Feb 3, 2016
Children’s author, actress, and musician just scratches the surface of the roles and capabilities owned by Melinda Taliancich Falgoust of Metairie, La., as Katy Ray discovers in this interview on Confetti Park.
Melinda, who has published several award-winning children’s books including Lousy Liver, Footprints, and her newest, Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein (which just earned a 5-star review withReader’s Favorite), wears many hats. The navy veteran holds several jobs (including paralegal and school worker) and is a wife and mother to five kids. She also acts with the Porta-Puppet Players, a troupe of puppeteers, theatre actors and other entertainers that has been active in the Gulf South for decades. (Watch Melinda as Mother Goose on YouTube)
In addition to all this, Melinda writes—prolifically—and spends a significant amount of time on the road traveling to make appearances at book festivals, conventions, and in school visits. Melinda writes for adults and middle-grade readers (see The Gubbins Club), and her works have also won awards in competitions around the world. But it seems writing—and illustrating—books for young children is where she has the most fun.
“I have wanted to be a writer since I was twelve years old,” says Melinda. “I finally decided several years ago that it was time to dig in and get deep with it. So I pulled out the sketchbook, I pulled out the laptop, and started putting all those ideas that have been bubbling over the years right onto paper.”
Lack of sleep notwithstanding, Melinda has found a happy place in children’s literature: “I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, and I realized, that, really, writing in the genre that I write, I don’t need to grow up!”
Listen to Melinda narrate Lousy Liver
Listen to Melinda narrate Footprints