We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Rousu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Melissa, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from my dad. He always told us, “There is nothing stopping you but fear and air.” This mantra pushes me to keep going even when I face imposter syndrome, setbacks, or general disappointment. As a self-published writer, I constantly see others receiving book offers, winning awards, and seeing their books on major retailer shelves. It’s easy to get discouraged, compare yourself to others, and want to give up, but this mantra keeps more going. It reminds me that this is my journey and my journey alone. My stories are not the stories of others and are worthy of being told.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I live in St. Paul, MN with my husband of 17 years, Mike, and our 18-year-old daughter, Samantha. I work for the Minneapolis Police Department as the Grant Coordinator after working in higher education for 20 years.
When my grandpa passed in 2017, I knew I wanted to find a way to honor his legacy and commitment to nature and conservation, so I published my debut children’s book, Grandpa Loved Wild Things, in 2024. This story explores his years being a raptor rehabilitator in Winona County and what he taught us about the birds and animals native to Minnesota. This book has become a Reader’s Choice Finalist, Chanticleer Little Peeps finalist, and Wishing Star Book Awards Red Ribbon Winner.
For my second story, Grandpa Loved the North Shore, I knew I wanted to share his love of the North Shore. He spent years teaching us about the Grand Marais area, the nature surrounding it, and loved spending summers in the campground after retirement. I wanted to share our family’s love of this special area with those who also love it and with those who have yet to visit. I am so proud that this story has already become a Story Monster Award Winner and a finalist at the Great Midwest Book Festival.
I currently have three new children’s books in the works and have started on my first rom-com novel set in Grand Marais.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Resilience, persistence, and a bit of delusion, I think! For others looking to become an author, you need to keep pushing and believing in yourself. This is a hard journey. You will compare yourself to others, question if you are good enough, and if your stories matter, but when you have strangers approach you about how your story mattered to them, have children tell you your book is their favorite, or strangers push for your book to be in local libraries, that is what matters and when all the other ‘stuff’ doesn’t seem as important.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Yes, I am always looking for art students or artists interested in collaborating on new children’s books. I currently have 3 new manuscripts that I am ready to start working on, and would love to work with someone to give them some work for their portfolio and to help bring my stories to life. I am also always looking for publishers and agents who are interested in new talents, whether in the picture book space or the adult fiction space.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.invisiblestringstories.com/
- Instagram: invisible_string_stories
- Other: TikTok: @melissarauthor
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