Author Interview: Melissa Ann Goodwin

Continuing on with the book tour for The Christmas Village, Melissa Ann Goodwin has agreed to let me interview her! So far I've written a review of the book and Melissa has also written a guest post about one of her favourite Christmas memories involving pudding! Now it's time to find out a little about the author herself:

1. Where did you get the idea for The Christmas Village? 

I actually have my own Christmas Village. It's a small one, and it's a mish-mash of pieces from different village collections, but it's still very pretty. One night I just started imagining what it would be like to live there. I started asking myself "I wonder who lives in that house over there? I wonder what song the carolers are singing? I wonder who the skaters on the pond are?" Then the seed of an idea came to me about a little boy whose life had turned upside down and wished that he could escape into the perfect little village... and it just took off from there.

2. What is your ideal writing environment?

I need quiet. I usually sit in my comfy wing-back chair (it belonged to my grandmother, the one from my Christmas Pudding story) and type away on my laptop. I'm not the kind who would go to a coffee shop with my notebook to write; I need to be more solitary about it. I sit with my eyes closed for about 15 minutes before I start writing, and try to first empty my mind and then start to "see" my story. I'm very visual about it and actually see the story almost like a movie. Sometimes I'll actually write with my eyes closed because I see the scene better that way. So, it's best that I do things like that in the privacy of my own home!

3. Are you influenced or inspired by other authors and if so, whom? 

I am like a sponge - I think I've been inspired by every writer I've ever read! But I especially love writers like Mary Stewart and Maeve Binchy and Rosamunde pilcher, who weave lovely stories with characters that feel warm and real.

4. Do you have any tips for aspiring authors? 

I really and truly believe that if you follow your heart, you will succeed. It will take time, but it will take time whether you do that or not, and wouldn't you rather be appreciated for who you are and what you really want to give to the world than to have success that doesn't feel authentic? So I'd say this: "Listen to your heart. Don't write what you think the world wants to hear, write what YOU want to say. Be who you really are and let your readers find you. They will!!"

5. What is your favourite book? 

My favorite grown-up book is To Kill a Mockingbird and my favorite children's book is The Secret Garden.

6. What are you currently reading?

Oh! I am reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. A friend recommended it and it's quite engrossing! I wasn't sure I'd like it, because I'm not usually that big on witches and vampires. But it's very well-written and there's an intelligent story and mystery and romance that's totally sucked me in!

7. Which authors do you think are either too overrated/underrated?

This question really made me think before I speak! It takes a lot of effort and a certain amount of courage to put your writing out into the world, so I don't think that I could ever say that anyone who has put in that effort and shown that courage is overrated! Of course, there are writers that I liked early on who seemed to become formulaic later, and I think that's when they start to seem overrated. I don't need to name names - we can all think of some. I see a trend in books that seems similar to movies - the tendency toward the "blockbuster" that really isn't all that intelligent or good. I would love to see more appreciation for wonderful "smaller" books like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

8. Outside of writing, what do you like to do in your spare time? 

I am also a yoga teacher! I took a sabbatical from teaching last year so that I could write The Christmas Village, and I am just starting to teach again. My specialty is restorative yoga, which is a very healing and nurturing practice. I love yoga - it's the only thing besides writing that has been with me almost my whole life.

I could spend all day walking on or sitting on beaches. And I love to decorate! And redecorate! Of course, I love to read. I still love more than anything to get lost in a world that someone else has created for me.

9. What is your favourite TV show?

I love the Good Wife and Blue Bloods. I also like cooking shows and would love for Ina Garten to adopt me and feed me all her beautiful food. And I love the show Chopped! where the chefs compete, having to use all sorts of oddball ingrediants. Oh! And I CANNOT WAIT for the return of Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Theatre next month!!

10. Who are some of your favourite singers/bands?

Oh gosh, I'm stuck in the music of my youth. I still love James Taylor with all my heart, and his voice is the one I want to hear singing when I get to heaven. I've always been more "Peter, Paul & Mary" than "Rolling Stones." Okay, a little more up to date, I like the country music bands Sugarland and Lady Antebellum very much.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and advice with us Melissa! I actually bought The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book just last week and am really looking forward to reading it! And the way you feel about James Taylor is exactly how I feel about Van Morrison :)