This is a spoiler-free interview!

Hi reader friends, meet Melanie Martins, author of Blossom in Winter, on romantic thrillers, the writing process, becoming an author, and upcoming news!

Melanie Martins has been quickly gaining attention and avid readers within the bookish community and specifically, the romance community for her spicy, controversial, and heart-wrenching romantic thriller, Blossom in Winter. Known by many as one of the most followed Luxury Travel Influencers on Instagram, Melanie flipped her corner of the internet on it’s head by changing her career path so dramatically—from travel blogging to novel writing—that’s quite a leap!

She did an interview with Thrive Global that gave us insight into the change in her career path, self-publishing and so much more. Now, I’ve gotten the incredible opportunity to sit down with her and discuss her debut novel, Blossom in Winter, which has earned her a 4.7/5-star rating on Goodreads and 4.1/5-star rating on Amazon. Considered on Goodreads as a “real page turner”, “engrossing and addictive” and a “damn roller coaster”, Blossom in Winter is definitely a must-read for Romantic Thriller enthusiasts everywhere.

Blossom in Winter very clearly falls into the Romantic Thriller genre.  What do you think of Romantic Thrillers both as a reader and a writer? Have you ever written in this genre before?

Blossom in Winter is actually the first novel I ever wrote. I did write a short novel in Portuguese when I was seventeen but it was just for fun and it never saw the light of day. Although it also had an age-gap and a judge in it. I personally love writing thrilling love stories full of mystery, secrets, and twists and turns—it makes the story-line so much more engaging and different than the usual romantic plots which only focus on the development of the relationship between the main characters. As a reader, I feel much more hooked and entertained when there is an underlying plot going on, leaving me on the edge of my seat, which is probably why I’ve a hard time to connect with a predictable romances that only focus on the relationship with no real external conflict.

Do you think you will write more Romantic Thrillers?

Yes, Blossom in Winter is the first book of a series and the second book “Lured into Love” will have even more thrilling events, twists, and difficult choices our main characters will have to make. Actually, the second book will be even more unpredictable and my goal is to make sure no reader will figure out the ending. 

What do you think makes a compelling Romantic Thriller?

The build-up of events that take unexpected turns is definitely a must, along with creating some mystery around a particular character, event, or situation. This is something we see a lot in Blossom in Winter, especially around the Van Dieren’s family. In sum, when the reader thinks she’s got everything figured it out, and the unexpected happens leaving the reader surprised (and sometimes even shocked) is what makes, in my personal opinion, a great thriller. 

Can you tell me a little bit about where you drew your inspiration while writing this book?

Romeo & Juliet, first and foremost. It’s by far my favorite story because of the eternal question “How far would you go for Love?” We may question if it was Love or pure lust, but in my opinion, Shakespeare wanted to explore, on a deeper level, the human nature and how far we can go for what we believe in and care about. I adapted the story to fit a contemporary romance, but there are a lot of resemblances—from the forbidden relationship between Petra Van Gatt & Alexander Van Dieren and all the external events that make it even more forbidden, to the ending. The quote from Elizabeth Elliott at the beginning of the book says it all: “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.” which would’ve been the perfect opening quote for Romeo & Juliet too.

What is your writing process like?

I always start with creating a board with the story-line, the external conflicts, the inner-trouble/worries, the characters’ personalities and bios, and how the ending is going to be. When it comes to the writing itself, I never wrote from start to finish, but rather by scenes. I might do the Prologue first and then jump to write a scene on Chapter 15. Since I knew the story-line and how it would go, I wrote the most important scenes first, and then the connecting ones. 

Is there anything you’d do differently with your writing process next time?

Not with the writing process itself but rather with the post-writing, which is when the first draft of your manuscript is done. 

In an interview with Thrive Global, you advise aspiring writers to write for their readers as opposed to themselves, but I’ve heard quite the opposite from many other writers. I know by this; you mean all works of writing can benefit from a second set of eyes. What did you learn from working through various stages of editing and how do you think it made you a stronger writer?

I worked with 3 editors; my development editor is a creative writing professor at the University of New York and former-executive editor at Harlequin, and the two others worked at Penguin and Simon & Schuster, and even today I’d consider myself an amateur. The best way you learn is actually through your readers and by reading in your genre. And by readers I mean your paying readers— those who pay to read your work. This is where I received the best advice ever. They were cold, harsh critiques but important nevertheless, to improve and become a better writer. I believe editors are great, but sometimes they don’t tell you all the harsh, cold truths you need to hear (they might not even know about them themselves). The more your novel is read, the more opinions you can gather and some of them can be as valuable as the opinion of an editor (and sometimes even better).  

I’ve heard you are planning a launch for February. Can you give me any details about that?

I did what is called a soft launch on October 28, which is when you launch the e-book first. The idea of a soft launch is to gather as much feedback as possible and make any necessary adjustment before it goes to print (this is when you do offset/traditional printing of your book, not print-on-demand). On Valentine’s Day, I’ll have the 1st Edition of Blossom in Winter available on paperback which is an offset print. As a new self-published author, I’m a firm believer on gathering as much genuine feedback as possible before it goes to print and the best way to do so is by readers who [willingly] paid to read your work.

I know you made quite a career shift, from travel blogger to self-published author. Now that you’ve taken the plunge into writing, do you notice any overlap? Will you continue to do Luxury Travel Influencing or is writing your focus for now?

I’m actually a writer at heart. When I was nineteen and a Law school student, all I wanted was to travel to exotic places (think Morocco, Egypt, Maldives, French Polynesia, Seychelles, etc.) and escape my rather boring college life, so becoming a travel blogger seemed the right path to achieve it. My boyfriend and I purchased a camera and we started to create content for hospitality/travel brands allowing us to travel and build my personal brand out of it. However, writing fiction is what I enjoy the most. Eight years ago, I would’ve never been able to write a novel in English since my level was quite basic (I’m French and Portuguese, English is my fourth language). For now, writing and the business aspect of self-publishing is what I want to focus on, but I will definitely continue to collaborate with some of my favorite brands such as the Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton, etc. in the future. 

What advice would you give to new writers?

First, find your writing style. I realized after finishing my first manuscript of Blossom in Winter (a 125k words manuscript) that I hated reading it on the 3rd person and past-tense. It was so impersonal that I had to change it. I changed from 3rd person to first person but something was missing. Then I changed the past-tense to the present-tense and that was my eureka moment. Multiple first-person points-of-view became my writing style. Second, plan your story. There is nothing worse than not having a planned story-line; you will get stuck and not know what to write about. I wrote my first manuscript in three months because I had everything figured it out beforehand. Third, once you have a first draft, hire a development/line-by-line editor. A development editor will check everything from plot holes, pacing, characters development, etc., and might even do some copy-editing (if it’s a line-by-line editor). Your first manuscript is always horrible, believe me. Once you have a revised version, hire a copy-editor and lastly, a proofreader. It’s an investment, but if you are serious about your writing career, you should do it. Also, read as much as you can in the genre you want to write about.

What book are you reading right now? Do you have a favorite?

I’m currently reading The Kiss Thief (an arranged marriage novel by L. J. Shein and it’s the first time I’m reading from this author). I read mostly dark erotic romances, so one of my favorites is The Dark Duet series by C. J. Robert (for the plot—not the writing style, though). An easier read for me was Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas, but both of them explore Stockholm syndrome which I find fascinating.

Click here to view The Kiss Thief by L. J. Shien on Amazon

Click here to view Captive in the Dark (The Dark Duet Book 1) by C. J. Robert on Amazon

Click here to view Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas on Amazon

Where can readers find and keep up with you?

I’m mostly active on my Facebook group Blossom in Winter (by Melanie Martins) but they can also find me on Instagram and Facebook under @melaniemartinsblog.

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Amazon

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Blossominwinter.com (Free worldwide shipping)

In closing, I’d like to include my own Amazon review of the book. I’d highly recommend it to every romance reader out there and especially if you enjoy reading Romantic Thrillers.

Click here to view my review of Blossom in Winter on Goodreads

And that’s it for my author interview with Melanie Martins. Have you read Blossom in Winter? If so, what did you think about it? And if not, why not? Get on with it already! I know you’ll love it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Amazon

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Blossominwinter.com (Free worldwide shipping)

Thanks for reading my interview with Melanie Martins! If you’re looking for her contact links or where you can find the book, you’ve scrolled a bit too far. No fear though, just scroll up to the section above these pictures ^ and you should find it!

—Payton