Title: The Traveler
Author: Melissa Delport
Series: The Traveler Series #1
Genre: SciFi Romance
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 3 2014
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook
Blurb/Synopsis:
Seven years ago, Rachel gave her heart to a dark, intense stranger, who left her broken and alone.
Every day since then Rachel has thought about Dex, her memories refusing to be silenced.
Now, Dex is back, but this time he is not alone. He has brought a formidable army – their sole purpose to conquer. Fate will bring Rachel and Dex back together, but on opposing sides of a war that threatens to obliterate her world.
Pitted against the power of the elements, Rachel and her friends must survive tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes and fire, all the while being hunted by a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to pillage her planet.
Fleeing for her life amidst the chaos of a raging, burning city, Rachel realizes man’s only chance of survival lies in the hands of the very person who betrayed her all those years ago.
Earth is destined to fall, but Rachel is determined to save mankind, no matter the sacrifice.

Interview

What do you do when you are not writing? Up until recently I ran my own specialized transport business, but I sold it in December when I was offered a publishing contract. It was a huge move after 10 years, but ultimately worth it. I also spend a lot of my time running around after my three beautiful children, aged 7, 4 and 2.

Where do you get your ideas? My books are edgy and primarily fall into the SFF genre, so I do not really draw much inspiration from real-life scenarios. I have a vivid imagination, as do all authors, and a story will just come to me in a typical “light bulb” moment. Often, I will shelve an idea if it doesn’t progress – only the truly unique and inspiring concepts come to fruition in the form of a full-length novel.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? Just the opposite. Although I am a voracious reader, originality in my own writing is very important to me. I will go out of my way to avoid “mimicking” other authors

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published? Getting published is every authors dream, but it is not an easy feat. Countless rejection letters must be endured and often publishers will decline a book that is deserving of a publishing deal. The problem is that fiction, in particular, is a hard sell, and mainstream publishing houses proceed with extreme caution. I consider myself very lucky to have been signed by a publisher. To land a deal, you need a combination of talent and luck!

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre? I am fortunate that my publisher does a lot of the marketing for The Legacy Trilogy, but it is a fallacy that if traditionally published, you can sit back and let others promote your book. Even a mainstream publisher expects you as the author, to promote. Book marketing is a hit-and-miss process. What works for some, doesn’t necessarily work for others. I took to social media, which is imperative in building an author brand, and I take advantage of Amazon’s incentive programs. The only thing that I know for certain is that when it comes to book sales, personal recommendation is the best form of marketing. It’s all about word of mouth, and it takes time.

If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your book or getting it published that you would change? You will always look back and think “If I wrote that book now, I would change this, or do that…” It’s part of growing older. Your own preferences change. That is why you should keep writing – you cannot go back, all you can do is move forward. Fiction has a shelf-life. A book that is popular now will not be in a year or two, so there is no point changing anything later. As to my publishing journey, I would not change a thing. I am blessed to have a publisher that believes in me and my writing, and I couldn’t ask for more than that.

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Wife and mother of 3, Melissa Delport is the author of The Legacy Series, Rainfall & The Traveler. She graduated from the University of South Africa with a Bachelor’s Degree in English in 2000. She currently lives with her husband and three children in Hillcrest, South Africa, and is hard at work on the final book in The Legacy Trilogy.

Her first novel, The Legacy, self-published in 2013, is the first in The Legacy Trilogy, and is followed by the sequel The Legion. The main-stream publisher, Tracey McDonald Publishers, is re-releasing The Legacy and The Legion in July 2014. Book 3 of the trilogy, The Legend, is due out in 2015. Melissa has also written an independent novel entitled Rainfall, a psychological romance, and a science-fiction, action-adventure called The Traveler.

An avid reader herself, Melissa finally decided to stop “watching from the sidelines” and to do what is her passion.

“I was driving home from work when inspiration struck, and a storyline started unravelling in my head. For a few days, it was all I could think about and eventually I realized that the only way to get it out of my head, was to put it all down on paper. I started writing, and that was that.”

Places to find Melissa:

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