To me, to have a book that is being read, to have fan letters, that is a mind-bending experience. It's so rewarding, and also just a brand new experience to be in this position. 'The process of all of this work you have put in for so long, and then getting to the point where you're hearing readers' comments and getting fan letters. 'It feels very much like being 9 ½ months pregnant at this point,' Conklin said. 'Counting Thyme' is her third book, and the culmination of a 3 ½-year process from the writing and editing stages to its marketing and publishers' launch next week. Actually, she wrote a couple of them while in the learning process. It wasn't long before Conklin told her husband she was going to write a book - and she did.

'It occurred to me that I could write that down, if I wanted, while my baby was sleeping and my older child was at school.' 'One day I woke up with the idea for a story,' she said.

'I worked for 10 years as a product designer, designing all kinds of things you can find on a store shelf, from pens to cupcake pans to Dremel tools,' Conklin said.Īfter becoming a mom, she decided to stay at home with her children, but still had the 'creative bug.'

After graduating from Northwest High School, she earned a degree in industrial design from NC State University (and minored in English Literature). 'Counting Thyme' tells the story of 11-year-old Thyme Owens, who struggles when her family moves to New York, thousands of miles away from everything she knows and loves, so that her younger brother can participate in a new cancer drug trial.Ĭonklin said that though she was a bookworm growing up and could always be found tucked away in a corner with a book, she took a 'roundabout path' to becoming a novelist. Conklin will return to Greensboro next week for the launching of her debut middle-grade novel, 'Counting Thyme,' published by G.P. Northwest Guilford High School alumna Melanie Conklin (formerly Melanie Andres, Class of 1996), is now a published author living in South Orange, New Jersey. Photo courtesy of Melanie Conklin | A launching party for “Counting Thyme,” a debut middle-grade novel by NWHS alumna Melanie Conklin, will be held at Scuppernong Books in downtown Greensboro on April 13 from 7 to 9 p.m.

NWHS alumna celebrates launching of debut novel, 'Counting Thyme'

Counting thyme by melanie conklin