Author Spotlight: Melanie Nilles

As part of the Big Awesome YA Giveaway (if you haven't already entered, you could win TONS of books, so go check it out!!), I've been interviewing some of the authors of the lovely books I'm giving away. Tuesday I interviewed Megg Jensen and yesterday I interviewed Joel Arnold.

Today, we welcome author Melanie Nilles!

*cue intro music*

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Kate: Melanie Nilles is the author of a number of books, including the Starfire Angels series and the Legend of the White Dragon series. In the Big Awesome YA Giveaway, she's offering print copies of four books from her Starfire Angels series--Starfire Angel, Broken Wings, Crystal Tomb, and Origins of Dark Angel.


Welcome, Melanie! Tell me about Starfire Angels. What’s it about?
Melanie: My YA series, Starfire Angels, is about a teen "angel" who grew up on Earth believing she was human, discovering what she really is, and learning to become what she was meant to be. In the process, she falls in love with one of her own kind sent to train her while they fight those who would kill to claim the Starfire Crystal shard that she protects.

In the most recent book of the series, Origins of Dark Angel, I give the reader a taste of Elis's life before he was sent to Earth to find Raea and became the savior of her small town known as Dark Angel.


Kate: Tell us about the very first idea you had regarding this story, the one that made you say “I HAVE to write this!” Was it a certain scene, character, or situation?

Melanie: That moment came while watching an anime series the second time through. Something clicked into place for rewriting a novella from ten years before. It was a character trait--the black wings of the hero--that did it for me. I was in the middle of writing an epic fantasy series (Legend of the White Dragon) when the world and characters blossomed. In a week, the idea was ready and demanding to be written. I had to set aside what I was doing to write the first draft. I ended up completely changing it and writing a new draft a year later, but that second draft is what is now Starfire Angels (Book 1 of the Starfire Angels series).


Kate: You returned to it after all those years... I love that. 

Besides the main character or hero/ine, who’s your favorite character in this book, and why?

Melanie: Everyone adores Elis, the Dark Angel, because he's an honest to goodness hero with a heart of gold. Besides him, I have to say that I've loved hating Nina from the first book, couldn't live without Leksel and Cris in Broken Wings, and find a certain charm in the wisdom of Tenkil, Elis's great-grandfather who has some screen time in Origins of Dark Angel.


Kate: I love a good "love to hate" character! Is there a particular theme of the Starfire Angel series that spoke to you personally as you were writing it?

Melanie: There are many themes. Mostly, I like the idea of a hero who is honestly good at heart without any hesitation of doing what is right. Throughout the series, I bring up the idea of appreciating what you have while you have it and appreciating the little things in life, because you never know when they could be taken away. That's something that I try to live by every day. Other themes crop up, but that and the idea of doing good no matter how badly people try to tear you down are the strongest.

Kate: That last theme in particular really resonates with me. Is there anything you’re working on now that you’d like to tell us about?

Melanie: I'm working on the fifth book, Forever Dark. It will be the last with Raea and Elis, whose stories make up the subseries, Dark Angel Chronicles (Starfire Angels, Broken Wings, Crystal Tomb, Origins of Dark Angel, and Forever Dark). However, I have dropped clues throughout DAC about what else is coming, but future stories will feature other characters.

Kate: That sounds fascinating!

As we conclude the interview, where can readers interested in your work go to find out more?

Melanie: I have two dedicated pages at Facebook, one for this series specifically--http://facebook.com/StarfireAngels--and my author page--http://facebook.com/melanienilles.

I also have a website--http://www.melanienilles.com--and a blog.

All the links are listed on my website for Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc.

Kate: Thanks so much for dropping by, Melanie!

Melanie: Thank you, Kate.


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You can enter to win four signed copies of Melanie Nille's books here, and you can check out the total list of prizes here.