Today is THE DAY

This is it. Today is the day my first book, thirty-three long months in the making, comes out.

In true Oscar acceptance style, I want to thank God first. He took this wife/mother/nurse and turned her into a writer with me kicking and screaming most of the way.  Finally I gave in, asking only that if He was going to do this, that He do it with me. And He has.  Secondly and thirdly are my husband and kids. God did a work in them, too, making them able to put up with me.  And my mom, too, who put up with reading revision after revision, always like it was the first time.
Lastly I want to thank all of you. Through your blogs you’ve taught me so much, and through your words you’ve encouraged me to go on.

Even if not one person reads this book, I know I’ve done it. I’ve obeyed. Now I get to sit back and see what God does with it.

Thank you to M. Pax, Ink in the Book, Rachel Morgan, Elise Fallson, and Alex Cavanaugh for your kind offerings to promote this on your blogs.

I’ve never claimed to be an expert at any of this, so when Kathy at I am a reader, not a writer, came to my attention, I begged her to help and she kindly agreed. Today, she set up a book blast for me, and tomorrow begins the tour, mainly reviews. My hope is attraction, not necessary promotion. I hope people will read my book, love it, and tell others about it. That is my hope.

Below I’ve posted the tour schedule if any of you want to check out any of the reviews.  I will be back on Friday for A to Z in review. Until then, have a great couple of days!

-Mel

May 3rd
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer – Interview
Spellbindings – Review
Sarah Aisling – Review
Word to Dreams – Review

May 6th
Reading Away the Days – Interview Guest Post or Tens List
Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews – Review
Sher A Hart: Writing Art – Review
From the Bootheel Cotton Patch -Spotlight

May 7th
She’s Got Books on Her Mind – Review
StoreyBook Reviews – Review
Blkosiner’s Book Blog – Interview Guest Post or Tens List

May 8th
Sarah Ballance - Interview Guest Post or Tens List
Mariela O. Blogs – Review
Sweeping Me – Spotlight

May 9th
The Book Barista – Review & Interview Guest Post or Tens List
Reviews From Here – Review
Books, DIY`s and Randomness – Spotlight

May 10th
A Backward’s Story – Review & Interview Guest Post or Tens List
Indie Author How-to – Interview Guest Post or Tens List
3PsinaPod – Spotlight

May 13th
Immerse in A World of Fiction – Review
Oh, The Books You’ll Read! – Review
Paperback Princess – Interview Guest Post or Tens List

May 14th
Read-A-holicZ – Review
Books and Needlepoint – Review
Peace From Pieces – Interview Guest Post or Tens List

May 15th
Infected Loser – Review
Mythical Books – Review
Good Choice Reading - Interview Guest Post or Tens List

May 16th
Lay Off the Books – Review
Wintry Words- Excerpt
A Blog Hop Place for Books – Spotlight

May 17th
Ohana Day Academy – Review
Emi Gayle – Spotlight
Books Beside My Bed – Excerpt

 

Z is for Zee end- or is it?

Today is officially the end of the A to Z challenge. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people and read some amazing things over the last month. I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your support and encouragement. You have made this month easy. But the question remains- what next?

First off, I’ve decided to continue with the super shorts, mainly because I really enjoyed writing them, only not quite so often. I will post a new short every Monday.

On Wednesdays I will continue to post like I always did, just me talking to you.

The biggest change will come on Fridays. I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’ve decided I’m not doing my part. I visit all of your blogs and talk to you and get to know you, but I have not purchased or read any of your books. Not one. That officially changes May 1: Once a week I will purchase a copy of a book of someone I follow, or who follows me, and I will do a review here as well as on goodreads/shellfari, etc. If that author desires it, I will then pass that book on to my local library. I want to see each of you succeed, and will do my best to ensure that happens.

This new format will begin on Monday May 5^th. This Friday, I will be participating in A to Z in review. But before all that, on Wednesday, tomorrow, I will be celebrating; because that is the day my very first book is being released. If you would like to join me, stop back in; I might even have cookies.

Thanks for all the love and support that you’ve shown me. You are amazing.

Y is for Yelling Silently

“I can’t do this anymore,” he said, looking out his window, like he wished he was out there, already done with this, done with me.

“Do what?” I whispered, drawing it out.   

He glanced back towards me. I lowered my eyes so he wouldn’t see the knowledge there. But he knew me well enough by then; he waited me out, waited for me to lift my eyes. Eventually I did.

“I can’t pretend I love you anymore.”

The words hung in the air as he waited for me to acknowledge them.

I nodded.

I didn’t know it would be so hard hearing it spoken out loud. I mean he’d been saying it for weeks, but not out loud.  

I nodded again and looked out my own window. His passenger door opened and then closed as he went out to where he’d rather be.  

 

X is for Xanax Moment

“You WHAT?!”

“Was that wrong?” I stammered, surprised by the sudden venom in his voice.

His glare told me it was.

“Well…you’re the one who told me to get rid of it.”

He grunted, throwing his hands up in the air. “I didn’t think you’d do that.”

My eyes lowered to the floor; but that was the wrong place to look. The water was getting deeper.

“That’s what we did with the last one,” I murmured, glancing towards the overflowing toilet.

“That was a goldfish, Maureen, not a chinchilla.”

W is for Who

“Who?” my daughter asks, as I’m half listening.

“Because,” I mumble and grab another shirt off the pile and start folding it.

 A little hand pulls at my sleeve. “I asked who, Mama.”

I put down the shirt and look at her. “Who what?”

“Who made God?” Her eyes look at me, waiting for an answer.

I shrug. “I don’t know. Go ask Him.”

She seems to reflect inward for a moment. “Oh! Okay,” she says.

“Okay what?” I ask; my curiosity piqued.

She shrugs. “He says time doesn’t mean anything to Him.”  With that my daughter left the laundry room with me staring after her.

 

*Of all my stories for this A to Z challenge, this is the only one that is completely true.

V is for Vacant/Void

There is a hollow inside of me, a sort of emptiness that defies explanation. I must have been happy at one time, I’ve seen pictures where I’m smiling and laughing, but even those could’ve been a lie. I still smile, laugh even.  Every once in a while I’ll catch someone watching me, someone who recognizes the contrivance of it all, and I’ll just shrug, really not caring that I was caught. Because that’s the truth of it; I don’t care. There is a vacancy where my heart used to be. I don’t know where it went; there was no one big thing that broke it, only a series of small fractures that eventually left me what I am today;  an emotionless void. So if you see me, in picture or in person, and I’m smiling or laughing, just pretend like you believe me. It’ll make it easier on both of us.  

 

*Before I get worried comments about my mental health, I just want to add that this is a work of fiction. I am a psychiatric nurse and I was just describing what I see in some people’s eyes both at work and out.

U is for Utilitarian

Jan Smith is a useful sort of person. She reproduced exactly 2.8 children, after marrying her husband at twenty-eight years of age. She attended a college and received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, which enabled her to gain meaningful employment until she met and married said husband. At which time she continued to work, ensuring that her family remained in an elevated tax bracket. Her yard, her home, and her person remain perfectly manicured at all times, keeping up with the latest styles and seasons. She takes note of advertisements sent her way, and spends her dollars as such. She pays her taxes on time and with a smile. She keeps herself fit, so as not to be a drain on her children and the health system while she ages. She will wait until she is seventy years of age to cease working and will not even have the chance to cash her first social security check before she obediently dies two weeks later, making sure to have spent minimal amount of time in the hospital in the days before her death. Jan Smith is an ideal citizen.



For those of you who don’t know, my debut novel, The Newstead Project, is being released on May 1, 2013. If any of you would like to review it for your blog, please email me at Melanie@melanieschulz.com