Super excited to share that I’ve been interviewed by talented author Elizabeth Bruce at the amazing Creativists in Dialogue—clickety-click to read the entire interview .

Here’s a little excerpt:

CREATIVISTS: In show biz, an artist’s life is a study in rejection. How do you sustain your confidence and faith in your own artistic and career development--how do you hold your own hand--when faced with rejection and disappointment? What keeps you going?

MELANIE: While I’ve been so fortunate to be published, like all writers who sustain a long writing life, the rejection slips still arrive on the regular, so perseverance is a quality I keep practicing. One thing that keeps me going is being candid with my students about how even professional writers are rejected the majority of the time, so it’s vastly important not to let one rejection slip (or even a fifth or sixth rejection slip for a piece) keep a writer from publishing or self-publishing and continuing to write. A lot of very well-written work is rejected on the regular, and so in addition to learning our writing craft and sending out our work in its best form, there are a lot of uncontrollable variables that affects a yes or a no. I love encouraging fellow writers to keep writing and to not stop sending their work for consideration to new editors.

For copies of my latest book, check out: The Price of Breathing.

Signed copies also available: clickety-click.