Writing Talk With Melissa Ingoldsby

When I am a fan of an author, I love to know what inspires them, what drives them. In the Facebook group Vocal Writers Sharing Group, we are playing a game called “Not My Shoes”, where we are paired up with someone randomly, and we interview each other and write a piece about it. (If you are not in that group, you should be. Everyone who participates in the games sees a sharp increase in their reads, and it is a very safe, open, and welcoming group. You can find that group here.) I was paired with Melissa Ingoldsby. If you aren’t familiar with her work, you have probably seen her posting and interacting with other Vocal creators in the Facebook Vocal groups, offering encouragement, feedback, and interaction along the way. You can find her Vocal profile here.

The first story of hers that I read struck me and has stuck with me in a good way. “Real Art Takes Guts” can be found here. That one piece led me to read more of her work, and I am a fan. She writes poetry, which is emotional, at times raw, and relatable to so many. She also writes fiction, and in her body of work, she has many fiction series. (Here is one of them, "The Half Paper Moon"). One of her latest is a fanfiction piece, “3-Way”, where she writes about Jerry, Elaine, and George from Seinfeld. Definitely a must-read if you are a fan of the show, and it can be found here.

We had a great conversation about our writing, and here are the interview results. Before the questions, we played a round of “This or That”, where she was given two options to choose from. Here are the results of that ice breaker.

Dog or Cat: Dog

Coffee or Tea: Coffee

Any other season or Fall: Fall

Quiet or Noise: Quiet

Rom-Com or Action: Rom-Com

Starbucks or Dunkin’: Starbuck

Jogging or Walking: Walking

Early Bird or Night Owl: Night Owl

Organized or Unorganized: Unorganized

Apple or Android: Apple

Then we shifted into our interview. We talked about all the things I want to know about an author I am a fan of. It turns out we have five of the same answers for that round of “This or That”. Here are the questions and her answers.

Question 1: What occupies your time aside from writing?

My kids, my family, appointments, and going to the library and park.

Question 2: Your Characters-You write them very complete and very well. What is your inspiration for them? Where do they come from, and are they parts of you?

Thank you! Yes, I do think so. I love writing in the male perspective and voice, as it has always given me huge comfort, and I used to solely write in that way until I started up with Vocal. The writing challenges really helped me open up and get out of my comfort zone, and write also in the female perspective. My female characters always seemed the most difficult to write. But, my male characters would flow and easily fit into a narrative, which made me feel like I could step into their shoes and feelings. My inspiration comes from my experiences and my love for interconnection between people.

Question 3: What is your favorite genre/subgenre?

Romance and psychological horror.

Question 4: You write about intense and sometimes raw emotions in your poetry. Is this a catharsis for you, and what do you hope your readers get from your poetry?

It is a huge catharsis for me. I usually write poetry when I’m in an intense emotional state, and I release it in one piece. I hope my readers can see themselves in that particular piece, and also find that emotion resolved in a cathartic manner.

Question 5: What genre challenges you the most, and why?

I feel that science fiction is a challenge for me as you are usually building a new world with a different set of rules. The most important part of writing science fiction is creating grounded, realistic characters. Because even in a wild, futuristic dream world, we still need relatable characters to keep us invested in the world and the story.

Question 6: What is your favorite piece by you and why?

“He Was Everything”. This story represents who I am entirely. I wrote these characters and this story over ten years ago, in the first person perspective and as my main character, Ben, is someone who is searching for purpose and a greater meaning of his life and of life in general, I felt that the heart of his existential questions were very relatable and important to a growing youth. In essence, Ben’s journey was my journey growing up. And I hope that love that I invest in my characters and their stories is shown through in the overall narrative.

Check out her work! I really enjoyed getting to know what inspires and drives Melissa in her writing. I was a fan of her work prior to this interview, and this just made me more of a fan.