Hello Faes! So for today’s post, I’ve got the chance to have a short interview with the author of Alienated – Melissa Landers. I’m a big big fan of Alienated and this opportunity is too good to be true for me!!! And this is my very first author interview!!!
These were my reactions when Ms. Melissa Landers responded on my email. Seriously!
Well, anyway, before we proceed to the actual interview, let’s have first Melissa Landers’s short bio.
Melissa Landers lives just outside Cincinnati with her husband and three children. She is a former teacher and a proud sci-fi geek!
She writes light, romantic sci-fi for teens and the young at heart. She’s the author of
ALIENATED (click to see my review, and for more info about the book), and the sequel INVADED, which will be released on February 3, 2015. In addition to YA, she published adult contemporary romance under the pen name
Macy Beckett.
The first question is from a friend who also already read your book. Who or what inspired you to write something about aliens – to write Alienated? And of all paranormal beings out there why did you choose aliens?
A month before NaNoWriMo 2009, (National Novel Writing Month), I was driving down the interstate thinking, “If I’m going to do this, I need a plot. What am I going to write about?” Several ideas came to mind, but I dismissed them because they were boring or clichéd. Then—out of nowhere—I thought, “What if a high school senior had to host an alien exchange student?” I fell in love with the concept, and the rest is history.
How long did it take you before you finish writing the book?
I finished the first draft in a month, but then I spent the next year and a half re-writing it FIVE times before it sold to Disney.
Are you aware of the TV series Star-Crossed? Many readers say Star-Crossed is so much like Alienated. I haven’t seen that TV series yet but if you know it, what can you say about Alienated and Star-Crossed being compared?
Alienated and Star-Crossed are both human-alien romances set in high school, but that’s where the similarities end.
Oh! Thank you for clarifying this one! 🙂
I already finished Alienated and I know that there will be a second book, which is Invaded that will be released on February 3, 2015 (I already made my pre-order yay!). Is Invaded the last and final book for Alienated series? Or will there be a 3rd, 4th and 5th book?
It’s too soon to say. I would like to write a third book in the series, but whether or not Disney buys it is dependent on sales. (So thank you for helping spread the word!) But Invaded has a satisfying ending, so you don’t need to worry about cliffhangers if the series ends there.
I’m so glad to hear that there will be no cliffhangers! But I would love to have a 3rd book.
A lot of fans have been wondering if there will be a love triangle on Invaded. Will there be a love triangle?
No love triangle. I don’t know why anyone thinks that.
Well it’s because…. uhm, I might spoil. I’ll just shut up. lol
If the world of Alienated really exist and you live in there, what life you think you would have or you would be in; an alien – a L’eihr, or you remain a human from Earth? Why do you think so?
I’d like to visit L’eihr, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Too little freedom. Plus, I love sweets!!!
Oh! I also love sweets!!!
If ever Alienated will be a movie or TV series someday, who do you think are the best actor and actress to play the roles of Aelyx and Cara?
It’s hard to say, because the actors I used to picture in those roles are now too old to play teenagers.
Alienated, is a very rare find on our local bookstores here in the Philippines, and I am so glad I got my own copy from the only bookstore who carries it here, it’s called Fullybooked. So if ever Fullybooked will invite you for a signing event here in the Philippines, would you love to visit us and sign our precious books?
I would love to visit the Philippines! Now all I need is for someone to send me. 🙂
Fullybooked! Please!!!
I’ve also heard about the new book you’re working on, which is entitled Starflight. Can you tell us something about this new book of yours?
Starflight is a stand-alone sci-fi romance, this time with no aliens. It’s about an orphan who indentures herself to the rich boy who tormented her in high school, in exchange for passage to a new world. But when an accident temporarily erases his memory, she convinces him that their roles are reversed–that she’s the master and he’s the servant–and then leads him on a series of intergalactic misadventures.
Ooooh! This is so interesting! *eyes spark*
And lastly, what would you like to say to your readers, especially to your Filipino readers?
Thanks for reading and supporting the series! And double thanks for telling your friends about Aelyx and Cara. Nothing beats word-of-mouth advertising! 🙂
It will always be a pleasure to share some good books with my fellow readers.
Thank you so much Ms. Melissa Landers. Having the chance to talk to you – even if it’s only through email – means so much to me.
Check out my review of
Alienated HERE.
So that’s it! Until my next post! Bye~
Erika is a freelance content writer and illustrator from the Philippines. Aside from her love of arts and reading, she loves taking photos, coffee, cats, and fairies. She’s into fantasy, historical fiction, and contemporary, and anything young adult genres.
