Sawbones, historical fiction from metroplex author Melissa Lenhardt, was recently named one of Lone Star Lit’s Top Ten Favorite Texas fiction titles for 2016. What’s even more remarkable is that in 2017 Lenhardt will have published five books since her 2015 debut. Earlier this week she took time from a busy holiday schedule to be interviewed by email for Lone Star Literary Life.

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Melissa, you grew up in a small town in East Texas. Which town was that; what was it like; and how do you think it eventually influenced your writing?

MELISSA LENHARDT: I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s in Winnsboro, Texas, a small town about fifty miles north of Tyler. That was when Main Street was a real main street, with small businesses run by local men and women — clothing stores, a five-and-dime, a hardware store, pharmacies, banks, insurance agencies, restaurants, law offices. There was a Dairy Queen and a Sonic, lots of gas stations and churches. So many churches. You could walk anywhere in town (though there were no sidewalks) within about fifteen minutes. Though the schools were integrated, the town was segregated, with African-Americans living in one area, whites in another. As far as I know, that’s still the case.

I don’t think growing up in Winnsboro has influenced my writing any more or less than living in a city. People are the same everywhere, and I draw on the people surrounding me now as often as I draw on people from my childhood.

I understand that you never had any aspiration, when you were growing up, to be a writer — that you went to college but ended up in an industry that didn’t suit you. When did you get the writing bug, and how did you pursue it?

I started writing fan fiction, and the encouragement by my cousin, who’s been a professional writer for thirty years, to start writing my own ideas is what spurred me on to start writing the book that would eventually turn into Stillwater.

Persistence paid off for you. I read that you wrote your first draft of Stillwater in 2003, but it wasn’t published until 2015. What inspired you to stick with it?

Stillwater didn’t start as a mystery, but as a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. That idea didn’t work at all, mainly because I wasn’t a good enough writer to emulate Austen. I stopped and started two or three times, with big gaps between working on it. I kept coming back to it because I loved the town and [main female character] Ellie, and wanted to tell their story.

What do you consider to be your first big break, and how did it come about?

Signing with my agent in 2013. I met her at the DFW Writers’ Conference and pitched Stillwater to her at the end of the last day. She requested a full, and I signed with her six weeks later.

What inspired Stillwater, your debut novel, and can you tell our readers about the book and the series?

I created Stillwater, the setting, for my modern-day Persuasion. My intention was to write in multiple genres, and set all of my books there. The novel in its current form came about when I apparently decided to turn it into a mystery. I’m sure it was a total whim, a “You know what? I’m gonna write a mystery.” When I started writing original stories, I had a real problem with abandoning projects when a new shiny idea came along. Finishing a book — taking it through multiple drafts and editing it relentlessly — didn’t happen for years. I saw a tweet recently that said, “Ideas are the easy part,” and that’s totally true. I learned that lesson when I set my mind to finishing Stillwater and had to make sure the mystery resolutions and motivations made sense. I spent a lot of time staring at my office wall.

As far as my idea to write in multiple genres in the town of Stillwater goes, I’m not sure how realistic that is. Publishing likes you to find a lane and stay in it, and now that Stillwater has been established as a mystery setting, I’m not sure a publisher would be eager to explore other stories and genres there. But the good news is I have lots of ideas for mysteries, so as long as the readers enjoy Stillwater mysteries, I’ll keep writing them.

From your debut novel in 2015 through 2017, you will have had five books published. That’s a pretty intense undertaking. What’s your creative process like?

I have no process. Seriously. Lots of writers can detail out their daily schedule and give great advice on how to be successful and productive. I cannot. I write almost every day, but when I write depends on life, inspiration and motivation. I’ve learned the best motivator is a publisher imposed deadline.

Our staff selected Sawbones as one of our Top Ten Favorite Texas Fiction titles of 2016. Will you tell our readers about Sawbones and the series?

I love all my books, but I think Sawbones is my favorite. I started writing it after my father died in 2008, so there is a lot of emotion tied up in the book. It also went through a lot of drafts and iterations until I finally found the right voice and story. Sawbones was the first book I finished and sent out on submission. I realized quickly that it needed more work, and that it was going to be difficult to find an agent with a Western. So, I decided to finish and polish Stillwater and submit it, thinking that finding an agent with a mystery would be easier. And, I was right.

Sawbones was written as a standalone, but when the publisher asked if it could be a series I said, “Of course it can!” Then, panic set in because I had no idea what happened next. I’d never thought of it. They rode off into the sunset. The End. But, when in doubt, start writing. (I suppose if I have a process, that’s it.) Somehow, that worked, and I wrote the next two books in sixteen months. The trilogy will be released in print in April, May, and June of 2017.

Which Texas authors do you enjoy reading?

Charlaine Harris, Julie Murphy, Kathleen Kent, Larry McMurtry, Harry Hunsicker, Joe Lansdale, James Lee Burke.

What’s been the biggest surprise about being a published author?

How much work there is to do outside of creating, writing, and editing.

What’s next for Melissa Lenhardt?

I am under contract for another historical novel, a standalone with entirely new characters, time and setting. I’ll be working on that in 2017. After that, I suppose I’ll see where the muse takes me.