A Zibby's Book Club pick!! Melody Maysonet, WHAT WE WISH FOR
[0:02]Welcome to Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books, hosted by me, Zibi Owens.
[0:07]It's an award-winning podcast with over 1900 episodes, all featuring authors of Books You Love, and those you have yet to discover.
[0:15]Listen daily five times a week. Then go to ZibiMedia.com and learn more about what the LA Times called the Zibiverse.
[0:22]ZibiMedia includes Zibi's bookshop, an independent bookstore in Santa Monica, ZibiBooks Publishing, Zibi Retreat, Zibi's Book Club, and more.
[0:31]Go check it out at ZibiMedia.com and follow me on Instagram at Zibi Owens. It'll take you where you need to go.
[0:38]Thanks for listening.
[0:43]Melanie Masonette is the author of What We Wish for, and by the way, this is a Zibi's Book Club pick.
[0:49]Melanie Masonette is the author of the critically acclaimed A Work of Art and has been an English teacher, editor, columnist, and ghostwriter.
[0:57]A self-proclaimed geek, she loves reading fantasy, but prefers writing edgy real-world fiction that's based on problems she has dealt with in her own life.
[1:04]What We Wish for is her second novel.
[1:06]Welcome, Melanie. Thank you so much for coming on Moms. Don't have time to read books to discuss what we wish for.
[1:12]Thank you so much for having me.
[1:15]I was just so taken with your book, and I know it's filled as, you know, for younger readers, but I didn't feel like I couldn't read it.
[1:24]I loved it. I really loved it, and think that grown-up readers should also read it because it does affect a mom.
[1:30]It's just from a kid's point of view, which I found really interesting.
[1:34]So why don't you tell listeners what your book is about and all of that?
[1:38]Okay. So, well, what We Wish for is kind of like a genie in the bottle story.
[1:43]You know, like, I was always attracted to that type of story.
[1:46]What happens if you get everything you'd wish for?
[1:49]And so that was kind of the underlying premise, but it's about this 15-year-old girl named Leila,
[1:55]who's recently had to move into a homeless shelter with her mom,
[1:58]and her mom's an alcoholic and doesn't seem to be doing well.
[2:01]They've been there for about a month, and Leila's scared.
[2:05]She's scared. Her mom won't stay clean.
[2:07]She's scared. Her mom will never find a job that she'll just keep screwing up.
[2:11]And she's also modified by her circumstances, because, you know, she's 15.
[2:15]She's in high school, and she tries to portray this aura of, I don't care what you think of me.
[2:22]I'm emo. I write poetry. I'm cool.
[2:24]But the fact is, she does very much care to the point where she's lying to everyone, including her best friend.
[2:30]And there's this growing rift between them.
[2:33]And at the beginning of the story, they find out Leila's mom's name is Shana.
[2:37]Shana finds out that she only has 10 more days at the homeless shelter.
[2:41]They're going to kick her out unless she finds a job, and that doesn't seem likely.
[2:44]So Leila hatches this plan to get them out of the shelter by calling her uncle,
[2:50]who's kind of an asshole.
[2:51]He's running from mayor.
[2:53]He's very wealthy. And the reason they haven't called him before is because he's threatened them.
[2:57]Like, I'll take Leila away from you, I'll throw her into child services if you ever contact me.
[3:03]And so Leila convinces her mom. It's a good idea.
[3:06]She's running from mayor. He's not going to want it getting out that his relatives have been living in a homeless shelter when he could have helped.
[3:12]So Shana sort of is on board with this idea, but she ends up ODing on heroin and almost dies.
[3:20]But the silver lining is that Leila then gets to move.
[3:23]And here's the genie in the bottle part.
[3:24]Leila then gets to move in with her very rich and uncle.
[3:28]And she thinks all of her dreams have come true.
[3:30]You know, they're promising to put her mom into a really fancy rehab.
[3:35]And they buy Leila all these new clothes and new phones.
[3:39]She hasn't had a new phone in months.
[3:40]And at the same time, they're telling her and don't tell anyone that where you were living.
[3:44]So she keeps lying to her best friend.
[3:46]And, you know, things aren't always, you know, things are as happy as Leila thinks
[3:52]they might they should be.
[3:54]Her uncle's a pretty nasty guy.
[3:56]Her cousin Celeste who she now lives with and is in high school is a snotty bitch.
[4:00]And her Aunt Tanya is a replacement mother figure, but she's pretty damaged in herself.
[4:07]So it's not all happy, you know, unicorns and rainbows and things like that.
[4:11]And meanwhile, her mom is spiraling.
[4:13]But Leila refuses to see it because she's so caught up in this.
[4:16]I'm trying to be this new person that her aunt and uncle's wealth allows her to be.
[4:23]So that's the driving first of the story.
[4:25]Things get worse and worse and family secrets come out.
[4:28]And it's sort of a communal age family drama, but it's tragic, but it's also hopeful.
[4:35]So amazing.
[4:36]And where did the story come from for you?
[4:38]Okay, this is the hard part.
[4:40]Okay.
[4:41]I feel like I'm going to cry.
[4:43]Okay.
[4:44]I'm an alcoholic in recovery and I've been in recovery for about 18 years, but I've kept it secret from almost everybody except for my immediate family until very recently.
[4:56]I told myself that if I ever got this book published that I wasn't going to shy away from who I really am.
[5:03]With my first book, it was about a girl who was sexually abused and I was sexually abused.
[5:10]And when it came out, I was asked, is this a personal story for you?
[5:13]And I said, you know, I totally shy away from it.
[5:16]This was the before me too.
[5:18]To me too, I very much felt the shame in this stigma.
[5:23]And I feel that way too with the alcoholism, but I feel like I wanted to be braver and vulnerable.
[5:31]And so this is me being brave.
[5:34]Not sure what it looks like.
[5:36]Probably a mess, but anyway, there's that stigma attached to it.
[5:39]So anyway, this is me being braver.
[5:41]It's very personal to me.
[5:43]I've seen families torn apart by addiction.
[5:46]I know what it's like to struggle with addiction, but at the same time I know the joy of recovery.
[5:52]So that's kind of the overall basis, but then the characters and the in the plot took root.
[5:58]A few years ago, I was asked to tell my recovery story at a homeless shelter at a it's one of those homeless shelters like the one in the book.
[6:05]It's a community and they have education classes and stuff like that.
[6:08]So and they bring addiction meetings in.
[6:10]And so I told my story at this homeless shelter and it went well.
[6:14]And I really liked, you know, I felt like it was helping people.
[6:17]So I started volunteering there and it wasn't I wasn't volunteering to do like addiction stuff.
[6:22]I was volunteering.
[6:23]I'm a train.
[6:24]I'm an English.
[6:24]I used to be an English teacher.
[6:26]So I was teaching pre GED grammar English classes there.
[6:31]And the director of the shelter took a shine to me.
[6:34]He invited me to their weekly community meetings.
[6:37]And they're they introduce new people in the community.
[6:41]And there was a mom and her teenage son.
[6:44]And the boy's name was Gabriel.
[6:46]And if you Gabriel's character ended up being a character in the book.
[6:49]Now I know nothing about this real life.
[6:51]Gabriel, but I found myself wondering, you know, what's this kid's life like?
[6:56]Does he hate his mom?
[6:57]Is he rooting for?
[6:59]So all that got me thinking and the the protagonist of the book is a girl.
[7:04]Because I better relate to that, but Gabriel ends up being her love interest in the story.
[7:09]And the girl is very, Layla is very much based on me.
[7:13]I was very insecure like Layla growing up.
[7:15]My father was an alcoholic and like Layla, we report things like having, you know,
[7:22]notebook paper for school or hairspray luxury items for us a lot of the time.
[7:28]And like Layla, I tried to project this attitude of I don't care what you think of me.
[7:33]But I did care very deeply and I felt very much less than.
[7:36]And I wrote a lot of poetry like Layla as a teen.
[7:40]And in fact, a lot of the poetry that you see most of the poetry that you see in the book
[7:44]is poetry I wrote as a teenager.
[7:46]A little pieces of poems that begin each chapter.
[7:49]I would change a few words here and there to make it a better apply to Layla circumstances.
[7:53]But for the most part, they're their poems I wrote as a teen.
[7:57]And like Layla, I was told by somebody in the English department at my high school
[8:01]that they were too filled with teenage angst.
[8:04]I guess to be any good.
[8:06]Which of course was a blow to myself a stain, but it didn't stop me from writing them.
[8:10]And I guess, you know, I wrote short stories, I wrote novels, I wrote poems.
[8:14]But anyway, I think it's very cool that these poems that I wrote as a teenager are seeing publications.
[8:20]So that's the inspiration.
[8:24]Oh my gosh.
[8:25]I think it's amazing that you're telling the real story.
[8:29]I think it adds a layer of depth to the novel.
[8:32]And I think your openness, both you as a person and the character and all of that
[8:39]is helping is going to help so many people who read it.
[8:42]I think the stigma you feel.
[8:45]And I read lots of I love books about people overcoming things.
[8:50]And so I've just a long the way I've read a lot of books about memoirs about addiction or alcoholism or whatever.
[8:56]And I have interviewed a lot of people who feel just so much better when it's out there, right?
[9:01]The corrosive power of secrets is sort of the hardest piece of it.
[9:04]So I feel like this is going to end up being a very positive experience for you.
[9:09]And I really do.
[9:11]I mean, I think that it's not easy, but it's obviously important for you and your own development.
[9:20]And being sober for 18 years, I mean, that's a huge accomplishment.
[9:24]Your like sobriety is an adult then.
[9:26]Yeah.
[9:27]Yeah.
[9:28]Wow.
[9:29]In terms of the mother, daughter relationship, can you speak more to that dynamic?
[9:36]And do you have kids, is what was your relationship with your mom like or, you know, how does that all play in?
[9:43]If at all.
[9:44]And if not, don't worry about that.
[9:45]Oh, yeah.
[9:46]Well, I do have a son and he was little when I wrote this and I was very much aware that if I ever like,
[9:53]I never got found out that I was an alcoholic that it could affect his life.
[9:56]I could just imagine mom saying, oh.
[10:00]we can't go over to Caleb's for a play day because his mom's an alkene, you know, that kind of thing.
[10:04]So I felt that stigma. I worked, you know, I let him know that I, you know,
[10:09]was in recovery and stuff. But I said, you're not supposed to talk about it to your friends and stuff.
[10:13]So anyway, um, the LaShana is very, is based on a lot of people I've encountered in recovery,
[10:23]including myself, um, her struggles and, you know, just that up and down and back and forth,
[10:29]and wanting to do good and just not knowing really how and sort of that chaotic lifestyle.
[10:36]I've seen it over and over and over in people. And, um, my heart goes out to her. I, one of the things,
[10:42]I was, I struggled to make her, make sure she was likable and maybe she's not as like,
[10:49]I mean, she wins through some revisions to make her more likable because just that chaos
[10:54]of, of addiction and what it does to you. I wanted to make sure that the readers knew that she
[11:01]loved Leila. I have a great relationship with my own mother, you know, we were, we struggled financially
[11:06]growing up, but she was always a loving mother. So there's nothing there to delve into. But, um,
[11:15]you know, I did mention that my alcohol, my father was an alcoholic and, um, we were never that
[11:21]close. It was more of like a punishing, sort of, you know, environment than a
[11:29]rooting for him to get better. You know, I was just, just wanted to stay away from that. So
[11:34]I feel like your character goes through all the emotions, right? A lot of there, and there is a
[11:39]lot of anger in there. Like there's times when she just doesn't want to forgive Shauna. And,
[11:44]and it's like, you know, you're, you're ruining it. Like you, you know, and you can feel that
[11:49]emotion and like she wants to love her, but she's just so mad. And I feel like that applies to a
[11:56]lot of teenagers and not just for, you know, significant things like this, but even something
[12:02]as silly as, you know, whatever, because teenagers are all just trying to individually. But that,
[12:08]you know, push pull of the love versus anger versus self identification and all of that. I mean,
[12:15]you really nailed all of that in the, in the writing. Well, thank you. I tried.
[12:20]Was it emotional for you to write it or did it just come pouring out and how long did it take?
[12:27]And what was that process like for you? It was therapeutic. I will say that just writing
[12:33]from both perspectives of somebody living with an alcoholic and someone being an alcoholic.
[12:40]And I think in that way, it made it easier for to see the anger of Layla, but also the hope,
[12:47]please, please, why can't you get this for God's sake? You know, everybody else seems to be
[12:52]getting it, but you can't, you know, I've seen both sides of that. And then on the other side of
[12:56]like, I don't know why I can't get it. You know, where's the miracle for me? You know, I've,
[13:01]I've been there too. So I'm always already forgetting the other part of your question.
[13:06]That's okay. I was just asking about the process and how the process.
[13:10]Oh, so yeah, it took me a long time to write. I rewrote it many times. I felt like almost from scratch
[13:17]as I tried to find the story that I wanted to tell. I've been fortunate in that I have a great
[13:22]critique group. And, um, you know, they, they hold my feet to the fire when something's not
[13:29]working. They let me know. So yeah, it took years to write years to write. And then once I got it
[13:35]in shape where I thought it was in shape, then, you know, some agents, editors got their hands
[13:41]into it and said, okay, no, you can make it even better. I was like, cool, thank you, but then
[13:46]you know, I'm not going. Wow. That is, that is how it goes. Like, yeah, it's like the revisions
[13:54]never ends. So it comes out. How did this differ from your previous book in terms of the writing
[14:03]process or the writing process and even the selling of it or the emotion behind it. I know that
[14:08]well, when I wrote the, the first one, it, like I said, it was about a girl who's been sexually
[14:13]abused. And it was very personal, very personal. And they're very therapeutic. And it took me
[14:19]even longer to write. It took me probably about five years to write. And then I think it took me,
[14:26]I was ready to shelve it. And I would, because I had been trying to find an agent, I hadn't found an
[14:31]agent. And because it's very dark, it's very, very dark and disturbing. And like I said, it was
[14:37]before me too. So it wasn't like out there as a topic, like nobody wanted to touch it. And I was
[14:42]ready to shelve it. And I went to a mentor of mine, a writing mentor, and I said, I'm just going to,
[14:48]put it in a shelf and and chalk it up as a learning experience. And she said, why don't you
[14:53]like follow up on some of the agents that you had? You know, so I did. And then I immediately
[14:58]got an agent. And then she immediately sold it, which was amazing to a small press. And you know,
[15:04]it didn't sell very well, because like I said, but it was a learning process. And I, that's one of
[15:10]the reasons why with this book, I wanted to be more honest about who I was, because I,
[15:16]I felt like I needed to have that agency as a, as the author of the book that this is,
[15:23]there's a reason I wrote this, you know, so it took me, you know, like I said, years to write
[15:28]a lot longer to sell. Once, once I thought it was like in good shape, thank you for Blackstone
[15:34]publishing for Maryland for taking it on, because yeah, because it's not an always easy read. I tend
[15:43]to write like dark things, because I had like kind of a trouble upbringing. And so those are the
[15:50]kinds of books that I'm drawn to, but they're not necessarily the types of books that everybody
[15:53]likes to read. So I am drawn to this stories also. And I think there is a big audience for a book
[16:00]like this where you're, you're seeing all the sides of the story, even those told from one
[16:07]perspective. I think it's, I think it's really inspiring, honestly. I think the whole story is
[16:11]inspiring. And, and even the twists, you know, it's, I think it's propulsive as a, you know,
[16:17]from a plot perspective and, you know, you're really rooting, really rooting for Leila to
[16:24]overcome and find a way to cope because a lot, you know, a lot of people are trying to cope with
[16:29]things that are out of their control and their families and their upbringing. I mean, so I think you're,
[16:35]I think you're, I know I said this before. I think it's going to help a lot of people.
[16:39]Well, good. I'm so glad to hear that because that's like in my, my fantasy, you know,
[16:45]I'm right. The people are, you know, get something out of that's, that's kind of my goal.
[16:50]I mean, my goal is to entertain. And I've had some really good training like workshops and stuff
[16:55]on plot. So I feel like I know how to plot. It's not easy, but I know how I know what works. So
[17:02]it's gratifying that to hear you say that the plot was good, look the twists and the turns came
[17:06]was really deliberate. But well, I was, you know, hoodwinked into it, you know, like an unsuspecting
[17:12]reader. So, so I thought that was great too. You know, and also even the, the, the contrast of wealth
[17:20]and class and, you know, the house versus have nots and what that does to self esteem and
[17:28]yeah, like the shopping scene when she's out and her presence is like, of course, you can just
[17:33]have this, this and this. And she's like, why stuff? So I, yeah, I mean, if you, if there were somebody
[17:40]out there who, you know, would need to read this, like, what would your sort of value proposition
[17:44]of it be like, how will this help? And I can say something. But to me, it's like, when I read books
[17:51]as a teen, I was looking for normalcy, like, it's okay and, and see, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
[18:00]Oh, it's okay. Take your time. This is such difficult terrain. You know, you get a check
[18:06]plus for even trying to discuss honestly. I, I, those were the books that I was attracted to when
[18:12]I was a teenager. The ones that, you know, where bad things horrible, horrible circumstances,
[18:17]you know, not normal family lives. But yet there is always that shimmer, glimmer of hope that,
[18:25]hey, you know, it gets better. And when I was a teen, I never dreamed that I would have the
[18:33]life that I have now. I mean, if someone had told me that I would have the life that I have now,
[18:37]I'd been like, you're kidding, you know, it's not real. But, but I do. And it's because I make my own
[18:45]future, you know, addiction took me to my knees. I almost lost myself, but I was able to
[18:51]find joy again. And that was all about the hope, you know, even when I was first trying to get
[18:56]sober, I was like, I'm never going to be able to have fun ever in my life again. I'm never going
[19:00]to be able to do this never, you know, but I had that hope because other people told me. So I
[19:05]guess that is what I hope other people would get out of the story that if they're going through
[19:10]something, hang on, keep trying, there is, you know, they can get better, often does.
[19:17]How were you able to get better? Ultimately, was it through an inpatient program or through
[19:24]AA or it's not in my business? I'm supposed to be anonymous, but I never went to our rehab.
[19:32]So yeah, I mean, I go to meetings regularly and I help other alcoholics and I'm pretty involved
[19:39]with my, you know, with that kind of outreach. And, you know, it keeps them growing. And I found
[19:45]so much joy and just feel good about myself, about who I am and where my life is going. It's just
[19:51]feels so much better. So that, you know, it keeps, it, that keeps me going too. I never want to go
[19:57]back to so that miserable life.
[20:00]I mean, it was taking over everything was taking over.
[20:02]I always wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little kid.
[20:06]And I tried, you know, and then the drinking got in the way.
[20:09]And then it was a few years after I was sober
[20:12]that I started writing again.
[20:15]And it felt so good, you know?
[20:17]So yeah, I wouldn't trade that for anything.
[20:19]Well, who you are, right?
[20:20]I mean, yeah.
[20:21]And I think that's why it comes across so authentic
[20:26]and so real and so moving.
[20:30]And I think, I really think you can tell.
[20:33]So I think thank you very much.
[20:36]I really do.
[20:36]What do you like to read now versus when you were 18?
[20:40]Oh, I read almost everything except for romance.
[20:43]Does that make me sound like a snob?
[20:45]I have read the occasional romance, but it's just not my thing.
[20:49]I, gosh, my favorite book,
[20:51]you can see it on my shelf here is Watership Down.
[20:54]That's the first edition as well.
[20:56]I read fantasy science fiction.
[20:58]I read tons of nonfiction.
[20:59]I love or were two books, you know,
[21:02]the nonfiction as well as the, you know,
[21:05]fictional based on history stories.
[21:07]Gosh, I read literary fiction.
[21:10]But what am I, you know,
[21:11]I'm really in a fantasy series right now.
[21:13]It's one of those five book series
[21:14]that has a thousand pages per book.
[21:16]So, wow.
[21:17]And I read a lot of YA,
[21:18]especially when I was writing YA,
[21:20]I read a lot of YA.
[21:22]And I was like, you know, all of these are like,
[21:24]so different from what I'm writing.
[21:26]Maybe I should change mine to be more like, you know,
[21:29]the love interest and the, you know,
[21:31]make it fancy or vampires or whatever.
[21:33]I'm like, no, no, no, stay true to yourself.
[21:36]Stay in your lane.
[21:37]So I did and maybe it'll pay off.
[21:40]I don't know.
[21:41]Wow.
[21:43]Are you working on anything else now?
[21:45]Yeah, I'm right.
[21:47]I'm working on an adult novel.
[21:48]It's about a young woman who works in a diner
[21:52]and she is trying to make, you know,
[21:54]trying to pay her rent.
[21:55]And she's got the Stalker X boyfriend
[21:58]who's manipulating her life.
[21:59]And she doesn't realize it at first.
[22:01]And he wants very much to be the hero
[22:03]and her have to come to him for help.
[22:06]And things get out of hand
[22:07]and he has some mental health issues
[22:09]and he ends up being very scary.
[22:11]And, you know, I'm in the rewrite stage,
[22:14]again, like the third rewrite.
[22:15]But it's still a little like the third act
[22:18]is still not quite where I'm floundering a little bit.
[22:21]But it'll get there.
[22:22]I'm a slow, as my agent knows, a slow, careful writer.
[22:27]But, you know, I know it will get there
[22:30]because it's like a driving force for me.
[22:33]I don't know.
[22:35]And do you still teach at all?
[22:36]Or I haven't in a while since I stopped
[22:39]volunteering, teaching there at the homeless shelter.
[22:42]I haven't really taught.
[22:44]I do the benefits of having a teaching background, though,
[22:47]are that when I do school visits, like at high schools,
[22:50]and I've done them in the past,
[22:51]or I've done workshops and stuff,
[22:54]is that I have that training.
[22:56]And that's kind of like teaching, too,
[22:57]when you presented a high school
[22:59]or in a library, which I've done both of those.
[23:02]So that's nice.
[23:03]And I did an S-C-B-W-I workshops.
[23:05]I'm like, yeah, I can go into my teacher mode.
[23:08]Yeah.
[23:10]Wow.
[23:11]Well, do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
[23:14]Yeah, I would say just educate yourself
[23:18]on the craft of writing.
[23:19]When I first started in my early 20s,
[23:22]I wrote some novels.
[23:23]I'm like, this is great.
[23:25]Just because I wrote it, right?
[23:27]I finished a novel.
[23:29]Therefore, it must be good, no, no, no, no.
[23:32]And I ended up reading a lot of books on craft.
[23:36]I took a ton of workshops.
[23:38]I still do joining writing organizations.
[23:41]They often have conferences and workshops.
[23:44]Get a critique group.
[23:46]And I get that fixed skin, because that's
[23:48]the only way you're going to get better
[23:50]is to listen to that in criticism and use it instead
[23:55]of crying about it, which you can do to, then I have.
[23:59]But you know, and rejection is hard,
[24:01]but you have to push through it.
[24:02]So I get it.
[24:05]Wow.
[24:05]Well, Melanie, thank you.
[24:07]I really wish you all the best.
[24:09]I can't wait to shout the book from the rooftops.
[24:11]I think it's really great.
[24:12]And I think it's just really commendable what you're doing.
[24:17]And thank you.
[24:18]Glad I got to read it.
[24:20]And thank you so much.
[24:23]Thanks for listening to Momstone Have Time to Read Books.
[24:26]If you love it, please leave a review.
[24:28]And follow us on social at city Owens and at city readers.