Blog: Mel's Muse

Love And Commitment: The Basis Of A Stable Marriage

Last week, in my Friday series on Families & Parenting, which is currently focused on stepfamilies, I pointed out that if American author Charles Swindoll equated marriage to a house, then remarriage could be said to be like a conversion. I then went on to show why love, in terms of romance, is not...

Posted at 07:45am on 15th May 2009

The Secrets Of Article Writing: Know Your Market, Know Yourself

Part 2 of 6 in a Series on Article Writing

I began this series of articles with one titled Ten Tips On Writing An Article and I'm going to unwrap each of these ten points in turn and look at them in detail. Some may require more than one post to develop the theme,...

Posted at 19:22pm on 14th May 2009

Ten Tips On Writing An Article

Part 1 of 6 in a Series on Article Writing

Article writing, or journalism, is an art-form quite unlike anything else. And yet, in many ways, the fundamentals are identical to the way in which you’d go about writing a book. It’s these differences and similarities which I’m going to look at today.

ARTICLE WRITING OR...

Posted at 15:01pm on 13th May 2009

2 Comments

Setting Up A Book Group: Twenty Tips - Part 2

Yesterday, I began a response to a letter from Sonia, requesting information about setting up a Book Group. As my reply turned out to be rather lengthy, I have split it into two parts. If you wish to read from the beginning, use this link for Part One: Setting up...

Posted at 18:07pm on 10th May 2009

Setting Up A Book Group: Twenty Tips

Dear Mel,

Somewhere I've seen that you wrote about starting a book group and I wondered if you could tell me what qualifications you think are needed. I've always loved reading and I did join a group once but there were so many people and they all had such a lot...

Posted at 17:34pm on 9th May 2009

Remarriage: Laying Firm Foundations

A marriage is a lot like our house. While new it sparkles. Fresh smells, fun surprises and new discoveries... As time passes, however... the grit of responsibility mixed with the grind of routine starts to take its toll... Weeds sprout. Doors squeak and sag. Windows stick. Paint peels. Roofs leak...
From Strike The Original...

Posted at 18:55pm on 8th May 2009

Creative Writing Tips And The Definition Of Denouement

This article has been revised & updated on: 6th September, 2010.
Photo: Looking back down to the end of the funicular railway at the sea below!

I expect many of you, as an aspiring author, will know that a novel has a beginning, a middle and an end. That’s pretty obvious, I would have thought. But...

Posted at 22:56pm on 5th May 2009

Do Niche Blogs Attract More Readers & Subscribers Than A Scatter-gun Approach?

Have you ever thought about what makes the best blogging sites so attractive, and why you subscribe to some and not to others? Yes, I asked a similar question in a previous post titled Six Blogging Styles: Which Approach Turns You On? but, today, I want to take that further. The issues I’m raising...

Posted at 20:05pm on 1st May 2009

Stable Stepfamilies: Book Excerpt - Foreword

AS A SCHOOLGIRL, I loved history. Not the dry dates and wars of my school books, but the vital characters that strode right out of their pages straight into my imagination. People like Henry VIII of England, for instance. His marriages particularly fascinated me. How, I would ask myself, did he get away with...

Posted at 20:05pm on 1st May 2009

Bereavement Rituals And The Effects Of Grief

Dear Mel,

Last week it was exactly a year since my Penny passed away. We’d only been married ten years – no children – and she meant the world to me. I never thought I’d get through this last twelve months but I have and I wanted to mark the occasion, but at the same...

Posted at 15:21pm on 29th April 2009

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