What planning and research did you do for you book?
You mean apart from the terrible, awful, no good dates I went on in my 20s? <hits head against desk> Okay, I went to the experts, and I interviewed several young women about what it was like to be on internet dating sites. Several of the dates featured in Worst Date Ever were inspired by the real thing. Which is tremendously scary for the human race, if you think about it too long.
What is your favorite part of being a writer?
Meeting with my readers at events, and talking with them by email! It is just delightful to know that your book has been enjoyed by readers. Some people claim they write for themselves. I have to like what I’m writing, of course, but ALWAYS, I have my readers in mind. I want to write something that delights them, not the critics.
What do you admire most in a book?
I’m a tough critic. I’ve been writing fiction and teaching writing since 1992. So a book for me has to be compelling from the first page. I like a book where I can step into the skin of the protagonist and go on a ripping adventure with her. If it’s a crime book (I so do love crime books) then it better have a clever ending I didn’t see coming.
You’re stranded on a desert island and are allowed 3 books—which do you choose?
Yikes! This is gonna hurt. My Brother Michael, by Mary Stewart (the queen of romantic suspense.) 4:50 from Paddington, or The Moving Finger, by Agatha Christie. Any Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich. I need more!
What’s your favorite genre to read? To Write?
I love crime capers, comic crime, romantic suspense, time travel fantasy and romantic comedy. I write all those. Why? Because I want my readers to have fun with my books. I want them to feel like they’ve had a grand escape from everyday life!
What has been your most unlikely adventure?
Sahara Desert, 1980s. Disputed territories between Morocco and Mauritania. I rode a donkey up a mountain to a deserted foreign legion fortress, past the last army post, by mistake. I really really shouldn’t have skipped those French language classes in high school.
What is your favorite book from your childhood?
Any Agatha Christie. I know that sounds weird, but I was reading Christie at eleven. I especially loved the romantic mysteries, where the heroine found love in the end. My parents would probably disagree that this was a good thing. Sadly, at age 11, I once announced at the dinner table, “I know 20 ways to kill you and not get caught.” Nobody let me cook after that.
Worst Date Ever is available now!
Billed as the “Queen of Comedy” by the Toronto Sun in 2014, Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best when Library Digest compared her to Janet Evanovich. Melodie got her start writing stand-up and has since been a banker, marketing director, college instructor, comedy writer and possibly the worst runway model ever. Winner of over nine awards, Melodie has been both a finalist for and a winner of the Derringer and Arthur Ellis awards for crime writing. She has over two hundred publications, including a hundred comedy credits, forty short stories and twelve novels. Her work has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Star Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Canadian Living, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and many more. Melodie lives in Oakville, Ontario and can be found at www.melodiecampbell.com. Melodie Campbell has also written the Gina Gallo mystery series, books that are really capers more than mysteries. Titles in the series are The Goddaughter, The Goddaughter’s Revenge, The Artful Goddaughter, The Goddaughter Caper and The Bootlegger’s Goddaughter.