Blog: Mel's Muse

Interviews With Authors About Their Books: Continued

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to post the second part of this article: blame my recent appointment as Chairman of ACW - a national association for writers. As I said in the first part of Interviews With Authors About Their Books, a reader of my blog asked...

Posted at 08:59am on 31st March 2012

1 Comment

Interviews With Authors About Their Books

A reader of my blog e-mailed me this afternoon, asking me if I'd draw attention to an article she'd written about rare author interviews. Of course, I'm happy to do so. But not before I've brought to you my own interview from the end of my novel, A Painful Post...

Posted at 15:59pm on 20th March 2012

Why Do You Write? Enhance Your Chance Of Being Published

Why do you write? What drives you, as a wannabe writer, an aspiring author?

These were the questions I asked in the workshop I led at a Writers' Day last Saturday. Understanding your motives for writing will focus your mind and enhance every article, blog post or book that you produce. It will...

Posted at 09:08am on 13th March 2012

2 Comments

Infant Baptism / Christening / Dedication

I don't pretend to be a poet. I wrote the song below when my twin grandchildren were Christened, and I offer it now for anyone who would like to use it in a non-commercial way. Set to a well-known tune, it is easily singable by a congregation. It expresses, I...

Posted at 19:05pm on 11th February 2012

3 Comments

Mel's Online Book Club: Room By Emma Donoghue

What could have been better, on an icy evening last week, than meeting with my Book Club in the home of friends, with a roaring fire, and a great book to discuss? We'd been reading Emma Donoghue's novel, Room, and without exception we agreed that we had thoroughly enjoyed the...

Posted at 15:43pm on 6th February 2012

3 Comments

Blogging, Book Marketing & The Problem With Duplicate Articles

To protect the privacy of participants, all names have been changed in what follows. Dear Mel,

I wonder if you might give me some advice. I'm on Ezine Articles and I also write a blog. I duplicate material from one to the other. Is it worth me doing this, or should I...

Posted at 17:37pm on 31st January 2012

My Daughter's Tribute To Her Grandfather

My grandfather, Bill, 97 and ¾ Photograph taken approx. 1941

I started to call him Billy when I was little and he replied with Milly (even though my name was Amanda). He was the only one that was allowed to call me Milly and Millicent when he was cross with me...

Posted at 21:26pm on 24th January 2012

A Tribute To My Father

Photo: My father in his Flintstone tie on Christmas morning, one week before he died.

My father, known to his parents as Beel, was born in Elgin, Scotland, on 15th April, 1914. The middle one of three boys, he was raised, largely, by his mother and maiden aunts, because his father,...

Posted at 15:37pm on 15th January 2012

8 Comments

Three Thoughts For Christmas & The New Year

Have you ever found that sometimes, various, seemingly disparate, things have come together and you've heard a still small voice? Some truth about life that's been revealed to you? Something that's previously eluded you, but has now come into sharp focus?

It can happen, as I discovered, even in the busyness...

Posted at 18:26pm on 19th December 2011

Online Book Club - Showing Of Love By Julian Of Norwich - Discussion Summary

Showing of Love, a book written by Julian of Norwich in the 15th Century, is not an easy read! OK. I admit it. Mea culpa. With much laughter, when nine of us met last week for Book Club, I was roundly - but affectionately - condemned...

Posted at 15:46pm on 6th December 2011

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