Melanie Sweeney to discuss debut novel at Bookworks on July 15

AT BOOKWORKS IN ALBUQUERQUE

Melanie Sweeney will talk about her debut novel “Take Me Home” at 6 p.m. Monday, July 15, at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW.

Sweeney received a master’s degree in creative writing from New Mexico State University. She said in an email that her interest in the program was sparked by the fact that it ran for three years and that “the great fiction writer” Robert Boswell was teaching in the program.

Melanie Sweeney to discuss debut novel at Bookworks on July 15

“I had met him a couple years prior and had heard such wonderful things about his classes and loved his craft book ‘The Half-Known World.’ Even though I knew he was leaving the program soon after, I was very eager to work with him,” she said.

Additionally, the MFA program gave her the opportunity to present her work for feedback and to study texts through the lens of craft. Besides workshops, Sweeney took form and technique classes that explored the novel-in-stories as a form, the comedic novel, magical realism, etc.

The comedic novel and tech class helped as she began exploring romantic comedy. Overall, the focus in the fiction program was on character and realism, which remain foundations for her own writing.

Her debut novel is a frenemies-to-lovers romance about two graduate students whose road trip back to their small Texas hometown changes how they see each other.

“… I write characters and conflicts that feel grounded in reality,” she said in the email, though romance is considered a genre of escapism or fantasy.

Sweeney has always been drawn to love stories. “Even during my MFA, when I wasn’t intentionally writing romance, I included romantic elements in many of my stories. Marriage in trouble, second-chance romance, even a sibling’s best friend trope slipped into my work at the time,” Sweeney said.

When she finally got into writing “Take Me Home” the joy she felt in not restraining emotion as she did in her workshop stories — “in trying to make readers laugh and feel giddy — told me I was finally working in the right genre. Which is not to say that romance is a huge departure from my previous work …” Sweeney said.

The physical landscape of Dona Ana County also attracted her to NMSU. She said it was an inspiring and beautiful place to immerse herself while studying.

AT TREASURE HOUSE BOOKS & GIFTS

Janet Brennan will sign her Harriet Murphy historical novels “More Than Enough” and “A Little Bit of Something” from 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Treasure House Books & Gifts, 2012 South Plaza St. NW. “More Than Enough” won best book in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards category for fiction — adventure or drama in 2018.

AT TEATRO PARAGUAS IN SANTA FE

Award-winning Santa Fe poet Jim Barnes will read some of his work at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie, Santa Fe. Barnes’ most recent collection is “Sundown Explains Nothing: New and Selected Poems.”

— Compiled by David Steinberg/ For the Journal