Featured Interview With Melanie Mole
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi. I'm Melanie Mole. I'm a little different in some respects because of a wacky sense of humour. But I like to think that I'm a kind and supportive person who is, and always will be, totally into books, writing, and everything to do with those. I literally live and breathe books. They are like oxygen for my soul.
I live in a small market town in England. I grew up here, although I have lived in several other counties at other times during my life. Where I live now is surrounded by lush green countryside and I am so lucky to be able to live in an area like this. It is a place where people will often stop and chat to you or give you a smile and a wave, and I like that.
I am one of four children, and have two of my own. During childhood our house was often filled with people. One of my brothers liked to play his punk music really loud, and there always seemed to be a reason for my family to throw a party or have some sort of social gathering at our house, and so I craved peace and quiet. I would often go out and walk our dogs in the country lanes near our home. They became a place of solitude for me where I could finally hear myself think.
Like a lot of writers I have always been an introvert. I don't like loud noisy places or people as they make me feel uneasy. Having said that I like small gatherings of people I know, or feel comfortable with. But that would be an occasional thing for me. I am a loner despite being a twin.
I like to see the good in people, and will do until they prove me otherwise. I am an optimist at heart and am thankful for the little things in life like rain for the plants, and small gestures that can really make a difference to someone's day.
At the moment I don't have any pets. But when I was growing up I had two Old English Sheepdogs, and two cats. I miss having pets, but need to put all my time and energy into writing right now. I hope to get more pets in a while though.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was totally fascinated by books for as far back as I can remember. My mother was an avid reader and so I think that I got my love of books from her. |I am grateful for that every day. Books continue to inspire and enthral me, and I think that they always will.
I didn't really start writing until I was in my early 20's. Writing seriously not until I was almost 50. I wish that I had done it earlier, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. At least the writing bug caught up with me eventually, and now you can't stop me!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The person who has influenced me the most in relation to my writing is the author Julia Cameron.
In my view she is like a writing goddess and guru all rolled into one. Because she continues to offer brilliant advice, to encourage, and to show us the way, and has done for several decades now.
She is really honest about what motivates her, what problems she has faced, and the difficulties that we probably all have in relation to our writing. I read each of her books at least once a year. My favourite one is 'The Artist's Way'. But this is closely followed by both 'The Right to Write', and 'The Sound of Paper'. Julia's books feature heavily on my reading list. Each time I read them I see something that I missed the last that time I read them. They are my guiding light for my writing.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My new book is called 'Simply Does It'. It is about living more simply with a view to being able to write more.
I have spent my whole adult life trying to find a way to fit it all in, so that I can feel good about more days than not. By that, I mean getting everything done which needs to be done on an average day. That means looking after family, doing chores, working and everything else which needs doing like so many of us It also means trying to fit some writing into my schedule. I would think that most writers who don’t have the luxury of being able to write full time, would often like more time, and less stress, in order to be able to do that.
During the first two decades of me trying to find the time to write without much success, I had become resigned to the fact that this was what a writer’s life was all about. That it would always be difficult, and so I would just have to live with it if I wanted to write.
I had tried every way that I could think of to fit it all in, and to be less stressed about it. But it got to the point I couldn’t see a way out. I thought that being a writer was just one of those high stressed vocations which was a ‘take it or leave it’ type of thing. So, you either put up with it, or just didn’t write.
But, now I know that I was wrong. I know that there is an answer. In the past year I have exceeded my wildest dreams in relation to my writing because I have increased my writing output by over 800% now. Yes, that’s right. I did say 800%! The the first part of that journey is in my new book Simply Does It.
Like most of us my story is a long one. I literally spent years writing my first book Man + Woman = Trouble (which will be available on Amazon next week as I have revamped it a little). Then I suffered loss, like we all do at times. But because of my diagnosed Depression I spiralled into the darkest and most gloomy place imaginable. I couldn’t get out of it. Nobody seemed to care, and nothing seemed to help. On the rare days when I was aware of what I was doing I knew that I couldn’t write enough. But what I really needed to do was to get back on track in search of what would now only make me better, but also make my life so much better generally too. I didn’t know it at the time, but writing was the answer in its most simple form.
The great news is that anyone can increase your writing output, whilst still retaining its quality, perhaps by 800% in a year like I did, and maybe even more! I did this whilst being a full time, live in carer for a relative. Anybody who has done this will know that there are constant interruptions both day and night when you are a live in carer, and that it is also physically and mentally exhausting. So, even if you have a job which seems to take everything out of you, you can still do it if you choose to do it like I did.
So, in a nutshell, my own needs inspired it. The need to be able to write, and to live a much stressed life. I am so fortunate to have found the answer!
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles