30 Sep 2024 Author of the Month: Melissa Clark Bacon
By Susan L. Peterson
It wasn’t easy, but she persisted.
It took Melissa Clark Bacon 10 years to publish her debut novel, “Through Her Lens.” The process involved taking courses, traveling to France, Britain and Scotland to conduct research, networking at conferences, writing seven revisions and sending out numerous query letters.
“Through Her Lens” was finally released this spring, and her efforts were well worth it. The book received high praise in the prestigious Kirkus Reviews magazine: “A unique story about women in WWII that succeeds in making historical events feel personal.”
“Through Her Lens” is a story of intrigue that is based on events surrounding Operation Crossbow, an actual top-secret investigation to stop Adolph Hitler’s V1 and V2 bomb programs during World War II. It is told through the voice of Millicent Trayford, who works for British Intelligence. Actual historical figures are interwoven into the plot.
It was Bacon’s love of photography that held her interest and helped her to persevere in bringing the book to completion. She herself is an accomplished photographer; she even taught herself photographic transfer and hand-applied emulsion techniques. Her work has earned many awards, including the Delta Award in the 2004 Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. “I’m 70% art, 30% book,” she said.
In addition to the photographic topics that run throughout the story, she was also motivated to feature the accomplishments of under-recognized women during WWII and explore the theme of duty versus personal choice.
After completing the book, she sent letters to numerous publishing companies and heard “absolutely nothing” in return. She decided to use a hybrid publishing company that helped her with the cover art and other intricate details. “It was a good choice. I kept control of everything,” she said.
Bacon, like her main character Millie, is multifaceted. She received a bachelor’s in business administration from Baylor University and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. Her day jobs, which were many and varied, mostly utilized her business and statistics skills. She even worked several years in France. But she also took several writing classes and never forgot the words her professor and mentor, Dr. Toran Isom, spoke to her years ago: “You need to go home and write your novel.”
Bacon isn’t sure if she will write another book, although she does have several ideas in mind and says she enjoys writing flirtatious dialogue. She likes to speak at bookstores and book clubs, and she recently was a featured presenter at the Little Rock Six Bridges Book Festival.
More about Bacon, including a list of her writing and photography awards, can be found on her website, melissaclarkbacon.com. She and her husband, John, have been married 27 years and reside in west Little Rock. They have one son, Miller, who is in law school at the University of Virginia. When she’s not writing or making art, she is reading. She especially enjoys historical fiction.
“Through Her Lens” is available at local bookstores and from online vendors in various formats.
