Today, on this Leap Day—this BONUS DAY—I challenge you to start the thing for which you never seem to have the time.
Melanie Hooyenga
A Cohesive and Necessary Story
I finally received the editorial feedback from the Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards! Here’s what my judge had to say: In Flicker by Melanie Hooyenga we are presented with a story that is heavy on the romance and teen drama while mixing in some supernatural thrills and interesting historical ideas as well. It mines this …
2016 Goals: Pushing Out of My Circle
At the beginning of this year I challenged myself to break out of my circle, meaning I needed to get myself and my books in front of people I didn’t know. I’m happy to report that since then I’ve added the following experiences to my list: 2 3-Day Conferences (Women’s Expo & Comic Con) 2 …
Introducing Melanie Hooyenga, Award-Winning Author
Are you sitting down? At the end of last summer I decided to enter a writing contest for ebooks that had been self-published within the past five years. This was important for several reasons: My novels are self-published My novels are in both print and ebook form Flicker, the first book in the trilogy, was …
News! Feel Good Update! And Books for Sale!
This has been a BUSY week! After six weeks of writing at maximum speed (which for me is 1000+ words per day) I’m excited to share that I’ve finished the first draft of The Slope Rules! I still have a long way to go with editing, editing, a writing conference, and more editing, but I’ve …
Books Make Wonderful Self-Gifts
If you’re like me, this time of year you buy as many gifts for yourself as you do for others. One for you, one for me, etc. (Is that just me? Well this is embarrassing…. Never mind, then. Keep reading.) Anyway, RIGHT NOW you can buy the digital version of FLICKER for 99¢ — that’s …
Feel Good Story of the Year
As an author, my goal is to write stories that people enjoy. Sure, it’d be great to make enough money to write full time, and yeah, I wouldn’t turn down an appearance on the Ellen Show, but overall, I’m happy with good reviews and decent sales. Hearing from readers is the icing on the cake, …
Event This Saturday
I spent the past three days at a work conference in the same space as the Great Lakes Book Bash in mid-October, and between sessions today I received a call asking me to appear at a children’s and middle-grade book event this Saturday! Book events for everyone! (btw, the Barnes & Noble event was a …
Local Contest: Win a Free Book!
Tomorrow evening I’ll be one of FIFTY authors at my local Barnes & Noble at an event called A Trail of Michigan Authors. The event benefits the Hackley Library and every genre you could imagine will be represented—including young adult! The details are listed on my events page but I’ll share them here to save …
One Step Closer to World Domination… as an Author
I finally have an official writing chair! It even has WORDS on it! This has been my dream since seeing my aunt‘s chair at least seven or eight years ago. Squee! Don’t mind the artwork that’s still on the floor. Soon it will be complete!