1) How did this story come to you?
Dawn, this book came to me bit by bit over a period of several months. I knew the ending before I knew some of the middle parts, and I used to wake up in the middle of the night and plot the next scene or two, then go back to sleep.
2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
Do you want the long version or the short version? Short? Okay … I was totally sold out for this book and believed with all my heart that it was going to be published. I pitched it at a conference, entered it in a lot of contests, queried a lot of agents, and sent the partial to a few publishers, but no one was interested in a Christian medieval story, and getting a Young Adult romance published by a Christian YA publisher seemed even less likely. After two years I found an agent brave enough to take it on. And after another year of rejections—although the book came close to getting published as an adult Christian romance a couple of times—even my agent was seeming to lose heart. Our one last shot was to send it to the YA editor at Zonderkidz. And praise God, she bought it!
3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I never watch TV and don’t even know what’s on anymore. I love writing historical romance but history was never a favorite subject of mine. I graduated from a tiny public high school in a class of 33 students.
4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I have a Beauty and the Beast story that my editor at Zondervan is looking at possibly publishing. I hope to write more medieval fairy tale retellings. I also have an adult romance series set in Alabama in the 1880’s that I’m hoping to find a publisher for very soon.
5) Parting comments?
Hold on to your dream, if you feel it is what God wants you to do, and never, ever, ever give up! Unless God tells you to. Be fully committed to listening to God and submitting yourself to His direction, because He loves you and knows what’s best for you.
6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
My website is www.melaniedickerson.com and I have a YA blog that I do jointly with several other YA authors, www.novelteen.com, and I am on Facebook and Goodreads.
