Melissa Stone grew up on a wide variety of Air Force bases with very little television, no internet, and a lot of books to read. She’s the creator of Azure Dragon Press where she writes and publishes a variety of fantasy novels. When she’s not writing, she works at her local library. She enjoys video games and a variety of handicrafts.
She currently lives in Saskatchewan with her husband, kids, and their assorted animals.
CONNECT WITH MELISSA
Welcome to SPFM, Melissa! Since we already have your bio, describe yourself in three words.
Librarian, creative, cat-lover
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Summarize your book, Children of the Dragon, using one gif.
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If you could recommend three self-published books, which would you choose and why?
If you enjoy your fantasy on the darker side, you’d probably like ‘The Savior’s Champion’ by Jenna Morecci. This Greek/Roman inspired setting has solid characters and an interesting premise.
If you like your fantasy with sci-fi elements, check out ‘A Wizard’s Forge’ by A.M. Justice. Parts of this world believe in their sci-fi origins while others believe in a creator-god. She has an interesting way of giving characters magic.
‘Dreg’ by Bethany Hoeflich is one of my all-time favourite self-published series (and fantasy series in general). In a world where everyone has magic, what does it mean to be ungifted? What would it be like to grow up scorned for your lack of magic? That premise defines this book and the series. I love what direction she took it.
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What is your favorite part, and your least favorite part of self-publishing?
Like a lot of authors, I really hate marketing. Unlike a lot of them, I enjoy the editing process, discovering that what I wrote actually isn’t trash after all.
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Why did you decide to self-publish?
I always wanted to sign on with a big name publisher, but that wasn’t getting me anywhere. I started self-publishing out of spite and I’m not sure if I’d ever switch.
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How do you approach worldbuilding?
I daydream a lot. A lot of my world building starts out with ‘wouldn’t this be interesting?’ or seeing an element in a movie/tv show/book and seeing another way to use that idea. I prefer to create things entirely rather than basing them on cultures we know.
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What’s the first story you ever wrote?
Honestly? I can’t remember. The first one I recall writing was about a science experiment that went bad and mutated the class’s pet rabbit.
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If you could go back in time, what’s one thing you would tell your younger self?
Don’t be so afraid to share your writing with others. Befriend other creatives. Take every piece of writing advice with a grain of salt; not all of it is going to apply to you.
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What’s your social media platform of choice, and why?
As limiting as Twitter is as far as word counts per post go, it’s the least intimidating and the easiest to use.
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Do you use any special writing software? If so, what is it, and what are a few of your favorite perks of it?
I use a combination of Google docs and a free program called yWriter. I can move scenes and chapters around easier than I can in any other program I’ve used. Each scene it its own individual file, making it easy to move around. I can mark chapters and scenes as unused without actually deleting them.
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What is your favorite word, and why?
I’ve never used it in anything I’ve written, but I’m oddly fond of defenestration. Yes, I know what it means, but it feels funny to say and I enjoy that.
About Children of the Dragon (The Children of An’katerr #1)
Orphaned at a young age and taken in by Telvan’s most notorious bandit gang, Kinrou had no real expectations in life. He knew nothing of his past, nor did he care to. Then, one day, with the death of a Dragon Warrior, everything changed. After a trip to Karath, the capital city of Telvan, he was told about a threat to the peace and that he had been hand picked by the Sky Lords themselves to stop it if only he could discover what this threat was in time.
