Today is a special day! I think it might be a new beginning ...

Please welcome Melissa Kline, the author of My Beginning. This amazingly talented woman is a fellow Lucky Press author, so I am thrilled to have her here today. Thank you for coming, Melissa!

Today is the official launch of my debut young adult novel, My Beginning! I am so honored to be a guest on Jessica's blog and to share this very special day with you! I have been dreaming of this day for a very long time.

I have been writing since I was 6 years old and I've completed ten young adult novels, but My Beginning is the only science fiction book I’ve ever written.  

The idea for the book came to me in a dream where I experienced an adventure through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Ivory. She lived in a dangerous and toxic world where children were forbidden to venture outside. The dream was so vivid and unusual that I knew upon awakening that it was something special. I grabbed the nearest piece of paper and jotted the entire dream down, then put the paper away in a drawer. It wasn’t until right after I had my second son, about a year later, that I realized - "I’ve got to write this book!"

It took me about 2 months to complete the book with a newborn in tow. I would write all of my ideas down on notes during the day, then string them together at night. When the book was finished I cleaned it up a bit and shared it with friends at a writing workshop, then put it away and started a new project. I didn’t look at it for over a year until my current publisher, Lucky Press, requested it – which is an interesting story.

I had originally submitted a different book and my publisher asked if I had anything else. I was like, "Yes! Of course!" But... I haven’t looked at it for over a year and it’s sci-fi, which is a genre Lucky Press had never published. I sent the manuscript anyway thinking there was no way that it would ever be considered, but my publisher immediately fell in love with My Beginning and here we are!

My Beginning was so much fun to write. It’s a unique story full of suspense, romance and adventure. Here is a brief synopsis: 

My Beginning is told through the eyes of Ivory, a 16-year-old girl who has lived her entire life within the walls of an institution: one of many supposedly set up to protect those within from a worldwide plague. She and all of the other surviving children live a strict, mundane life full of tasks and responsibilities—forbidden to go outside, congregate or look at the opposite sex. 

Despite the uncompromising atmosphere, Ivory manages to pique the interest of the only boy who did not grow up in the institution, creating a love affair neither of them expected. Multiple secret meetings take a turn for the worse when they are caught and severely punished, but through unexpected circumstances Ivory and Aidan find themselves on the outside. After being taken in by a friendly, supportive community, the young couple realizes they’ve been lied to their entire lives. Yet, there is a lot more to the world than they could have ever imagined, and they soon learn of lifelike machines that threaten humankind.

Ivory faces many unexpected challenges as she matures in her relationship with Arian, and in the end it is up to her to save him and the world she has grown to love.

Check out the BOOK TRAILER

My Beginning is available through:

AMAZON.COM

BARNES & NOBLE

or you can ...

BUY AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY DIRECTLY FROM MELISSA

Please feel free to spread the word to family and friends. I appreciate your support! :) Thank you, Jessica!

You're welcome! It was great having you!