Melissa Maygrove

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for December 2020. Alex's awesome co-hosts this month are:  Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre! Please stop by their blogs and say thank you .  December question: Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why? Yes. Most definitely.

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for November. Alex's awesome co-hosts this month are:  Jemi Fraser,   Kim Lajevardi,   L.G Keltner,   Tyrean Martinson,   and   Rachna Chhabria! Please stop by their blogs and say thank you .  November 4 question:  Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”  Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write.  Why do you write what you write?

Can you believe it's been three years since  FULL DARK was published?  I can't.  Since then, the book has earned several 5-star reviews, gotten a face lift (thank you, Carrie Butler!), and has generated over $200 in donations to the Gary Sinise Foundation . Thank you, readers! To celebrate, we've put the ebook on sale for $1.99. If you've been wanting to add it to your TBR, now's the time. Encourage anyone who enjoys creepy, suspenseful stories to grab a copy soon!

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for October 2020. Alex's awesome co-hosts this month are:    Jemima Pett,   Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure,   &   Gwen Gardner! Please stop by their blogs and say thank you .  I decided to join IWSG again and let this take the place of my monthly blog post. The pressure is on to keep up and not get booted from the list! 😛 This month's question is: When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if the latter two, what does that look like? When I picture a 'working writer,' I imagine someone who works at writing full time. They might be a fiction writer or a member of another profession that requires a lot of writing, such as a technical writer or journalist. Regardless, whether at home or in an office, they write most of every workday as one would...

I made a commitment to blog at least once a month, but I've been staring at this page for 10 minutes, trying to decide what to post. And that's after thinking about it off an on for days. I could tell you all that's been happening to me and my family, but that's not what this blog is for. I could complain about not making much progress on my current WIP, but then I'd sound like a broken record. I WILL take a moment to say how much I hate Blogger's new interface. Why must people fix what isn't broken? And why can't they give us a choice to keep the old design? Part of my blogging block is due to the fact I'm not visiting other blogs as much as I used to. I had to step back from the writing-blogging world to deal with life's responsibilities, and that has caused me to grow further and further out of touch with what's going on in the literary realm. It's proof, at least, that we bloggers feed off each other when it comes to inspiration. What...

I got a chromebook so I could write more easily. It has its limitations, but it will do until I can get my laptop fixed or get a Mac. Things in Houston are getting a little better on the covid front. I hope you are staying safe and healthy out there. Sometimes it feels like this world has gone crazy. I found where Bill O'Reilly went. He's on The First TV at 7:00 PM central. It's available on Roku and via app for phone or tablet. If you're looking for an alternative to the mainstream news, give it a try. It may not match your political leanings, but it never hurts to listen to another point of view. (Yeah, I know. I just broke one of my blogging rules.) Regardless of which side you're on, don't let journalists or politicians tell you what your neighbor thinks. Get to know your neighbors. #LoveYourNeighbor #LoveYourCountry

I'm a combination plotter and panster. I come up with a basic plot and list of characters for my stories, but the scenes often take a different path than I envisioned when I actually write them. Character's come to life and flesh themselves out as I type. It's kind of neat to watch. Of course, I have to be flexible. When I start writing a particular interaction, I sometimes realize a line of dialogue or character reaction is implausible and have to change course. At other times, the research alters something about the scene or a character's backstory. It's fun and interesting at times, frustrating at others.

It's less than five hours before this post goes live, and I'm undecided over what to write. No good topic comes to mind, so I'll link some of the popular blog posts from over the years. Feel free to pick and choose what you like. Beginning writers might find Showing & Telling and The Snobbish Rules of Fiction helpful. If you're new to critiques, try What's a Critique? It includes a list of abbreviations and critique lingo. Do you struggle with info dumps ? Would you like to write faster ?

L. Diane Wolfe has formatted for me in the past. She's professional and talented, so when I heard how the pandemic had hindered her ability to earn a living with in-person classes, I offered to help her get the word out about her webinars. For a very reasonable price, you can learn about publishing and promoting your books in the safety and comfort of your own home.

Being stuck at home on my days off has given me time to do some cleaning. I came across a little comb-bound booklet that was given to me by my mom and one of my father's cousins. The booklet, titled This I Remember , is a collection of details my paternal great grandfather remembered from the early years of his life in the late 1800s. I blogged about my great grandfather a few years ago, when I related the story of his elopement . William Edgar Whitten (Nov. 1875 - Apr. 1975) was a hard-working gentleman who achieved much in his life with only an 3rd-grade education. Though he eventually settled in South Texas, he grew up "a farmer's son in the piney woods and rock hills of Georgia." I decided to blog about some of the things he remembered. When I start feeling like my life is difficult, it only takes reading something like this to make me realize just how easy I have it. From This I Remember , by William Edgar Whitten:

One of my favorite writing friends has a new book! David Powers King, co-author of Woven and contributing author to FULL DARK just released The Dragon's Heart . The Dragon's Heart is well-paced fantasy with charming characters that will suck you in and hold your interest. It's available from Amazon . Consider buying a copy to show your support. For more info about the release and David's upcoming projects, click here .

What do authors do when they're stuck at home? They write and dust off when-I-have-time projects. The FULL DARK anthology authors and I decided to give the book a new cover. Author Carrie Butler was kind enough to make and donate a new one. She did an awesome job, don't you think?

Well, Katy, Texas, actually. A smaller city right on the western edge. And I'm not exactly hunkered down. Only on my days off. Despite my county's 'stay-at-home' order, I can't. I'm a nurse, so that makes me an essential employee. I wasn't sure what to post today, or even if I should. I decided to keep my promise to myself to blog at least monthly, despite the pandemic. There's enough scary news bombarding us, so I'll keep it upbeat.

Okay, so I sensationalized the title a bit. What kind of writer would I be if I didn't try to hook you. :P I came across something a while back that completely blew me away. I was reading a book review that mentioned 'domestic discipline.' I had never heard of the term, so I promptly looked it up. Domestic Discipline (DD) relationship is one in which one partner is given authority over the other, and has the means to back up that authority, usually by spanking. Yeah. I know. Stay with me.

My life has taken me on a wild ride over the last few years. I went from working part-time and launching a writing career to working full time and turning the focus on my day job (night job, actually) and my kids. The summer of 2017, I left my husband, became a single mom of of three teens, and then made it official with a divorce two years later. As of last spring, the kids are all 18+ and high school graduates. Two still live with me, but I'm able to set aside more of my time for myself. Come hell or high water, I'm making time to write.