All about Melissa Groeling and her new book Traffic Jam.
When you’re
caught in traffic, you’ve got nowhere to go…
Val Delton’s
life is spiraling and there’s nothing she can do to stop it. Her dad lost his
job, her mom works fourteen hour days to pay the bills and yet somehow there
are high-end shopping bags and an iPod in her older sister’s room. Naturally,
Val becomes suspicious but her sister’s lips are sealed. Then by accident, she
uncovers a dark, dangerous secret hidden behind her sister’s bright smiles and
cool indifference. Val has no idea how far and how deep the repercussions of her
sister’s secret will reach but she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her family safe.
Will she succeed before her sister’s secret destroys everyone she loves?
Janet: I want to
welcome Melissa Groeling here today and thank you all for coming. Melissa is the author of a young adult novel
called, Traffic Jam. So, Melissa,
tell us a little bit about your book.
Melissa: Hi there,
Janet! Thanks for having me on your blog today! So Traffic Jam is a roller-coaster of a story, featuring
sixteen-year-old Val Delton as the voice that carries us through from start to
finish. She’s your typical high-school student, straddled with homework,
softball games, and the high-strung drama that comes with being somewhat of a
nerd in a public school. Her older sister, Sam, is the exact opposite and the
two of them do not and I mean, do not get along. But then Val
inadvertently stumbles upon a dark secret Sam’s been hiding and this secret is
very real and horrible. It’s something that not only exists within the pages of
this book but out there in society as well. Of course, I’m not going to tell
you what that is! You’ll have to read the book! *wink*
Janet: How did you come up with the idea for the
story? Was it a long time in the making,
or did it just smack you atop the head and say, “Hey! I want to write this!”
Melissa: This story
literally smacked me on top of my head as well as delivered a solid kick to my
rear end! I was watching the news, which I never do because it does nothing but
deliver sad, sorry news all the time. But this one time I actually watched it
and I hate to sound cliché, but it literally set a light bulb off in my head. I
guess the news is good for something!
Janet: Out of all
the characters you created, which one is your favorite? Why?
Melissa: Wow,
that’s an awesome question. I used to think that John was my favorite but now I
would have to say Jude. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this guy and a lot
of back story that we only get in bits and pieces. I had someone tell me that
she would love it if I wrote a prequel from his point of view. It’s definitely
something to think about.
Janet: What made
you choose the genre you wrote in?
Melissa: I think
young adult is a very multi-faceted genre. There’s so much you can do with it
and you don’t even need to look very far for inspiration especially since we
live in a society that’s nearly obsessed with youth. But I have to say that I
don’t write in just young adult. My very first book (Beauty Marks) was a romance and the next book coming out will be a
suspense novel, gearing towards…well, just about anyone!
Janet: Tell us a
little bit about yourself. Hobbies? Family? Favorite books to read? What do you
do when you’re not working on your novel?
Melissa: Well, I’m
from the Philadelphia region and I’m a New York Giants fan—I have to be careful
who I say that to (ha ha). I’m a natural redhead. I enjoy hanging out with my
family and friends and of course, I love to read—especially if I get hit with
writer’s block. I have an intense love affair with dark chocolate—that’s one
thing I’m always munching on whenever I’m writing. I love the beach and my
“real” job is a copywriter. As far as books go, I’m a big suspense-thriller
fan, especially Dean Koontz, Karin Slaughter, Dan Simmons and Nick Stone, to
name a few.
Janet: What
inspired you to write your first book?
Melissa: Oh wow,
my first book was a romance novel called Beauty
Marks. I believe it’s still available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
It’s pretty funny that I even wrote a romance because anyone who knows me knows
that I don’t have a romantic bone in my body. So where this book came from, I
will never know. But it was fun to write. The idea literally came to me out of
nowhere at 3am and I remember staying up, banging out the first four chapters.
I was afraid to go to sleep lest I forget anything! I can’t even pinpoint where
the idea came from. It just popped into my head.
Janet: Is there a
message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Melissa: The
message in Traffic Jam would be never
to lose hope. The things these two girls go through are life-altering, very
scary and at times, can seem extremely hopeless. At the beginning of the story,
there’s a very strong sense of disconnect that seems to run rampant in a lot of
families nowadays. No one seems to know what the other person is doing and in this
day and age, that disconnect is what breaks a lot of families up. So the
message would be not only to never lose hope, but to always know what’s going
on with everyone close to you.
Janet: If you had
to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Melissa: I grew up reading Dean Koontz so I think his
writing and his amazing story-telling abilities helped point in me in this
direction.
Janet: Do you
recall how your interest in writing originated?
Melissa: You know,
I’ve tried to remember if there was a specific moment when I realized that I
wanted to write but I can never pinpoint it. Writing, to me, feels like
something that I’ve been doing my entire life and something that I’ve always
enjoyed. I can’t think of a time when I wasn’t writing anything.
Janet: What was
the hardest part of writing your book?
Melissa: The
beginning! Always the beginning! I always think of a story either in the middle
somewhere or at the end. Trying to start it off is always the hardest part for
me.
Janet: Do you
have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Melissa: Yes! Thank
you to all my readers out there for their support, for reading, for everything!
Keep on reading!
Janet: Well, that
is all the time we have for today. I
want to thank you, Melissa, for joining me on my blog and readers. I wish you the best of luck.
Contact Melissa at:
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