Melanie Murphy talks to TenEighty about the release of her debut book, Fully Functioning Human (Almost).
“The hardest part, for me, was simply finding the time to write,” Melanie explains, “because I juggle so many things and I travel a lot, and because in order for my brain to switch into creative mode I need to feel ‘in the zone’, and that’s a pain in the arse when on the go.”
When we ask about the overall experience of writing Fully Functioning Human (Almost), Melanie tells us: “It took me between a year-and-a-half and two years. I scrapped the first version of the book once last summer, and almost scrapped it twice after that, and in the end I still wasn’t happy with it, but in art and publishing and whatnot you just gotta let your baby go. Work could always be better but I needed to accept that all I could do was my best, with the free time that I did have. I didn’t actually enjoy the writing process nearly as much as I did the editing, and working with Charlie Belle who illustrated. It’s the same with making YouTube videos! I prefer piecing them together [to] actually filming.”
*opens email*
"…congratulations Mel, you’ve gone in at number 2 on the Irish non-fiction bestseller list in your first week!"
*SOBS*
😭😭😭— Melanie 💚 Murphy (@melaniietweets) August 30, 2017
Fully Functioning Human (Almost) is an illustrated memoir that shows Melanie’s personal achievements, as well as struggles and how she dealt with them. Asked about her favourite parts, Melanie says, “I really enjoyed writing the entire sex and sexuality section! I’m super passionate about breaking taboos and that’s been the most fun strand of my channel to work on, so I sort of knew I’d love writing about that stuff, too.
“It would make me really happy if people could come away from reading the book knowing me on a more deeper level,” she explains, “but mostly, I want readers to feel more optimistic and positive, more body confident, more sexually adventurous… more glass-half-full about life in general!”
Fully Functioning Human (Almost) explores Melanie’s struggles with mental health and bullying, as well as her successes with these problems. When asked what message she would give to someone facing the issues she highlights throughout the book, Melanie says, “You have so much more control over who you’ll become in the future and how you’ll feel than you may realise right now. There are always people who will be there for you too, and who’ll listen – you just need to know where to turn. (There are tons of resources listed at the end of the book.) And finally, all clouds really, actually do have silver linings! The bleakest of situations we go through and the biggest mistakes we make – they’re all important and necessary, it just won’t feel like it at the time.”
Fully Functioning Human (Almost) is out now and can be purchased on Amazon.
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