Author Melinda Di Lorenzo has written for as long as she can remember.
She started writing as a child, scribbling down her ideas and stories, at one point penning a tale based on the characters of her favourite TV show, 21 Jump Street (which starred Johnny Depp as an undercover cop).
Later, she studied creative writing and eventually completed her English degree at Simon Fraser University.
But the married mother of three girls didn’t get serious about her craft until she took a mid-career coffee break from her job at a popular franchise.
Employees who’ve logged 15 years have the option to take a year’s leave without penalty. It was precisely the nudge she needed.
“At that point I thought, ‘I’m going to sit down and see if I can write the book.’”
She just started writing and the story just poured out onto the pages of the scribbler she uses to write.
“It took six weeks,” she says. “It was 80,000 words.”
Unlike most writers of contemporary women’s fiction, Di Lorenzo literally works with paper and pen.
“I don’t have a laptop,” she says. “When you write with a notebook, you don’t hit ‘delete.’”
She composes her first drafts in notebooks she picks up at the dollar store, and later types them up on her home computer during the laborious and lengthier revision and editing process.
It eventually took over a year to complete her first novel, undergoing a transformation from a part-time working mom to writer.
“By the end of it, I had convinced myself I was a writer. That was the hardest part.”
Now, just about to turn 35, Di Lorenzo has written four books (two are published independently).
Her latest, Long Way From Home, is an adventure story about a heroine who finds love in the most unexpected places – on the frozen tundra of Russia.
Di Lorenzo turned to self-publishing instead of hunting down an agent and publisher for the most understandable of reasons. “The truth is, I’m kind of lazy.”
She went with an Amazon.com company called Create Space, which offers editing, marketing and personalized cover designs for extra fees.
“They’re fantastic,” she says.
For writers like Di Lorenzo who choose this route, the job of marketing becomes much more hands on.
Establishing and maintaining a web presence is crucial.
“A really big thing right now for fiction writers is blog tours. A lot of people are reading digitally. They’re not going into stores. They’re turning to trusted blogs” for suggestions on new titles worth reading, she says.
Di Lorenzo writes contemporary fiction for women in the 18-to-60 age group, and always includes a happy ending.
“I like to say they’re life stories, not love stories,” she says. “I’m strictly a PG-13 girl.”
As a busy mom, she admits it’s sometimes a challenge finding time to write. If she’s not in the zone, it can be impossible for those words to come easily, if at all. But she tries to commit to writing several hours a week or a day.
“I also write during commercial breaks during my favourite shows,” she says. “That sounds really funny, but I just find my spare moments in a day.”
Her computer is located in the family’s living room. She also carries a notebook to write in when she’s at her daughters’ softball or soccer practices. “It’s my little trick. I can sit on the sidelines and write while I’m watching practice.”
She has a smartphone, but only uses it for email, preferring to write by hand.
Di Lorenzo is proud to have completed her English degree, and is convinced it’s made her a better writer – particularly because she had to become a better reader.
“I think the more you read, the better the writer you are,” she says, listing one of her favourite books as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
She is a voracious reader, scouring blogs and websites for other independent authors.
“I’ll read anything. I’ll read the back of cereal boxes, or a 99 cent book on Kindle.”
Ideas can come from anywhere: jokes, fragments of her husband’s dreams, or even pondering her own life path, which led to the plot line of her first book. In it, the protagonist’s husband has been in an accident, causing her to re-examine her choices and decisions over the past 18 years of her life.
In Long Way from Home, Lindsay, a translator who works at an advertising firm, seems to have all those things going for her – a job, a fiancé, a funny best friend, a great apartment.
“Then she thinks, ‘Maybe this isn’t all I want to have.’”
The book’s subtext is that the heroine is afraid of committing to this life that outwardly seems perfect.
Lindsay suddenly packs up for a six-month contract in a remote area of Russia, but her small charter plane crash lands during an icy storm. She’s rescued by a group of people who speak no English and live a traditional existence. They think Lindsay is a figure from a legend.
She finds herself caught up in a prophesy – and between two intriguing men, forcing her to make an impossible choice.
Di Lorenzo says her understanding of what women want to read comes from women she knows in real life.
Most of them are pursuing fulfilling careers, and want a balanced love and family life.
“Essentially, they want to have an established life before they move on with family things,” she says.
When she thinks of her own life, she says she wants balance at home and with her writing career. “I want fulfillment in both of those things.”
Although her protagonists are female, “ I think maybe men want that too.”
– Melinda Di Lorenzo has generously offered to give away a signed copy of her book. To enter the draw, please visit the "contest" page on the Cloverdale Reporter website, and click the following link. The contest runs from May 1 to 5 p.m. May 16. Follow the Cloverdale Reporter on 
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