Q&A: Melissa Marr, Author of 'The Hidden Dragon'

The Hidden Dragon is a spellbinding fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr, which follows a sea-faring girl and her friends take on pirates and grown-ups, and bond with dragons, as they work to make the world a better place.

PLUS you can read the first two chapters of The Hidden Dragon at the end of the interview!

Hi, Melissa! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I write fiction for adults, teens, and children. I’m probably best known for my fantasy novels (Wicked Lovely for teens and Graveminder for adults) and my Bunny Roo, I Love You picturebook. My most recent book (Wild Horses) was a collection of my photography; it was just selected for inclusion in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. On the not-work side, I was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains, went to graduate school in North Carolina, and currently live in Arizona with my wife and sons. In my free time, I periodically teach for an MFA program, go to the gym, and hike with my cameras when my health allows.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I grew up in the mountains where everything is story—your day, why you blew curfew, the weird thing in the woods. Story is simply a way of life, but I was also one of those children who started to read early. I was reading Milton by middle school—along with steamy romances and fantasy and philosophy. I can’t say I understood it all, but I would read and reread things until I got the heart of it. Add bookishness to a culture of story, and I think my path was predetermined.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

Alice in Wonderland.

Your new novel, The Hidden Dragon, is out February 14^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Seafaring, fantasy creatures, found family.

What can readers expect?

Highseas adventures, a chimera, dragons, and pirates are the obvious things. However, the kids are also dealing with figuring out family, facing hunger, and realizing that adults aren’t always right. Those are harder “monsters” to face than a classic Big Bad, in my opinion. Poverty, hunger, not knowing where you fit—these are real monsters. They were monsters I faced as a child, so I think that the book is both adventures and finding out how to overcome real-world peril.

Where did the inspiration for The Hidden Dragon come from?

This was partly the book 10 year old Melissa couldn’t find on the shelves. Ocean, dragons, and thrills! But I also read a lot of folklore and nonfiction. The final concept sparked from a publisher letter in the 1800s in which a naval captain swore he saw a sea dragon. He was reputable. . . and I thought “what if ours was a world where there were actually dragons, and the government was hiding the truth?”

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

The serious side was the challenge of writing a book without a physical manifestation of an antagonist. “Destroy this one enemy” is . . . easier to write. It’s expected. What if the enemy was homelessness? Poverty? Hunger? Governmental fail? Those are harder to tackle, harder to write without being lecture-y. They’re also real monsters, so I wanted to weave those into the story.

On the lighter side, if I had to pick one moment out of all the fun stuff with dragons and pirates and sea storms and tricking the queen, it was the pirate battle. I sat around the table with my kids (24, 29, & 10 now) and asked “what could be in the belly of the ship that we could use to attack the pirates.” We found an answer, and I could not have loved the solution more. I chortled.

With your first novel published 16 years ago, what are some of the key lessons you have learned as a writer since then?

Q&A: Robert Dugoni, Author of ‘The Last Agent’

I might sound harsh, but I’m going to share more “business of writing” not craft notes here.

Write with passion/excitement, and readers will feel it.
Work with your publishing team. No matter how much readers might love your book, it only matters if they can find your book in the first place.
Put business matters in writing. If you have a call, send the follow-up email saying, “Please confirm that these are the things discussed, dates, plan.” Record keeping helps.
Only read reviews when you are braced for them. And then remember that you are not as good OR as bad as reviewers think.
Retreats are golden. (I do 3-4 a year.) They don’t need to be fancy, but losing yourself in the words is magical.
Some people pick a lane; some diversify. I prefer the latter enough that the pressure to do the former made me consider quitting entirely. There’s no One Way to do it, despite what many people think.

What’s next for you?

On the diversifying topic, I have a mix of things: a YA graphic novel for D.C. Comics (The Strange Case of Harleen & Harley) coming out in 2024, a picturebook Family is Family (via Penguin), and an adult fantasy novel (Remedial Magic) that ought to be officially announced any day. So I have a number of things completed that are in the pipeline. I’m toying with a few project currently, since those three are all written and submitted.

Lastly, are there any 2023 book releases our readers should look out for?

I’m really looking forward to Opinions and Opossums by Ann Braden. It sounds like a smart and funny MG book.

In adult, there’s Hemlock Island (Kelley Armstrong), which is actually in my hands now to read. It’s Kelley’s first full-length horror novel. Plus, there’s her second Rip in Time Victorian, time travel, thriller with a romance thread. That one is called The Poisoners Ring, I think. (I adored the first one!)

Also N.E. Davenport’s sequel to Blood Trials (which I love) is coming out.

I’m sure there are a stack out there I have yet to discover but will love, but I was finishing writing my next novel, so I haven’t really looked too far into the new year’s offerings yet.