Krystal Shannan Interviews - Melissa Hosack

Please Welcome Melissa Hosack to the blog! So excited to get to know a new friend better.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Melissa Hosack. I live near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with my husband, Jeremy, and our son, Marshall Frost, who is three years old. 

Did you always want to be an author? What made you choose to write romance? 

I wrote my first short story in the second grade, so yes, I’ve always wanted to be an author. My initial love for writing grew when I won a writing competition in fifth grade to work with author Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna. It was a truly amazing experience that has stuck with me.

I write in a plethora of genres, my recent release 12 being an action/adventure, but I always come back around to romance. There is just something fulfilling about girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, boy turns out to be a demon. I write mainly paranormal romance, because I love the mix of danger and sexual tension.

What is your favorite part of being a writer/author? 

My absolute favorite part of being an author is feedback from people who have read my work. I love getting those random email compliments. Just last week, my husband was reading over a chapter of something I’m working on during his lunch break. It’s a sequel to my novel Deadly Encounters of the Supernatural Kind. One of his female co-workers asked what he was doing. When she found out, she was jealous as could be that he was getting to find out what happened to characters after the mini-cliffhanger ending of the first book. That is my favorite thing, hands down, knowing readers appreciate my projects.

Tell us a little about your book. What inspired you to write it?

My most recent release Stupid Cupid is a loosely related follow-up to my story Saving Santa. It follows another holiday character – Cupid. He’s the king of matching others with their soul mates, but he’s lacking one of his own. After centuries of pairing others, he’s resigned himself to the single life. That is until Lincoln shows up unexpectedly in his house.

Turning thirty is a depressing affair for Lincoln Belmonte. Thirty wouldn’t seem quite so bad if she wasn’t single, lonely, and a world away from her projected plans. She’d expected to have a husband and children at this point in her life. Instead, she spends her evenings in solitude. 

Staring down the burning candles on her cake, Lincoln makes the wish to be able to tell off Cupid. She wants answers from the man who has caused her to be jilted in love time and time again. Feeling better after her silly wish, she puts it to the back of her mind. 

The next morning, Lincoln wakes up in an unfamiliar house in an unfamiliar bed. A little birthday magic saw it fit to bring her together with the man responsible for all of her problems.  She is rewarded with the chance to take out her frustrations on the Valentine’s Day holiday figurehead – Cupid. Only once she meets Cupid, whose name is actually Valen, Lincoln can’t decide if she wants to give him a piece of her mind or seduce him. 

Here's a peek at Meeting Cupid...

As she approached the door in front of her, Lincoln heard the unmistakable sound of a kitchen. Whoever was on the other side of the door was cooking and seemingly having a really good time of it.

A male voice belted an oldies tune accompanied by the clang of pots and pans.

In disbelief, she pushed open the kitchen door and tiptoed inside. The man whose tenor filled the room had his back to her, but he was good looking even from this angle.

His shoulders rippled with muscles beneath a fitted black t-shirt. His jeans were so tight, it was impossible not to stare at his backside. He had a gorgeous mane of shoulder length blond hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Lincoln stared transfixed. Her kidnapper was not only rich, he was good looking. As confusion whirled through her mind, the man finally turned around, drawing a gasp from her throat.

Violet eyes dominated a masculine face. His cheekbones were high, his jaw sharp and prominent. And he looked completely pissed off at her presence. “Vandal!” he accused loudly.

“Kidnapper!” Lincoln shot back.

“No good, thieving…what?” He’d been stomping in her direction with ill intent when her accusation seemed to sink in.

“No good, kidnapping…stud.” She blinked at her choice of description.

“Kidnapping stud?” the man roared in incredulity. “I didn’t kidnap you!”

“Then why am I here?”

He gave a derisive snort. “You tell me, honey. I have no idea.”

Lincoln frowned at that. As much as she wanted to peg him as the bad guy, it didn’t make much sense for him to kidnap her. He was obviously wealthy, and he was extremely good looking. Why would he need to kidnap a thirty-year-old bachelorette? 

Apparently sensing her confusion, the man let out his breath in a put upon sigh. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“The last thing I remember is going to sleep,” Lincoln said slowly, “in my own bed.” There was a bit of sting to the second half of her sentence. As unlikely of a kidnapper as he was, she still found it hard to believe she could have wound up here without his interference. 

Mr. Yummy turned his back on her and returned to his cooking. “Did anything unusual happen last night?”

At his unthreatening demeanor, Lincoln shrugged as she slid into a seat at the kitchen table. “Not really. I went out with a few friends to celebrate my birthday.”

“Were you drunk?” He reached above his head into a cabinet to pull down two plates.

She gave him a sour look. “I’m thirty, not twenty-one. I had cake. Period.”

“No ice cream?” he asked with surprise.

“No.” She gave him a peculiar look behind his back. “For your information, I don’t really care for ice cream.”

“Then you’re not eating it right.”

Lincoln gave him a dirty look but chose not to comment.

The man turned from the stove with two plates of food in his hands. Making his way over, he placed one in front of her before sliding into the seat across the table. “What did you wish for?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You said you had cake. I’m assuming there were candles and singing as well. What did you wish for?” He arched a brow in question and held a fork out to her.

“That is none of your business. A wish is personal.” Despite her defensive comment and haughty tone, she snatched the fork from him.

“Come on,” he wheedled as he shoveled a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. “A wish can be a very powerful thing. Let me hear it.”

Lincoln lifted a slice of bacon from her plate and stared at him over it. “Oh, all right,” she finally said with a huff. “I wished I could meet Cupid, so I could tell him what a jerk he is to his face.” She rolled her eyes with a snort. “I wanted to tell him off.”

He was suddenly choking on his food. He grabbed for the carton of orange juice in the center of the table and downed half of it in three long gulps. Coughing, he pounded at his chest. “That’s quite the wish,” he finally managed to wheeze out.

Do you plot and outline or do you just write?  Plotter or Pantser?

I’m more of a pantser. I give my characters the reigns and let them write the story themselves. I have a basic idea of the outcome, but how I get there isn’t mapped out. More interesting stuff happens when I feel less boxed in with where to go.

Can you tell us about the process of getting your first book published? 

My first short story was through a tiny epublishing company who shortly after went out of business. It ended up being a total bust, but it was a good lesson. It taught me to be a little more patient with where I send things. 

What advice would you give new authors?  What have you learned about the business? 

My advice to new authors is to not get discouraged. Rejection letters are a part of this business. It’s something we’ve all dealt with and have more than a few of. If you get rejected, take the advice to heart. Read back through your story and fix up the weak areas. Edit. Edit. Edit. Then submit your story to someone else. Just because one person doesn’t like it that doesn’t mean it isn’t any good. 

Do you have another book in the works? 

I am working on a few projects. I mentioned above the sequel to Deadly Encounters of the Supernatural Kind. The second installment is called Supernatural Kid on the Block. It follows Camden, the wacky best friend. The zany, awkward sidekick finds himself mixed up with a dangerous group of fire-breathing dragons. It’s up to him to handle the predicament he’s gotten himself into.

What do you like to do in your free time, besides read and write of course?

I am a big sports fan. Right now, life revolves around the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. I also enjoy spending time with my son, who apparently is adopting hockey as his pastime as well. His first words to me this morning were, “Is it time to make pancakes and watch hockey?” I’m becoming more ‘mom like’, because recently I’ve tackled a few sewing projects as well as found an interest in baking. Other obsessions of mine are the television shows The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.

Where do you dream of going on vacation?

I would love to go to Germany. I speak a little German and would enjoy the opportunity to learn some more and test out what I know. It would be an amazing experience. 

Boxers or Briefs? Boxers

Cookies or cake? Cookies. 

Pizza or hamburger? Hamburger.

Beer, Wine, or mixed drink? Mixed drinks. The fruitier the better.

Find Melissa @

https://sites.google.com/site/melissahosack/

Be sure to leave a comment with your email! Melissa has generously offered to give a randomly drawn winner a copy of both Saving Santa and Stupid Cupid!!!