BooksChatter: ℚ♫ The Divide: Dreamland [2]

Friday, 15 January 2016

ℚ♫ The Divide: Dreamland [2] - E.J. Mellow

A very big welcome to E.J. Mellow; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter.

"Before we begin I just wanted to thank you, Flora for being an awesome stop on my blog tour for The Divide! I’m really looking forward to sitting down and chatting with you :) "

Thank you! Likewise :-) As we are real music lovers, I would like to start by sharing your music playlist for the Dreamland series; I like to have it in the background), I hope you will also enjoy it!

What was the inspiration for The Divide?

"The theme of having a great responsibility in a life that you often can’t control inspired a lot of what happens in The Divide, as well as the power of positive thought verse negative. This is a constant storyline that I play with through out the series."

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"I’d be lying if I said none. There are definite bits of me in Molly and especially Becca. I might even be known to say, “what’s his nuts” on occasions ;). I also work and live in NYC, which is one of the backdrops of my series. "

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for The Divide - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"Thank you! I actually design covers of my books. Having been traditionally trained in Art Direction and Graphic Design, I couldn’t help myself.

The original photo for The Dreamer is from the amazing underwater photographer Elena Kalis and I used photographer Dmitry Laudin for The Divide.

I was really looking for something that could represent what it would be like to be in your subconscious state of sleep, that drifting, yet often colorful space where dreams can reach us. "

Underwater by Elena Kalis

Loneliness by Dmitry Laudin

Can you tell us something quirky about The Divide, its story and characters?

"Names in The Dreamland Series are very important, as you’ll come to learn when reading The Dreamer. When creating my characters I specifically picked names whose meanings are representative of what kind of persons they are—Wise, hot tempered, beautiful, power hungry, warrior, etc.

So a little secret is if you ever wonder about a certain character introduced, look up the meaning of their name, and it will give you a hint of his or her role."

What is your writing process?

"I’m definitely not a pantser. I have to plot outline and then chapter outline before I begin any real writing. And I sketch or look up images that relate to my world before I begin. I’m a pretty visual person, so often times a picture or artistic style can be a really great catalyst to my creativity and written world.

I also have to have a playlist that’s curated to particular scenes in my story, which helps me move through them and really get engrossed."

What is in store next?

"Currently I’m finishing up a novella companion piece to The Dreamland Series called The Dreamcatcher, which is comprised of scenes from The Dreamer told from Dev’s (my male protagonists) POV. I’m looking to have this out early 2016. And I’m also starting on the third and final book in my series, which feels insane to me!"

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"I think the one thing I hold the most dear is a quill my parents gave me when I first decided to really give this writing this a go (I’ve included a picture of me holding it awkwardly haha). It sits on my desk and is a constant reminder of the support that surrounds me, definitely a good thing to have on those days when writing is like pulling teeth ;)"