Q&A with children's author, Melissa Garside!

 
1. Your debut chapter book Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle was recently released, published by Riveted Press and with illustrations by Lauren Mullinder. Where did the idea for this book originate and what was the process like of writing and rewriting it?
I feel very blessed to have had the privilege to work with Rowena from Riveted Press and to have such a talented illustrator as Lauren turn my words into pictures. I’m still pinching myself that I’ve actually had my book published!
 
The first glimmer of an idea for Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle came to me when a publisher gave me the advice to write about what I know. To be honest, I immediately panicked, thinking that I knew absolutely nothing. But after I’d calmed down a bit, I remembered that I do know one or two things about words and language. That got me thinking and I started to play with words, and one word especially kept popping up in my mind--lexicon. That’s where the character’s name came from, and the story grew from there. It didn’t take me long to have a complete first draft of a picture book manuscript about a word-stealing boy called Lex, which you may notice is very different to the final 13,000-word junior fiction book I ended up with.
 
I made some major changes to the format and plot based on feedback from a couple of my critique buddies, and at the same time I decided to make my young inventor a girl. After that, it was about three-and-a-half years of writing, editing and revising before I had a manuscript that was ready for submission.
 
Over those three-and-a-half years I was still learning a lot about the craft of writing and was adjusting my process as well as the manuscript. I’d love to say that I set out armed with a fool-proof process, but that simply wasn’t the case. I loved writing Lexie Moon, but I think I may have enjoyed the editing and polishing process even more. Manipulating the text until you have just the right words in just the right place makes me feel a bit like a sculptor and I just love it! In particular for this book, I really enjoyed the final back-and-forth with Rowena, getting the book as polished as we could before it went to the printers. I learnt so much from her.
 
 
2. Zany humour and wordplay and inventions are featured in your book. Were you an aspiring inventor growing up? What prompted this to feature in the book?
I wouldn’t say that I was an aspiring inventor as child, but I’ve always loved design. Dad was an electronics technician, so I grew up surrounded by gadgets and components, and some of that has seeped into this book. I did once try to invent a talking robot—it was a cardboard box covered in aluminium foil with a tape recorder inside. For some reason, it never went further than the prototype.
 
I’ve always had a love for the ridiculous and plays on words, and still do. I wanted Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle to be the sort of book I would have enjoyed reading as a kid. I wanted my protagonist to be an inventor who created ridiculous, impossible gadgets. Deciding exactly what the gadgets would be like was informed by the needs of the plot and also a bit of research of real and imagined gadgets online.
 
 
3. The wonderful Riveted Press published Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle. How did your story come to be published by them? What was the publishing experience like for you, as a debut author, working with Riveted to bring Lexie Moon to life? How is it now that your first book is out in the world? 
 
One of my critique buddies, Matt Samuel, had been offered a contract from Riveted Press after having an editor assessment with Rowena at the CYA Conference. I had been planning to do an editor assessment at the 2023 CYA Conference, and Matt recommended booking one with Rowena. I’m very glad I did. Rowena asked me to make a couple of changes and submit the complete manuscript, which I did within a couple of weeks.
 
I really had no idea if Riveted Press would accept my manuscript, and had prepared myself for disappointment. So, when I woke up early one morning in March 2024 to an email offering me a contract, I was absolutely delighted. I still can’t quite believe it!
 
As a debut author with no prior experience of the publishing industry, there was I lot I didn’t know and still don’t. Riveted Press is a small publishing house, in which Rowena wears many hats, from publisher, to managing editor, and even does the typesetting and design of the books. Working with her has been amazing, and she really has a very thorough understanding of all of the ins and outs of getting a book into the world.
 
There have been so many highlights throughout the process of having Lexie Moon published. Among them were seeing the completed typeset with all the illustrations and fonts in place. That was a real thrill! Getting a box of books in the post shortly after that was also amazing, as well as seeing it in the shops. But I would have to say that the kind and generous reception the book has received from reviewers, booksellers and especially kids has been unexpected and truly wonderful. Watching kids’ faces as they listen to the story and answering their curly questions about the plot of my book is really something special.
 
 
4. Do you have a typical writing process? What is your writing space like? 
As I mentioned above, when I was writing Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle, I was still finding a writing process that worked for me. I’m sure I’ll keep refining it as I develop my craft, but I have found that some things work really well.
 
At the very beginning of the process, I collect ideas—sometimes by making a Pinterest board, but usually by writing it in a notebook. Like Lexie Moon, I have dozens of notebooks. I have notebooks for general ideas and for taking notes at workshops and courses, as well as individual notebooks for each book I’m working on. I use them for brainstorming, solving story problems, plotting out the narrative and drafting sections of the text. I use a digital notebook to get ideas down when I don’t have a physical notebook, but there is something about pen and paper that is much more conducive to thinking.
 
A lot of the thinking, scribbling and plotting for Lexie Moon was done in a notebook wherever I happened to be at the time: at a swimming lesson, waiting for an appointment, or sitting in a cafe. I also squeeze in some writing in the early hours before work and am lucky enough to have a day or two a week in which I can dedicate a couple of hours of writing time.
 
Once I have an idea for the plot and have done some initial brainstorming, I usually do a character analysis on a large spreadsheet, which includes everything from appearance and family background to hobbies and favourite foods. Even if I never use a lot of the information in the actual story, these details really help me when I’m making decisions about how a character would behave in different situations.
 
I then start work on my first draft, writing my way between these points. Sometimes I have a very good idea of exactly how I’ll get to each point before I start writing, but often the precise details are revealed as I write. I tend to rewrite as I go, and often end up with ten or more versions of the early chapters by the time I get to the end of the complete ‘first draft’.
 
One of my favourite parts of the writing process is narrative problem solving and making sure that what happens in the story makes sense for the character and setting. This can take quite a bit of brainstorming, researching and staring out of windows. Depending on how difficult the problem is, I might bounce some ideas off a very patient family member, which could be anything from working out what sort of invention Lexie should make, to how a character acts in a scene.
 
I have dreams of one day building a writing studio, but for now I’m in a corner of the loungeroom, which I have transformed into my writing space. My desk is near a window overlooking our backyard, which is frequented by a variety of small birds. It’s a great space for daydreaming and coming up with solutions to story problems. To really get into the zone and to help me concentrate, I usually light a scented candle and put on some rain sounds.
 
 
5. How did it feel when you saw Lauren Mullinder's terrific illustrations for the first time?
What an honour to have someone turn the pictures I had in my head into actual illustrations! The first illustration I saw for Lexie Moon was a pencil sketch for the front cover. It was sooo exciting to see Lexie and it was probably at that moment that the whole my-book-is-going-to-be-published thing really sank in! Lauren’s illustrations throughout the book are fabulous. She’s really captured the look of the different inventions and made them better than I could have imagined.
 
6. Can you share anything about what is next for you? Is there anything else you are working on?
I’m very excited to be able to tell you that the second book in the Lexie Moon series, Lexie Moon and the Space Day Disaster, is planned for publication in August this year! Now I’m really pinching myself! I’m not sure if there will be more, but hope so as I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with Lexie and her friends. I also have a couple of other projects that I’ve been working on for a while, including a portal adventure, and have several other ideas I plan to work on down the track.

Thank you for stopping by my blog, MELISSA GARSIDE! And congratulations on 'Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle' now available from Riveted Press. The second book in the series 'Lexie Moon and the Space Day Disaster' is due for release in August 2025. 

Visit Melissa online at melissagarside.com

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