Video From the Book Launch

Thanks to Sean Taboloff for the video.  I think I'll forgive him for spelling my name wrong.  The video features my talented husband and our lovely friend Molly Kate Performing Leonard Cohen's Dance Me To The End Of Love.  If Aaron knew I was sharing this he would beg me to add that they had not rehearsed or performed together since the fourth of July, so it might seem a little rough.

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.

Recent Life in Photos

I have intended to write an interesting post for some time now.  I sit down, stare at the screen, and nothing happens, even though I come up with fabulous ideas in the shower or at the farmers' market.  Luckily, the new novel is being somewhat less problematic.  Oh, the difficulties involved in writing about real life!

In any case, today, for lack of great words, I'm using pictures.  (Just a side note, there is only one day left to enter to win a signed copy of Violet Shadows.  See the widget on the right.)

 Our latest dance project was a tribute to "The Ballerina Project" and Jordan Matter Photography's "Dancer's Among Us," which both portray dancers in unlikely locations.  Here it is Chewelah style.

Mallorie, aside from being a lovely ballet dancer, is also a red belt in Taekwando.  Don't mess with her.

 Inspecting the engine of my parents' 1941 GMC.

...and as a bonus, here is Ferdinand making friends with our new puppy, Leo.

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Giveaway!

I'm doing a giveaway through Goodreads for three signed copies of Violet Shadows.  Follow the nifty widget on the right to enter.  The giveaway is open until August 12th.

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.

Concerning Baldness...and Inside-Out Nightmares

So, I had my head-shaving party on Friday, and now Aaron and I are both bald as eggs.  The reports are in for June, and I will be donating just over $100 to the UICC.  Not so great as I hoped, but not terrible either.

Again, what surprises me, though it probably shouldn't any more, is how wonderful I feel without hair.  Judging from the various facial expressions of those around me, I'm not the only one surprised by this fact.  Some pretend not to notice anything different; some openly stare; some shake their heads; some suddenly appear intensely interested in something else...but my favorites are the ones who break into irrepressible grins.  It seems to me that somehow they understand.  I feel at my best this way...my strongest.  I feel thoroughly myself.


I believe it was Emerson who said: "We acquire the strength we have overcome."  He couldn't have said it better.  Really, in that way, the closer something comes to killing you, the more you have to thank it for.  But only if you can drum up the courage to turn the nightmare inside out.  Perhaps that's a barbarous way to think of it, but it's how I see it.  The more we wallow in our own pain, or relax in our own pleasure, the weaker we become, but if we can turn our tragedies into triumphs and come out laughing, we become the best, strongest, and most honest versions of ourselves.  Maybe that's why I feel at my best this way. It's my inside-out nightmare.


In any case, it feels kind of awesome, especially considering the hot weather we've had recently.  And you don't have to worry about doing your hair in the morning, or using too much shampoo, or getting tangled when you drive with the window down.

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