#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Melissa Powell Gay
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I’d like to welcome my friend, Melissa Powell Gay, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!
A few of your favorite things:
Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens (and all the Sound of Music songs.)
Things you need to throw out:
Reams of paper that are drafts of my first novel. (Was saving them for the posthumous library.)
Favorite music or song:
See answer to first question.
Music that drives you crazy:
Songs filled with profanity, written and performed to shock. I like hip-hop and rap. But the more radical rappers (especially women) do a disservice to womankind when they verbally masturbate, eviscerate, eliminate, and denigrate their sexual partners in front of millions of followers. Not a good example for the young ones watching-and we know they’re watching.
Favorite beverage:
I’m addicted to Diet Coke. I know, I know, it’s not as hip or as funny as saying I’m addicted to Coke but DC is my monkey.
Something that gives you a sour face:
Lemons, definitely lemons.
Favorite smell:
Lavender. And the top of a baby’s head. Is the latter too creepy?
Something that makes you hold your nose:
These days? Voting in the national election.
Something you’re really good at:
Seeing both sides of an argument. However, it’s a curse when I have to decide which flavor of ice cream is the smarter choice.
Something you’re really bad at:
Extemporaneous answers but give me five minutes and a web browser and I can nail it.
Something you wish you could do:
Fly. With a cape. And boots. Got to have the kick-butt boots.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do:
Scroll while writing. My daily writing routine sometimes gets highjacked by The Sirens of Social Media
Something you like to do:
Nothing.
Something you wish you’d never done:
Told my husband I can cook.
The last thing you ordered online:
Is this a trick question? A book, of course.
The last thing you regret buying:
That dress I really liked but it was a tad snug however I convinced myself that I’d drop a pound or two before the day of the big event then I didn’t so the dress is still in the closet, with the tags still on it, staring at me EVERY TIME I OPEN MY CLOSET DOOR.
Things you’d walk a mile for:
Water. A bathroom. In that order.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room:
Listening to political speeches. Listening to others talk about the political speeches.
People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog. You mean together, right?
People you’d cancel dinner on:
The guy that forgot his wallet the last time we meet for dinner.
Favorite things to do:
Make up stories. This comes in handy since I’m a fiction writer.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing:
I don’t react to coercion very well. I do, however, force my characters to do it.
The coolest person you’ve ever met:
My husband.
The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video:
I met Samuel L. Jackson at a Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas once. He was gracious and polite, unlike the surly and devious characters he often plays in the movies.
The nicest thing a reader said to you:
Ah, “I read your book.”? No, seriously, the nicest thing a reader has said to me is, “I liked your book. I gave it to my friend to read.”
The craziest thing a reader said to you:
Reader: “I really like that part where she smashed in the guy’s head.”
Me, to reader: “Wow, thanks.”
Me, to myself: “I’ve never written a scene like that. Maybe I should.”
About Melissa and Her Books:
Melissa Powell Gay lives and writes in Glen Allen, Virginia. Featuring the Southern storytelling genre, her novels and short stories champion themes of self-reliance and independent thinking. Sprinkled with a dash of humor, her work is for any reader over the age of eighteen. She is the author of four books and is busy working on her fifth.
Talking To Herself (October, 2020)
It’s Christmas. The year is 2049 and Amara Vivian Graves is mourning the loss of her husband of forty years. While participating in a bio-nanochip treatment plan to address her depression, Amara finds herself hurled back to the year 1999. There she meets the younger version of her future husband. Over the course of her second Christmas of 1999, Amara must decide to stay in the past or return to her reality of day-to-day living without her one true love.
When Are You Leaving (2016)
Set in southwestern Virginia, this story is about small town living in a 21st century world. Iris Lee, an unemployed bank executive, comes home to Mt Pleasant to take care of her aging parents and to find out why the local police want to arrest her father, a paragon for Virginia gentlemen, for selling drugs to the locals.
Every Now & Then (2018)
Every Now & Then is a second Mt Pleasant novel. A dual narrative, the Now reveals hidden family secrets and why they called Iris Lee’s father “Mr.” Henry. The Then narrative takes the reader back to mid-20th century and tells the story of Henry and his brother Ben and their love for one woman.
Parkland Tales, Stories for 3 a.m. Readings (2016)
Hailed as a pleasant distraction on sleepless nights, this series of connected stories is about the furry and feathered residents of Parkland, an urban park. Inspired by city parks and classic literary characters like Don Quixote, Bambi Deer, Romeo and Juliet and others, Parkland Tales is for every adult who still likes a good story to ease into sleepy times.
All titles can be found at Amazon Books, Barnes & Noble Online, and any Indi Bound Online bookstore.
Support a local bookstore. Consider purchasing these books online at Book No Further (Roanoke, Virginia) and Book People (Richmond, Virginia.)
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