Melissa Maygrove

While looking for blog post ideas, I came across a list of the Top 10 Vile Villainesses .  " We may love the protagonists of our favorite novels, but without an antagonist to struggle against, those novels would be very dull. Lots has been written about the roles played by women in literature, and this list celebrates female villains. Some we hate and some we love to hate. Here are ten of the best worst women of literature .  - Ben Gazur " In ascending order, they are: 10. Dolores Umbrige, professor from Harry Potter .  9.   Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper from the novel Rebecca . 8.   The White Witch from Narnia.  7.   Miss Havisham from Dickens' Great Expectations . 6.   Grendel's Mother in Beowulf . 5.   Marquise de Merteuil, from Les Liasions Dangereuses , a novel that scandalized France when it was published in 1782. 4.   Livia from Robert Graves' I, Claudius . 3.   Sha...

First, some announcements! Today is release day for Cally Jackson's debut novel, The Big Smoke . Woohoo! :D   I'll be launching a special post this Friday about the book, including an interview with Cally. Peter Cruikshank over at It Is What It Is tagged me in The Next Big Thing blog hop with questions about my current WIP .   Thanks, Peter! :)  Since I participated in the Be Inspired meme this summer, answering virtually the same questions, I decided to spare you a repeat and simply link the post. If you haven't seen it yet, click here .   ### Now for GPM...

I'm excited to be a part of author Nancy S. Thompson's book tour for her psychological thriller and debut novel, The Mistaken . Not only do I get to introduce you to the book, but Nancy has graciously given me a tempting tidbit of an excerpt to reveal to you as well.  If you're like me, by the end of this post, you'll be ready to add The Mistaken to the top of your TBR list. ;) I'll give you the book's description first, and then the excerpt. Enjoy. :) ~~~~~ All Tyler Karras wants is to enjoy life with his expectant bride; what he gets instead is a graveside seat at her funeral.  With the woman who killed her uncharged and still free, all Ty wants now is revenge.

I'll get to the lesson shortly. First, I'm going to bore entertain you with a story. While helping my 77-year-old mother clean out her closet the other day, I got the jobs of climbing the stepladder and moving the heavy stuff. I also got the job — when her vacuum attachment didn't fit — of laying on top of a jumbo Spacebag to press out all the air. She wanted the bag smaller, so she joined me.  There we were, side by side, flat of our bellies on this thing and sprawled across her bed. It was a Kodak moment. (Not.)

I'd like to talk about a subject near and dear to our writers' hearts (or maybe not – ha!).  Manuscript critiques .  They’re a necessary evil of our profession, but done well, they're a valuable asset. The topic of critiquing is so complex, I could write a post way longer than you'd be willing to read, so I decided to focus on a few basic points we should keep in mind as we crit. This advice comes from learning some of these things the hard way.  Writers grow in their skill of critiquing just as they do in their skill of writing.

I’ve got a short lesson on usage lined up for today, with an added bonus for those of you who make it to the end. :)   But first, a funny side note...  

I'm not sure why, but I've been oddly popular lately. My blog following has grown (probably because I finally fixed my broken Follower gadget. :P), and I've been the surprised, delighted recipient of some very kind comments. I even had my first interview . We hear all the time what a great bunch of supportive bloggers writers are, but stuff like this makes you realize it's true. Livia blew me away by displaying my blog button.  I didn't even know she'd done it! I just happened to see it when I visited her blog. Thank you, Livia!  :) And I was recently given the Leibster Blog Award by Katherine Checkley over at The Intrinsic Writer .   Katherine is a real sweetheart. If you don't already follow her blog, you should.  Same goes for Livia. :) The Liebster Blog rules are as follows:

Below are some words prone to usage errors.   I'm going to let my nerdy...er, um, nurse-ly science buff side come out and play on the blog today, so kindly indulge me. :) Endemic vs Epidemic vs Pandemic   If something is endemic that means it is natural to, confined to, or a characteristic of a people or place.   Malaria is endemic to the tropics .

I was struggling to come up with a topic for this month's Insecure Writers Support Group until E.J. Wesley announced his Bury the Hatchet blogfest. Woohoo! Now I can offer a little encouragement and segue into EJ's announcement all in one post. :) In the spirit of EJ's blogfest, I'm going to 'bury the hatchet' in the insecurities that plague every one of us writers—the ever-invading thoughts that keep us from reaching our potential.   Your writing's not good enough , they whisper. You're deluding yourself. 

In the English language, the phrase so be it can also be written as one word, sobeit — though the word is rarely used these days. Whether you write it as one word or three depends upon context. The word sobeit can be used as conjunction meaning 'provided that' or 'if' or as a noun with a similar use and meaning as the word amen. I will give her everything I have for the rest of my days, sobeit she agrees to marry me. The clause so be it is an idiomatic expression of acceptance, often reluctant acceptance. This is the version you will likely use if you use it at all. The king frowned and pondered the peasant's request. "So be it," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.  That's all until next week. If you have time, pop over to Falling For Fiction where I'm being interviewed today by the friendly and talented Hope Roberson. Thanks for visiting. :)