Sign up for Melanie's newsletter --> Sign me up!
When I moved to Mexico FOUR years ago, I packed up the majority of our belongings and shoved them in a storage room in my parents’ garage. Over the past year I’ve worked my way through the boxes, slowly incorporating things from my former life into this new existence. Four years isn’t that long, but …
A few days ago, friend of the blog Adam posted about his writing style and how he’s okay with the fact that it’s different than some of the so-called “experts”. (That’s me totally paraphrasing.) His points got me thinking. I’m a clean writer. I write chronologically and cannot wrap my head around those who write …
Maybe it’s not the end of an era, but Owen is retiring from blogging. He has a lot more fun on Facebook where he has twice as many fans and people can post any time they want. He wants to thank everyone for following along as he’s adapted from Mexico to Michigan, and hopes that …
Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, fired up the laptop, and edited the last 27 pages of my manuscript. My friends on Facebook congratulated me, I danced a little jig, then I went through the document to check that my chapter numbers were in order. And that, apparently, was the straw that broke the …
A string of recent political snafus have got me thinking: who’s responsible for checking facts? As writers, it’s considered part of our job to do research. Sure, we’re allowed to stretch the truth or bend things to fit our stories, but basic things need to be true. (I’m excusing fantasy & sci-fi from this.) As …
If I learned anything during my three years in Mexico, it’s not to get my hopes up. When I set out in my over-loaded Honda for a four-day trip across two countries, I figured I’d be back–with my husband–in eighteen months. Maybe a year. That didn’t happen. There were too many disappointments over those three …
I have several things I’d like to talk about, so today’s post will be a hodge-podge of things. First, I’m glad Friday’s post resounded with so many of you. I kind of figured it would, but what I didn’t expect was the people I consider friends worrying that they’ve somehow offended me. I’m by no …
Or at the very least, a little courtesy. I’ve gone back and forth about whether or not to write this post because it’s a bit of a rant. My frustration lies in the way I see people treating each other online. I’ll use myself as an example, but I’ve witnessed this behavior on blogs, on …
A few days ago I fired up the old Mac and popped in a movie, ready to knock a few things off my to-do list. As my mind wrapped around beziér curves, I kept one ear trained to the drama onscreen. Just when the handsome werewolf appeared, posturing shirtless in all his muscled glory, a …
As you know, I’m living in my parents’ basement, and as you can probably imagine, I’m anxious to get out on my own again. My parents have been wonderful and I’m beyond lucky that they’ve let me live here for the past (egads!) eleven months. That said, I’m getting antsy to have my own place. …