Melissa R. Collings
Author Interview - Melissa R. Collings
Author of The Love Operation
“I’m very picky about romance, but Melissa completely won me over—her writing is sharp, charming, and just incredibly readable in the best way.” —Mindy Kaling
A brilliant spine surgeon gains the power to perfectly recall her past—only to discover that some memories are better left undisturbed. A witty, emotional story about the intersection of medicine, memory, and the messy reality of loving imperfectly.
Dr. Cordelia Wren has always been in control—of her surgical career, her emotions, and especially her memories. But when she joins a cutting-edge memory enhancement study at her hospital, she gains an unexpected ability: the power to vividly relive any moment from her past. It seems like the perfect opportunity to analyze her failed relationships and finally understand why every man she’s ever loved has walked away.
There’s just one problem. Actually, three:
1. She may have…borrowed…access to the highly restricted memory study.
2. She’s secretly dating the hospital’s new COO while competing for chief of surgery—a relationship that could destroy both their careers if discovered.
3. Her first love has just reappeared in her life, stirring up feelings she thought she’d buried.
As Cordelia dives deeper into her past, the lines between memory and reality begin to blur. The truth she uncovers forces her to question everything she thought she knew about love, ambition, and what it means to be “in control.”
With her career hanging in the balance and her heart pulled in two directions, Cordelia must decide: Should she trust the memories that have shaped her life, or finally let go of the past to embrace an uncertain future?
Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, The Love Operation is a witty, emotional story about the intersection of medicine, memory, and the messy reality of loving imperfectly.
Author Interview - Melissa R. Collings
Author I draw inspiration from:
Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters. When I was younger, I would sit in my pajamas in a black swivel chair in my mother’s living room, eating frozen Snickers bars and devouring their novels. I was completely swept into those worlds, but I also felt a kinship with the women who created them, women making things happen through their work. Their books held possibility, intelligence, romance, and a quiet defiance of the status quo. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights were particular favorites.
Author Interview - Melissa R. Collings | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Oddly, I rarely read in my favorite place. Because, you see, I have a problem: I don’t know how to relax. So I read anywhere I can also be doing something else. I listen to nearly all my books on audio, usually at 2x speed, which I realize is mildly horrifying to most people. I’m always reading while driving, cooking, cleaning, walking, showering, or occasionally pretending to listen to someone.
But for fun, here is my perfect reading scenario: a cabin with snow falling outside, a rotating array of hot beverages brought to me by a very capable butler, cozied up in a ridiculously plush, yet supportive, chair, all during that magical blue-hour moment when day ceremoniously greets night.
Second, I could very much see myself favoriting this reading scenario: a book, a hot bubble bath, a cold drink in a beautiful glass—because the vessel matters—candles, and the scent of lavender floating in the air. No butler this time because…nudity.
Wow. This question has ruined my life.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Because I love a brooding man.
I imagine the elevator ride would involve very little actual conversation and an unreasonable number of delicious glances. There would be one accidental brush of the hands, followed by immediate retreat, strained politeness, and enough awkwardness to power the elevator itself. By the time the doors opened, we would have exchanged perhaps twelve words, but I would already be imagining long walks through misty gardens and an emotionally repressed declaration of love several months later.
So much awkwardness. Exactly as it should be.
Author Interview - Melissa R. Collings | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I've always loved telling stories, but I didn’t know I wanted to become an author until years after I started and abandoned my first novel. I was working as a receptionist before college when a book idea randomly came to me, and I started writing it mostly as a way to pass the time. Then I put the unfinished manuscript away and poured all my energy into building a career in medicine.
It wasn’t until after I had my first child, when I desperately needed something that belonged only to me, that I pulled the manuscript back out and finished it. That was the moment. Becoming an author felt wildly impractical and almost impossible, which, naturally, made me want it even more. I’ve always loved defying the impossible.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Audiobooks are still my first choice, mostly because they fit so easily into my life. And I love being read to.
Hardbacks, though, are the most glamorous. Substantial and special, there’s something deeply satisfying about seeing them lined up on a shelf. Paperbacks are not as flashy, but they have a give to them that makes them feel like cooperative old friends.
Ebooks are efficient and practical. They’re like very competent ghosts: always there when you need them, quietly taking up no physical space, but also slightly elusive. You own them. You can read them. But do they fully exist? I’m not convinced.
So: audiobooks for consuming stories, hardbacks for beauty, paperbacks for comfort, and ebooks for their mysterious, incorporeal efficiency.
The last book I read:
Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer. It was charming, funny, warm, and romantic, but it also had something deeper running beneath all of that, life experience of the author. I loved the premise, the banter, and the way it balanced grief and uncertainty with genuine joy.
Author Interview - Melissa R. Collings | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer, definitely. I love the romance of pen and paper, but in practice, my handwriting cannot keep up with my brain.
My first drafts tend to be very instinctive. I usually know the emotional arc, the major turning points, and where I want the story to end, but I leave myself room to be surprised by the characters along the way. I write forward quickly, trying not to overthink every sentence, because for me, the real work happens in revision.
That is where I start questioning everything: motivation, pacing, emotional truth, whether a scene is earning its place, and whether the characters are behaving like actual humans rather than obedient little plot devices. I revise heavily and repeatedly, sometimes moving entire scenes, rewriting chapters, or discovering that the book is really about something slightly different than I first thought.
So, computer for speed, flexibility, and the freedom to tear the whole thing apart and put it back together again.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
This is a hard question! I’m often intimidated by fictional characters. They’re usually much cooler, wittier, and more interesting than I am, which seems very weird to say as an author.
But if I’m being honest, I would most want to be friends with my own characters—Penelope from The False Flat and Dr. Cordelia Wren from The Love Operation. And let’s be real—their men.
They feel real to me. I know their insecurities, their terrible decisions, the things they would never say out loud, and exactly what they would order at dinner. After spending years inside their heads, they sort of already my friends.
That said, I would still be trying very hard to impress them.
Author Interview - Melissa R. Collings | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
An artist. Before medicine and before writing, my first love was always art. I loved—and still love—to paint and draw. When I was younger, though, I couldn’t understand how to turn that love into an actual career, so I chose a more practical path and became a physician assistant.
I’m grateful I did. Medicine gave me fascinating experiences, meaningful work, and an endless supply of stories. But in another life, I like to imagine I found a way to make art for a living. Although, now that I think about it, writing may simply be how I eventually found my way back to it.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
For myself, I love anything beautifully tailored and unique/artistic. Personality meets confidence.
But aesthetically, I’m drawn to the Regency era—the Bridgerton world of ornate gowns, rich fabrics, intricate detailing, gloves, jewels, and absolutely no fear of being too much. I would not necessarily want to lace myself into all of it every morning, but I deeply admire the commitment.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Tokyo. I just returned from a trip to London and France, which was beautiful, but now I’m craving somewhere that feels entirely new to me. My family and I have been watching a lot of Studio Ghibli films lately, and they’ve made us even more curious about Japan.
I’m fascinated by the culture, the food, the art, the architecture, the technology, and the way deep tradition seems to exist alongside the ultramodern. I want to experience the sensory overload of it all and be surprised by a place unlike anywhere I’ve been before.
My signature drink:
Coffee in the morning and early afternoon, usually some kind of flavored roast with no sweetener. I like the illusion of dessert without the sugar.
Later, I switch to tea—jasmine or lavender, served very hot. So my signature drink is less one specific beverage and more an ongoing rotation of warm, fragrant liquids designed to keep me alert, soothed, or both.
Favorite artist:
This question makes me twitchy. I don’t like choosing one favorite anything. It’s far too much pressure.
I love variety, and I’m inspired by artists across every form: painters, writers, musicians, filmmakers, designers. I love anyone who creates something that makes me stop, feel, or see the world differently. Ask me for an artist I love, and I could happily give you fifty. Ask me to choose one favorite, and apparently I develop commitment issues.
Number one on my bucket list:
Seeing one of my books adapted for the screen. I would love to sit in a theater and watch characters who once existed only in my imagination suddenly speaking, moving, and becoming real to everyone else.
Of course, I would also like to attend the premiere wearing something spectacularly tailored and sparkly, pretending to be very calm while internally losing my mind. I have layers to this dream.
Find more from the author:
Instagram: @melissarcollings https://www.instagram.com/melissarcollings/
Tiktok: @melissarcollings https://www.tiktok.com/@melissarcollings?_t=8gUbVKijwH0&_r=1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaRCollingsAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13637200-melissa-collings
Substack: https://substack.com/@melissacollings
About Melissa R. Collings:
Melissa R. Collings
Melissa R. Collings is an award-winning author and former spine surgery physician associate. She writes humorous, diverse romance and women’s fiction, as well as probing psychological thrillers. When she’s not writing or plotting, you can find her engaging in deep philosophical conversations with her husband and kids in Nashville, studying preventative health, or losing time in a painting. Her imagination never fails to get her into trouble, and she lives by the philosophy: nothing is impossible, and everything is better with glitter—except surgical wounds.
