The following review of Tuesday night’s guest author for the Friends of the Library was written by board member Florence Allen

Disney-contracted,sci-fi author shares work with crowd

Science-fiction author, Melissa Landers, spoke to over 50 Marysville residents, which included over 25 students, on Tuesday, April 11 at 7:00 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  She began by telling the audience about her first two books, Starflight and Starstall and read several of the publishers’ critiques of the books.

After teaching for ten years, she needed a creative outlet for her energy as she stayed home with her three young children.  Melissa was inspired to write her first book because she really enjoyed the Star Wars stories.  She read several quotes from her Starflight book.  One quote was “She learned that home was a fluid thing, and whether on a planet, a satellite or a rusted bucket of a ship, this crew was her home.” 

She was inspired by Pride and Prejudice to write about the themes of what it means to be human, xenophobic and how to pursue dreams and goals.  She wanted to write about universal challenges that all humans face, which include rejection, being a single parent and suicide. Thus, the Alienated trilogy was born.  

Beginning in 2009, she started writing the trilogy, Alienated, which is about how a woman and aliens made contact in the interplanetary galaxy as an exchange student.   She rewrote the book five times before it was ready to send to a publisher.  Disney offered her a contract. Now, she writes a proposal about the first three chapters, includes a synopsis of the intended book and sends it through her agent to Disney.  If Disney is interested, then she writes the book.

She told the audience that she writes every day.  She feels driven to self-edit the text.  She confers with her colleagues and her agent about her writing and the progress of the book.  Her statement to everyone who wants to write a book or pursue their dream is “if I can do it, why not you?”       

Attendees were able to purchase autographed copies of the books after the book talk and visit with the author.  The Friends of the Library will sponsor the next book talk by former Marysville resident, Julie Flanders.  She writes adult horror, thrillers, and historical mysteries novels and will publish her first children’s book this fall. The event who take place on May 9, 2017 at 7:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  Tickets are available at the door for a nominal fee.  Students may attend for free.  For more information, visit www.marysvillelib.org or contact Bethany Anderson at banderson@marysvillelib.org or 642-1876.