Melissa Maygrove

On Saturday August 23rd, we lost Tina Downey , a talented lady and a good friend in the writing community. Today we're joining together across the blogosphere to remember her and show our support. I didn't know Tina as well as some. I'd seen her around, here and there, but had only begun interacting with her on a regular basis a few months ago, when we joined the same small writers' group. I've come to realize that was my loss. Tina had a way of brightening us up when we'd had a bad day or were feeling down about our writing. She had a sense of humor that permeated her posts and comments, even when she was battling heath struggles that would have put most bloggers on hiatus. She was like a rainbow on a cloudy day. Tina loved sunflowers. For this tribute, we were asked to plant or display a sunflower in her memory. The header of Tina's blog sports a pink flamingo.   I love wind chimes, so when I saw this... ....

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for September. Would you believe this group has been going strong for 3 years?   Happy anniversary, IWSG!   Be sure to visit the IWSG website . Our fearless leader, Alex, and his band of clever minions have something special planned. :) Alex's awesome co-hosts for September are: Laura at My Baffling Brain,   Mark Koopmans,   Shah Wharton,   and Sheena-Kay Graham Please stop by their blogs and say thank you.  The kids are finally back in school, and my days are (mostly) quiet again. It's nice to be back to writing; I'm thrilled to be working on my next book! The success of my debut definitely boosted my confidence. But the insecurities still creep in.  I worry the next book won't be as good as the first. Although my writing is improved from what it was in my early, newbie days, many of the craft lessons are no longer fresh in my mind. Some I've assimilated as habit, of cours...

I'm happy-dancing today because one of my favorite writer friends, E.J. Wesley, released his first full-length novel. Way to go, E.J.!!! :D From the very first Moonsongs serial, I fell in love with E.J.'s writing, and I've been reading everything he writes ever since. His clever descriptions make you feel like you're there. His characters are interesting, flawed, and loveable. And his sense of humor is a perfect balance for the darker and heartrending parts of his stories.   If you've never read anything of E.J.'s, you're missing out . :) From a distance, Ernie’s life seems perfect—he’s a star college baseball player adored by the student body and coveted by professional teams. Up close, he is a disaster. Since the death of his mother, he’s been trapped by a promise he made and forced to live her dream instead of his own. He reaches his breaking point in the biggest game of his young career and sets off a chain of events that will either defin...

We've lost a friend in the writing world.  Yesterday evening, Tina Downey succumbed to complications while battling chronic health problems. I hadn't known Tina long, but I liked her from the beginning. She was funny, kind, talented, generous, and encouraging of others, despite the many challenges she faced in her personal life.  Tina was roughly my age, and that has made her death an even more sober reminder. Hug the people you love and spend time with them. None of us knows how long we have.

I've been running into the topic of discerning story content a lot lately, from blog posts about it to complaint-filled reviews. I decided to sound off on the issue, in hopes people will pass the information on.  Because books don't have a rating system like movies, readers have difficulty gauging content. This is a problem for people who like 'clean' books and unknowingly get one that has explicit content. It can also be a problem for people who prefer explicit content or don't like a heavy religious theme, but I'm going to focus on the former for this post. Let me pause to say, I'm not labeling specific content as good or bad, and I'm not promoting one genre or category over another. I'm simply educating folks so they can be better informed consumers. Let's assume the reader wants 'clean' books with zero-to-minimal language, violence, and sex. How do they find books that suit? The best way is to stick with Christian F...

It's time for the first Promo Friday. Yea!!! I'd hoped to have more content for PF's maiden voyage, but you guys are being shy. Don't be shy! The next deadline for content submission is Wednesday, September 10th for the Sept. 12th post. C'mon. Send me your stuff. :) David Powers King recently revealed the cover of his and Michael Jensen's book, Woven . It's a YA fantasy set to be released by Scholastic Press in late January. Congratulations, guys! Charlie Holmberg's book, The Paper Magician , was chosen for Kindle First . Only four books per month get this honor. It's been hanging out at the top of the list in the whole Kindle store! Congratulations, Charlie!!! :D  The Paper Magician is $1.99 for a limited time. You can find it here .  Upcoming debut release ! Demetria Foster Gray's debut novel, Sifting Through Mud , is set to be released in a mere ten days. Woot! Congratulations, Demetria!!! The death of ...

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for August. For more information about the group, see the bottom of this post. Alex's awesome co-hosts for August are : Sarah Foster, Joylene Nowell Butler,   Lily Eva, and Rhonda Albom! Please stop by their blogs and say thank you . I wasn't sure what to write about this time. The way things are going for me right now, I could give some rousing encouragement AND I could list a host of worries. So... why not do both? Worries first. I just announced a decision I made to reduce my time on social media. I worry I might have offended some of my friends. I hope not. But (there's always a but) I'm an author. If I don't make time to write, what's the point? Sales of my book have finally dwindled. This really is a marathon and not a sprint. Joining KDP Select has helped, but what if the figures don't ever recover? What if readers don't like the next book? What if? What if? (The 'wh...