent with the Bestie Brigade—my two best friends—and I’ve crushed on one of them for longer than trends last on TikTok.

Dating Steph would make Jess feel left out and I vowed I’d never do that to her again. Do I risk hurting my closest friend for a chance at love?

Stephanie

Senior year was rolling along just great until my parents announced they’re getting divorced the same night I broke up with my girlfriend.

Spending a week offline in the Grand Canyon to watch the lunar eclipse with Jess and Mel is the perfect way to pretend my life isn’t falling apart. Except we’re camping with people who insist on talking through EVERY FREAKING PROBLEM around the campfire.

And I’m not ready to share.

The time away with Mel makes our connection even stronger, but I’m scared whatever she’s hiding could change our friendship forever. 

Book 3 in the Campfire Series is filled with grand adventures, secret kisses, and an epic eclipse you won’t soon forget.

4. What sort of methods do you use for book promotion?

A little bit of everything! Social media, of course, but also my newsletter, newsletter swaps with other authors, local events, radio interviews, press releases to local newspapers, asking people to share the news, my website and blog, and I’m sure I’m missing a few.

I also print bookmarks that I can hand out at events and give to people who order directly from me.

5. Where do you get your ideas for stories?

Everywhere. The news, overheard conversations, and sometimes they just pop into my head, but for me an idea doesn’t truly become an Idea until I know how it ends. I have a folder with what I think of as starter ideas, and I’ll peruse that every now and then to see if anything jumps out at me and catches my interest.

6. What are you working on right now?

Since I just wrapped up the Campfire Series with Chasing the Moon’s publication, I’m shifting gears to something totally new.

This is the first book idea that spawned from a dream. I have very vivid dreams and usually remember them right after I wake up, but nothing has ever held my interest enough to turn into a story. As I brainstorm the plot and develop the characters, I find myself sinking back into the feeling I had when I woke up so I can hang onto it while I write.

I’ve created playlists for about half of my books, but haven’t for the past two, and I’ve already curated a list for this story. I can’t wait to start listening! Er, and writing.

7. Any advice for other authors?

Keep writing, make writing a priority, and find a writing community.

Writing is a very solitary activity, and you have to want to do it. No one else can make you find the determination to keep going, but it helps to have a support network, whether that’s people in your everyday life or friends you meet online.

ABOUT MELANIE:

Multi-award winning young adult author Melanie Hooyenga writes books about strong girls who learn to navigate life despite its challenges. She first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group.

Her award-winning YA sports romance series, The Rules Series, is about girls from Colorado falling in love and learning to stand up on their own. Her YA time travel trilogy, The Flicker Effect, is about a teen who uses sunlight to travel back to yesterday. The first book, Flicker, won first place for Middle Grade/Young Adult in the Writer’s Digest 2015 Self-Published eBook awards, and The Rules Series has won ten awards, including Finalist for MG/YA in the 2019 BookLife Prize. The first book in her current series, Chasing the Sun, won gold for young adult general fiction in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and was named one of the Best Indie eBooks of 2020 by Barnes & Noble Press.

When not writing books, you can find her wrangling her Miniature Schnauzer Gus and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.

Purchase link:

https://books2read.com/Chasing-the-Moon

Website and Social Media Links:

http://www.melaniehoo.com

https://www.facebook.com/MelanieHooyenga

https://twitter.com/MelanieHoo

https://instagram.com/melaniehoo/

https://www.tiktok.com/@melaniehooyenga