Melissa Marr at BN The Grove Recap

See how excited Kimberly is to see Melissa Marr?

Hi, everyone. Last night I went to the Melissa Marr event at Barnes & Noble at The Grove. This was sort of a last minute event. I wasn't planning to go but Kimberly convinced me that it would be the fun thing to do - and she was right. Melissa was there to promote her newest novel, Made For You, a creepy contemporary about a young woman and the serial killer who is obsessed with her.

While I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of authors in the last few years, this was my first time meeting Melissa. I was immediately struck by how energetic and gregarious she was. As she said, she is "very animated" and "extremely caffeinated." It was a small, intimate crowd, which meant that the event wasn't very formal. Melissa talked a bit about herself and about how the new book was inspired by real life events that happened to her when she was in her 20's. Melissa had a stalker, a man who appeared one day claiming to be a police officer. Melissa wisely deflected his attentions but he showed up later that weekend trying to climb into her window for their "date." Unlike the stalker in her novel, Melissa's stalker never tried to kill her or her friends and she eventually moved away where he could not find her.

She said that the book left her feeling emotionally raw because, in order to make the reader feel what the characters are feeling, she had to pull up those own feelings in herself. She had to bring back the memories and feelings of what it was like to have her own stalker.

Melissa also said that she writes a good serial killer because both her editor and son thought that the sections of the book from the serial killer's point of view where a little too spot on. Her son even proceeded to give her a serial killer quiz while they were grocery shopping. Good news - she passed.

She also let drop the news that there is another Wicked Lovely book in the works. Her daughter was unhappy with the original ending to the series and recently handed her a 60,000 word draft of an alternate book/ending. She plans to edit it and add to it and hopefully publish. The working title for the book is Brightest Vengeance.

Melissa also had a bit of movie news for us. The movie is definitely happening and everyone was excited to hear that the movie was moving along.

After more questions, it was time to sign books. Melissa was super gracious and spent a lot of time making conversation with everyone and signing big stacks of books.

We also got to see a mock up of Melissa's new picture book which comes out next spring. The book is entitled Bunny Roo, I Love You and will be released by Penguin. The book was written while she was in the hospital with her adopted infant son, who was working through the symptoms of being exposed to drugs in the womb. The book is illustrated by Teagan White and it's gorgeous. I can't wait to see this one in person.

Melissa also told me and Kimberly her pseudonym for a couple of upcoming romance novels she's written. I love a good smutty book and was super excited to hear that Melissa was delving into the romance genre. She said that the books are biker romances, inspired by her days running a biker bar in her youth.

As you can see, Melissa has led a pretty awesome and interesting life. It was a great pleasure to meet her and I am really excited to read Made For You and to see what other goodies she comes out with in the coming year. Thanks to BN The Grove and Melissa for a fantastic event!