“I wanted to write something I would read” said MAFB mil spouse and debut author, Meridith Gray. Meridith is an avid reader, coffee addict, stay-at-home mom of four and now the author of a new book, Becoming Indigo. Meridith explained that the only way she was able to get to the finish line was from the support of her family. Meridith stayed at home to take care of the kids when her husband, Master Sergeant Robert Nathan Gray (Nate), joined the Air Force in 2011. She explained that “[Writing this book] was the first time I’ve done something for me, like just 100% for me to do.” The novel originally started as just a short story, based on a fun idea that came to Meridith’s head back in September 2023. She proceeded to add on little by little having her husband, Nate, and her father read it and give her feedback.
Becoming Indigo is a contemporary romance novel following a woman, “Girl” on the run. Girl has no identity, no family, and nowhere to go. After a gruesome run-in with a known serial killer, she is kidnapped by the leaders of a known motorcycle gang. This book has comedy, violence, a bit of danger, a slow-burn romance and a slight trigger warning too.
For Meridith, the writing process started with the song “Bad Memory” by K Flay featured in the movie Birds of Prey. “Bad Memory,” describes a psychotic kind of love, the kind that makes a person go insane. The song is centered around a girl whose emotions are all over the place after she has been wronged by her significant other. Meridith also compared her protagonist, “Girl”, to Harley Quinn, the main character in the movie.
Meridith mentioned that after a certain point in the novel’s progression, her husband told her he thought it was good enough to become a published book if she wanted to make it one. Her husband’s comment eventually made her decide to turn Becoming Indigo into an actual novel. Although she was determined to finish the book, there were some non-writing challenges that needed to be overcome, like how to be a parent and an author at the same time. Meridith described the difficulties saying, “I had to find a balance of staying up with my kids, but also not forgetting me.”
While the challenges of mom lifeand writer life combined put her through wringer, Meridith was adamant in pointing out that her family’s and husband’s support was the key to her success. According to Meridith, her children have been extremely helpful. She said that her 13-year-old son, Liam, wanted to read the book. “My 13-year-old understands, and he thinks it’s neat. He’s a big reader too.” Meridith joked and explained that Liam was so excited about that book that he even wanted to take it and have placed in his school library. But, she explained that that might get her in trouble as it is not a book geared toward kids. Additionally, Meridith light-heartedly shared that her younger children, who don’t yet have a grasp on the struggling writer concept, asked, “So are we rich?” While not famous yet, Meridith hopes this book will be the start of a passionate and lucrative writing career in the future. She also mentioned her brother and parents, despite not being huge readers of the book’s genre, have also been very encouraging and supportive of her writing.
When discussing why she decided to self-publish, she explained the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing. “It can be difficult to break into the traditional publishing industry… with traditional publishing, your book can be amazing, but if you don’t have an agent, it is really hard to get them to notice you or pay attention to you.” She explained that self-publishing on the other hand can be done by anyone, it is completely on the author to market the book and make all necessary edits. She said, “I’m learning as I go, and marketing is the hardest part. Now that Becoming Indigo is complete, Meridith explained that “Its’ kind of surreal, because finishing things is hard for me. But now, I’m like what do I do?”
From start to finish, Meridith has been challenged on many aspects. Between raising her kids, being an Active-Duty military spouse, and now an author, she created an amazing story and did it without an editor or publisher. Meridith might just be superwomen in disguise.
Becoming Indigo, Available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Main Street Books,
