Book Tour: Author Chitchatting with Jill Sheets 🌟

In which our author couldn’t resist posing with these wintry, rectangular beams of sudden sunlight.

One more week of enjoyable stops on my book-blog tour; thanks for all of your messages, positive feedback, and support during this tour.

Kickstarting this week with a fun interview. Stay tuned for some info-packed craft articles/guest posts ahead about beta readers and the art of not taking on too much!

It was a real joy to chat with Jill Sheets recently about the art of pacing, not giving up too soon, photography, forthcoming writing classes, my lack of athletic prowess, and From Promising to Published, among other topics.

Check it out: clickety-click!

Many thanks to Jill Sheets. Check out more of her awesome interviews with writers and blog-tour posts at: clickety-click.

To 2023! 🎉

I bought this fanciful party horn at a greeting-card store and have lost track of when.

Doodle by yours truly. Mechanical pencil, Paper Mate Flair Medium and Arteza Bold 1.0 mm pens, and sketchbook paper. Digital filter used in larger version seen below.

It doesn’t have a year on it and the store is now out of business. It has golden paper that shimmers and a fluffy frill of ebony feathers that I think gets prettier with time.

It’s a little crooked (in real life and in my drawing) but holds a lot of hope and cheer.

Each time this calendar year we get to start over, to reset, to look ahead in art and in life, and that feels fitting and good. Thanks for all of your camaraderie and support.

Here we go, 2023! To all that we’ll create and experience in the year ahead!

Blog Tour: Article: "GPS: Tips for Finding a Good-Fit Freelance Editor"🌟

Ever wondered how to find an editor to assist on your writing project? Thrilled to have a craft article I wrote featured at Beverley A. Baird’s awesome blog today. Stop by to get advice on finding a best-fit editor for your manuscript.

An excerpt: “It can be invaluable to get an impartial view on our writing with the in-depth, personalized feedback a freelance editor provides. Editors catch inconsistencies, scope for grammar and structural problems, note unintended repetition and filler words, red-flag plot holes, mark underdeveloped dialogue or characterization, and much more. 

Where do you find a freelance editor anyway?

·         Ask a librarian. Many libraries host readings or writing groups as part of their community outreach. Plus, librarians dig a good information search and have a wide network…

·         Check your favorite indie author’s website. A sizable portion of authors take on editing projects.

· Check the Acknowledgments section of your favorite recently published books.”

Read the whole article with oodles more tips at: clickety-click!

Blog Tour: Article--"7 Surefire Tips For Writing Author Bios With Personality And Heart"🌟

Super excited that my book tour stops today at Mindy McGinnis’ blog today and features my writing craft article with tips for crafting a meaningful author bio [clickety-click below to read]:

7 Surefire Tips For Writing Author Bios With Personality And Heart

Many thanks to Mindy! Check out Mindy’s awesome YA books, podcast, and editorial services while you’re there.

Blog Tour: Review at Naomi Nakashima's helpmenaomi.com 🌟

Pleased to have this wonderful review of my book, From Promising to Published at helpmenaomi.com: clickety-click!

An excerpt: “From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith has landed a permanent place on my bookshelf and will be one of the top books I recommend to my clients who are looking for advice on how to get their book out there.”

Read the rest at: helpmenaomi.com. Also, check out Naomi’s editing and ghostwriting services and her book about self-publishing.

Blog Tour: Review at Elle Backenstoe 🌟

An excerpt of the review: “The clear and concise writing is peppered with humor, making this an enjoyable, yet informative read that many will find easy to understand and apply to their own lives. I’m so glad to have found From Promising To Published at such an early point in my writing career. I know that this information will have a positive impact on my publishing plans and highly recommend this book for any who plan to publish (or already have).”

Read the rest at: Elle Backenstoe’s blog. Learn more about Elle and her forthcoming book here and here. Many thanks, Elle!

Blog Tour: Tour Stop at A Storybook World 🌟

So pleased to have From Promising to Published on spotlight today at A Storybook World: clickety-click.

Shout-out and thanks to talented Deirdra Eden.

Check out her workbook: Time Management for Creative People.

Blog Tour: "4 Tips for Overcoming Imposter Syndrome"

Thrilled to get to share my guest-blog article, “4 Tips for Overcoming Imposter Syndrome” as the next stop of my blog tour at Michelle Cornish’s blog.

An excerpt: “Have you ever gotten praise for your writing but still felt it wasn’t good enough? Or gotten published and started to doubt if you’ll ever write anything publishable again? Or felt that the first story or poem or book was just a fluke?

It’s common for writers to experience imposter syndrome multiple times in our lives. Often, just when we’re advancing in our abilities, that doubtful voice rears up.

It’s understandable that confidence in our writing projects, and in ourselves, comes and goes, since we writers are sensitive people who create art. Still, there are things we can do to silence the not-good-enoughs.

Keep something for yourself."

Read the rest, along with a recent writing mix-tape list I compiled, at: “4 Tips for Overcoming Imposter Syndrome”

Many thanks to multitalented Michelle Cornish! Check out her awesome books and wonderful classes.

"Take a Break" Word-Art Doodle ✍️

I haven’t shared one of my doodles in a while, and this rushed season seemed like the perfect time to post this one.

Whether it’s a fifteen-minute tea or coffee break; an hour with a book; a week off from work; or an afternoon of baking, or streaming movies, or catching a nap, or writing, I hope you also put a thing (or ten) on pause to savor a little break. You deserve it!

Here’s my initial doodle (using pencil and fine-line black pen) from my sketch pad. Yep, I also used crayons on this one. You’ll notice some pencil marks here and there that I didn’t erase well enough (oopsy!) and that the curve of my T and my second line’s k got some extra ink that was inadvertent. Handmade things are perfectly imperfect this way. 😁

Then, I scanned the initial doodle, cropped it, and experimented with adding filters for the background and the doodle itself.