Meet Melina Turner

by Heather Kirchhoff

What made you decide to start writing? Was this something you always thought you’d do?

As a child in year 3, I found that I was above average in my writing skills and it came easy for me but I had a brilliant English teacher who saw my poetry and recommended I try out this school poetry competition - it was a worldwide primary to high school competition called ‘Write4Fun’ and I did really good and was published in a book so I was really happy with the outcome and being published at such a young age really made me want to continue. So I did. My writing helps me - whether it be a short, a poem, a novel, lyrics or a movie script - it helps me express my emotions.

How do you come up with your characters or story ideas?

It is really a random thing - I see an object in the house or something weird pops in my head and I go from there and embarrassingly enough - I google search it - see its meaning and work my characters around that. Story Ideas are mainly all original and off the top of my head - most time I wake up - snap my fingers and BAM! Another bloody idea manages to enter my head and be heard - to be honest, I have way too many ideas and usually give them out freely to those who ask.

How do you get inspired to write?

I don’t have much that inspires me - I am more of a random thinker. I thinker of an idea and then jot down the what if’s and what not’s and from there I create major twists and a plot. Every now and then someone or something will inspire me but these days it is quite rare.

What do you do while having writer's block?

What I do when I have writer’s block is simple - Most reasons why we have writer’s block is because we second guess our original story ideas. What I do is read over what I have already written for it -NOT referring to my notes and ideas - and see where inspiration will take me. Most times, when I do this I end up with something totally opposite of what I wanted but that is the fun of writing, that it can be random and surprise even the writer, and that anything goes.

What kind of stories do you write?

I write everything and anything - currently I'm working on publishing two dark fiction prose/narrative shorts and a paranormal horror short. I'm also working on a parafantasy and a mix-genre dystopian.

Who are your favorite authors?

There are many but here are a few; James Patterson, Isobelle Carmody, Janet Evanovich, Jake Bonsignore, Diana Nixon, Cornelia Funke, Heather Killough-Walden, Steig Larsson, Gladys Quintal, Carole Wilkinson, J.K. Accinni, John Marsden, Suzanne Collins, Derek Landy, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kim Harrison, COMICS and many more!

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing since I started primary school and am still writing  So about twelve and a half years.

What are your stories about?

One of the pieces is an introduction to a series about heroes, the paranormal undead, vengeance and morals. It is called Old Betrays and it releases 9th June. 

Another is a volume series called The Deathly-Roses. And is about a young, teenager whose parents try to marry her off to someone rich and well-known in Raverne Town. But what she doesn’t know and suddenly finds out has changed her life forever. Deciding to leave her favourite home and journey far away to find the truth - she finds more than she has bargained for. The second volume continues the journey.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on Fighting What’s Right, Pieces of Mel (Poetry Collection 1), Surrendering to the Flames and many many more

What do you do when not writing? 

When I am not writing, I am either studying my Certificate II in Animal Care which qualifies me as a Vet Nurse Assistant - hoping to reach Qualified Vet Nurse within a few years. Editing other people’s manuscripts, sketching, singing, camping, and trying to get back into playing my violin.  

Buy The Deathly Roses (Volume 1) at Amazon

About the Author

Melina Turner is an international award-winning poet and lives in Australia in a little town called Gympie. She began her writing at an extremely young age starting in primary school in year 3 when she heard about Write4Fun, a school international writing competition. Her first piece was called Wild Brumbies published in 2003 when she was in year 3. She soon after moved from Nambour to Gympie an hour away, where she was influenced by an amazing English teacher to continue writing. In 2005, when she was in year 5, she was awarded “honoured writer” for her poetry in which she continued and still does. In 2013 she was awarded “Best Poet of 2012” and put into a poetry book that is now in the Library of Congress.
After she began poetry she soon wanted to branch out thus starting The Deathly-Roses Volume 1 a flash fiction narrative-prose piece, original and first of its kind, to be published 2014. She then gapped it out and wrote Volume 2 in 2007 to be published also in 2014; the third to be written in 2014 and publish 2015. Her goal with these books (TDR Volumes) was to make it short and poetic-like to gain non-readers' interest and she believes she has done that. As of 2012, she slowly branched out and started helping co-author for an independent film company called Timothy Mitchell Films, helping with scripts for movies.
As of now she is beginning to write her first finished novel ever and working at her business as an editor and promoter for independent authors.
As of now she will be finishing her novels and aiming for traditional publishing.

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