Unbreak My Heart Blog Tour: Interview with Melissa Walker

Hi everyone!! Today on the blog, I am participating in the Blog Tour for Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker. She was nice enough to do an interview with me for this. I will first give you the info on the book and then move onto the interview. My review will go up on blog tomorrow, so be sure to stop back for that.

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• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 5/22/2012
• Pages: 240

Overview

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

 Interview with Melissa Walker

Hi Melissa! Thanks for doing the interview!!

 

How did you come up with the idea for Unbreak My Heart?

  

I got dumped by a friend once, and it was a painful experience that I always knew I wanted to write about. When I started really thinking about those feelings, these characters came to me and I wanted to tell their story.
 

Are any of the characters based on real life people? 

There are definitely parts of this book that are taken from real life, but it's highly fictional too. That's true of all my books. I will say that I have done some "mirror talking" with a friend, like Clem and Amanda do, and that I had a photo of a friend's brother (hot redhead) on my desktop as a model for James.
 

Why did you choose to write YA? 

Because of the readers. Totally true. They are the best, most passionate, most enthusiastic and energetic group and I count myself among them because I'm a total fangirl reader.
 

Do you have any routines you stick to when writing, or any special place you like to write? 

My new favorite place is a tiny cafe in Brooklyn where I can sit in the window. Here's the (rainy) view from today (attached photo).
 

I know that a lot of authors use music as an inspiration when writing. Are there any certain songs or artist that you were inspired by or listened to while writing Unbreak My Heart? 

Oh yes. I had an inappropriate mix made for me one summer. Inappropriate because it was from, let's say, a "taken" party. He made a mix for me though and I wore it out listening to it. Not cool, I know. But yes, I re-played a lot of those songs as I wrote, to get me back into that mix of emotions. Some of those include songs that made it into the book, like "Must I Paint You a Picture?" by Billy Bragg.
 

Are you currently working on any projects you can tell us about? 

No, but I'm working on projects I can't talk about yet because I'm still unsure of them. I always have an insecure phase while I'm writing. It's a scary moment full of doubt and revisions and scribbles. Sorry!

How long did it take you to write Unbreak My Heart? 

It took about five months to do the first draft, and then I revised for a month and worked with my editor on getting the sequence of events right (the flashback thing was challenging). Overall it took about a year.

Do you plan out your books before you write, or do you figure it out as you go? 

I outline, chapter by chapter, very briefly before I start. But then characters go all crazy and lead me off course. Sometimes that works, and sometimes I have to reign them in!
 

If you could meet one author, who would it be? 

Sylvia Plath. I read a diary entry of hers recently, from when she was 17, and I just longed to be sitting with her, talking.
 

Random questions

Favorite snack?

Salt n Vinegar chips + Coke

Favorite color?

Green (in a soft mossy shade)

Favorite food?

This changes all the time. Right now I'll say: Cheeseburger with American Cheese.

Favorite season? 

Spring in the South.
 

Favorite movie?

Rear Window
 

Favorite office supply?

 This is hard! I love, love, love office supplies. Maybe sharpies in rainbow colors. But I'm also a huge post-it fan. I mean, how genius are those?
 

Thank you so much for stopping by! Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just a thank you for having me! 

You can find Melissa at the following places:

Website |  Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Again, my review for Unbreak My Heart will be up on the blog tomorrow. Hope you can swing by. :)