Follow Your Dreams...and Carry Bandages

People say, "Follow your dreams" all the time.  They say it with regret, as if speaking of something they wish they had done themselves.  Sometimes they say it hopefully, speaking of something they intend to do.

What they generally don't tell you is that this pursuit is not a joyous romp through Candyland.  They leave out the part about a desperate chase through nettle patches and bog-water, when your dream speeds by you so quickly that you're lucky if you're able to catch it by the tail and hold on for dear life.  They leave out the part about the road rash, the torn fingernails, the aching hunger for the thing that is always just out of your reach.

So here you go:

Follow your dreams.  It will be hard and painful.  You'll end up bruised, scarred, and exhausted.  But you have to trust that the chase is worth it.  You have to do it for love, so that when you're getting battered and bruised you can laugh through the pain because you'd rather be there in that place battling away than sitting on a cotton candy cloud somewhere eating Danish.  But do sometimes keep chocolate in your pocket.  It helps.

Take it from someone who's in the midst of the bruising process.

On a side note, Violet Shadows is free today on Kindle.  Whee...and also Ouch!

Book Launch Friday - and Huckleberries

So...in case you couldn't tell from the post title, my book launch is coming up this Friday.  I'm having it at Flowery Trail Coffeehouse again, from 2 to 5 in the afternoon, and my husband is providing music.  The exciting part is that his new album has just become available, so we're turning the event into a sort of album release party as well.  So...music, books, coffee...what else could you possibly want?

On the current writing front, I'm picking up some older projects which were left in the dust when Violet Shadows ran away with me.  Two of them are vying for my attention at present, so I'm not about to complain.  More on that as it develops.

Making a foray up into the mountains with my mother tomorrow to pick huckleberries. (for those of you who do not live in the Inland Northwest, yes, there is a berry called a huckle (berry) and they are delicious!)  We generally try to go several times every year in the late summer.  We then freeze most of the berries and hoard them like squirrels, metering them out carefully to make them last all winter.  You can buy them, of course, for $30 a gallon...but then you miss the fun of hiking all over the beautiful mountains looking for them and coming down with hands that look like you've murdered somebody...and you still have to pay $30.  Of course, I wouldn't sell mine at all, even for more than that, and you can tell how much I like you if you come to my house and I break into the huckleberry store...or not.

Violet Shadows!

I only have time for a quick little post to say that my novella, Violet Shadows, is officially available.  The Amazon link is on the top right of this page.  Coming soon for Nook as well!  More later.  I promise.

The Plunge...and a Taste of Violet Shadows

You know that first swim of the year?  You go to the lake, or the river.  The sun is out, and the water looks so inviting, so you step in.  Then you realize how cold the water is, and you stand there in the shallows for a few minutes while your feet get numb and you try to decide what to do next.  Do you stay in the shallows, half wet and half dry, half cold and half warm, or do you take the plunge all at one go, get the shock over with so that then you can enjoy yourself?


My life lately has been rather similar to this, or seemed so.  So many things have been going on, opportunities presenting themselves all at once...my choices seem to be to say yes to everything, to take the plunge, or to pick and choose, remain safe and sane...but also less fulfilled.


...so I'm taking the plunge.


First of all, Violet Shadows has hit its stride in production.  The final edits are in, and the whole process is moving along at an alarming (yet delightful) speed.  The proof is ordered, and I should have it in hand next week.


I have the opportunity to release Ashford as an audiobook, an option I hadn't even really considered until recently.  It's in production now, and should be available in early August through Audible.com, Amazon.com, and iTunes.  I'm very excited about this, and very grateful to Miss Amy Burzak, who will be doing the narration.


This Thursday we're performing again, centerstage in the Chewelah Park for Chataqua, Chewelah's big annual festival.


This Friday is my ten-year celebratory head-shaving party.  Huzzah!  Had to wait until after Thursday, as performing classical ballet with a shaved head covered in henna tattoos might not look quite right.


My sister and I may be going to Hawaii in early August for a cousin's wedding.  Still working out the details.


Meanwhile, my brain is going mad with ideas for the next novel.


So...all things taken together, I'm floating.  The water is cold, and a little scary, and I may be covered in goosebumps, but I'm floating, not sinking, and things are coming together.


I'll leave you with a preview of Violet Shadows.  Thank you to the wonderful Katherine Owen for the splendid early review!


Melanie Rose delivers, once again, with her new novella, Violet Shadows. Picking up from the story-line of her debut novel Ashford, the author focuses upon Violet Creeley, who has left behind her life in beloved England because of the unexpected violent death of her brother Tristan. In Violet Shadows, Violet has taken on a new identity as "Marie Severin" and joined the French Resistance. As is characteristic of Rose's writing, the author focuses upon the little nuances within her story-line that make it both refreshing and distinctive. Readers are soon pulled into Marie's new world, which is inundated with distrust and great fear, during the turbulent times of World War II, in her newly adopted country of France. With her usual literary flare for finding poignancy within ordinary characters that become extraordinary and extends beyond the page, readers will admire Marie's courage as she bravely serves the French Resistance and lives with the constant danger. Nothing is quite what it seems, and soon, Marie must make a choice between the cause and the individual. 

What makes Melanie Rose's literary work a standout is the way she portrays and develops her characters, illustrates their humanity in distinguishable and unexpected ways, and writes prose as if playing classical music. What a delightful read! The story-line is captivating as well as poignant with just the right amount of twists and turns that will hold a reader's interest. If you enjoy historical fiction that is full of promise and redemption and love a story-line where characters must discover for themselves what it means to choose and love someone beyond the cause and the war, you'll love Violet Shadows.

-Katherine Owen, Author of Seeing Julia, Not To Us, and When I See You

Chewelah in the Spring: Earth and Inspiration

I took a walk through town today.  May is probably my favorite month out of the whole year.  I love watching the colors suddenly explode.  There is a wind blowing today, and you can smell all the flowering trees at once wherever you go.  Our garden is getting better by degrees each year, and the berry bushes are thriving.  We take Ferdy out in the grass sometimes and let him run around.  He likes to snuffle about for a while, then always ends up nosing around in our clothing.

I've had a writing surge lately, and am hoping to finish my first draft of Violet Shadows by early June.  Then comes the rewriting and editing process.  I'm hoping to publish in the autumn again, around October sometime if all goes well and my characters don't decide to do something outlandish out of the blue.  On Saturday I'm taking part in a book fair with the Libraries of Stevens County.  It's being held at the golf course.  A good venue, but it does feel a little strange after last summer to be going up there in a capacity that doesn't involve serving beer.