Melody Valadez

Well, I'm Back

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 19:39:00 +0000

Well, I'm back.

I'm graduated now. I have a degree in physics, a piece of paper that says people should think I'm smart. {Not that I am smart, but that they should think so.}

I have a boyfriend. Four months and counting. He's great. He surpasses every romantic interest I ever dreamed up. And yes, we have a years-long story of unrequited affection worth its own adorable book, someday. He has the same fancy piece of paper I have {two of them, actually}, so people should also think he is smart {they're right; he is}.

As noted in December, I'm not pursuing graduate school. However, that non-profit isn't off the table. I'm currently a little bit in limbo at present, but my dream right now is a part-time job {preferably at the non-profit, which will mean formally moving to Austin to live in an actual apartment for which I pay actual rent} and filling up the rest of the time with writing.

I still haven't given up on writing. Yes, I find myself in a weird state. I haven't written fiction in months, and the thought of it is daunting. I don't want to return to this long-lost friend and find our conversation stilted and awkward. If I keep myself busy with not-writing things, then I don't have to.

Other potential writing ventures have captured my interest. I'm not leaving fiction, but I have an idea for a non-fiction book, which I'll call Pages for now, for which I've already written over 5000 words. The Boyfriend and I are also attempting to write a nonfiction physics textbook supplement. It's difficult writing a book with your boyfriend; you get distracted gazing into each other's eyes.

Writing this blog post means a little bit of accountability. I hereby promise to work on fiction, Pages, and/or the physics book in the coming days. I also promise to post updates. So I better do something worth updating about, yeah?

When I Grow Up

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:04:00 +0000

Well, hello.

Yes, I'm still alive. I'm one semester away from graduation, and I'm still alive. I've been to Germany and back. I've been in a chemistry lab and answered my chemistry professor's questions about my book, all the while verifying that I'm wearing safety goggles, pants, and closed-toed shoes. I've made it through what I think will have been my hardest semester and still passed all my classes. In May, I will be college graduate with a degree in physics.

And I still want to be a writer when I grow up.

Yep, that happened.

Oh, I considered grad school. Considered it hard, especially since I wanted to go back to Germany and make solar cells, because making solar cells is what I did all summer, and it's fun.

Then I realized that grad school meant, um, more school, and I'm done with that, thanks.

So I started thinking that I would staff at a nonprofit in Austin, a nonprofit that has more or less been my home base while I've been at school here. But every time I planned out what that life would look like, there was one thing important to me: How much time will I have to write?

Until I decided: I'm going home. I'm going home, and I'm pursuing writing, because that is the risk I choose to take. Not-writing is what I will regret most if I choose some other path. {Of course, I will mesh this crazy leap with something like a job. Don't freak out.}

It was over Thanksgiving that I came to this conclusion, over Thanksgiving that I sat down to see what I had in my writing arsenal after no writing for months. Turns out, I had a three-book "trilogy." I've written parts of it over the past 2 years, but this was the first time I realized...I have something here. While I've been turning in homework and serving organizations, I've also been creating.

I tell people that it's a book about space aliens. "The Space Alien Book," I tell them, so that they know which one I'm talking about. But it's not really. I mean, there are space aliens, but it's not their book.

It's a book about a rebel heroine named Mara Wade.
A city looks to her for hope. Now it's time for her to leave.

Yeah, I'm just a little bit excited.

Wonderful Curious Peoples

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 04:43:00 +0000

For several weeks, I’ve been asked variations of a particular question by curious peoples: how many books have you sold?

People ask it a little hesitantly, as if they shouldn’t be prying. I truly don’t mind, but I don’t have an answer for them, because I don’t know.

Yep. I don’t know how many books I’ve sold.

It’s quite pathetic really, for this girl who chose a major that does little more than make graphs of data. {Just kidding.} {Not really.} You can blame the major, if you like. Or perhaps my cynicism is at fault. When all this started, I think I expected to be able to keep track of it--more or less--in my head. I’m usually pretty good at that.

I wasn’t taking into account the fact that my books are sold through three different outlets in about a dozen different countries. Keep track of that in your head, I dare you.

But two things recently forced me to put some numbers on paper. First, April 15 is arriving swiftly, and, second, I recently bought glasses after 5+ years of an old prescription {when your eyes are as bad as mine, this matters}.

Thanks to tax preparation, I had to figure out how many books I sold in 2013. The book came out in August, so I had over four months of data to wade through. And I am here to tell you, all you people who want to know, that Those Who Trespass was purchased over 100 times in 2013. I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you that or not; for authors with a publishing house, this is a bit taboo. But I am my own publishing house, and one of my favorite things about being an indie-author is the utter control I have over things like this. You’re welcome, wonderful curious peoples.

And because you are so curious, I know you’re now wondering what that translates to in dollars. I’ll let you do the estimation yourself {and good luck, because it's so varying that I can't even estimate it accurately}, but I can tell you that I recently went to the optometrist and paid for my own exam, like a grown-up person. And I bought glasses.

Such things are expensive, especially when you have to have your lenses smashed to socially acceptable thinness.

Yes, my face whitened a considerably when I heard the number. And yes, I know about online glasses places. {Wasn’t my cup of tea this time around.} But seriously, do you want to know something cool? The entire cost was covered exactly to the dollar by my book profits.

That was cool.

So. I hope your curiosity is slightly satisfied. If it’s still bothering you, I suggest physics.

100%

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:00:00 +0000

If I have learned one thing from blogging, it is never to post about the frailty of excuses. At least, not if you think you'll ever miss a posting day.

Ahem.

It was Spring Break.

Honestly, I've been a bit at a loss as to what to post. I'm practically never writing any more. On occasion, I reach day's end and realize I haven't daydreamed at all. {Daydreaming is very important to writing books.}

The reason?

I came to a decision early this semester: no more whining and complaining about how unhappy I am and how college has jerked away my writing life. I really wasn't sure how I would function if I wasn't needing to write. How could I give up that drive, the words spiraling through my fingertips? Writing is a rush. Voluntarily setting it aside sounded like torture.

But there's this verse in the Bible about doing whatever it is you're doing with your whole heart. And I wasn't. I was trudging through school and school activities while wishing I could be at home at my desk with my laptop. {You really don't want to know how many tears were shed asking God whywhywhywhy.} Everything I did, I did halfheartedly. I dedicated myself to my classes, because I don't know any other way to treat academics, but I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't passionate about physics.

And so early this semester, I vowed to be 100% where I was. I was terrified. Terrified of losing the words and the stories. Terrified even of losing my homesickness, my passionate belonging in my house with my family. Terrified of losing my identity. But I did it anyway. I promised to be "all in."

Yeah, things are different now. I'm okay with spending a lot of weekends in Austin. I'm okay if I haven't written in a couple weeks. I'm okay. Surprise.

Am I the same? No. Do I know what to make of that? No.

Am I okay with that? Yes. Life is not a stagnant thing. It ebbs. It flows.

Have I given up writing forever? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I still say that with absolute certainty. In fact, some things have happened recently that make me think writing will be a thing for Melody in the near future.

Am I happier? Yes. I've known for four semesters that I was where I was supposed to be. Now I've chosen to be all there, and it's a most freeing experience. {And yes, it took me that long. God is so patient.} To be where you are meant to be, to be 100% where you are meant to be...there are few greater adventures.

A Problem To Be Solved

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 14:00:00 +0000

My apologies for the lack of post last week. Time and school and everything got away from me {although, as I was reminded by my grandfather this week, "excuses are well-planned lies."} {whaaat, people read my blog??}.

I'm finally to the point where physics and writing intersect. This semester, I'm taking junior lab, which carries an upper-division writing flag and requires me to actually put on my writing gloves. For once.

Our professor highly recommends Strunk & White's Elements of Style, and he is right to do so. He keeps encouraging us to turn our reports into a story. I know exactly what he means from reading a number of books {none of which are actually about writing novels, surprisingly}. I got caught in a vortex of new software for the first report and so wasn't able to devote much time to story-telling, but it is a comforting thing to be in a physics class and know at least one thing that is going on. Story-telling. I can do that.

The ability to tell a good story is not a skill limited to authorship. It is necessary in every part of life.

What I am about to tell you, I learned mostly from the three following books:

A Million Miles In a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, by Donald Miller {written for normal people}
The Elements of Story, by Francis Flaherty {written for journalists}
Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need, by Blake Snyder {written for screenwriters}

{Honestly, you'll learn much more about story-telling from picking up any of those books. Your storytelling skills will definitely improve if you take the time to read them.}

A problem to be solved. That's the most important thing to learn about telling stories--any kind of stories. Novels, films, memoirs, news articles, and lab reports. You have to start with a problem to be solved.

Think about it. When you pick up something to read, what makes you turn to the second page? {Yes, this is something that has to be established by the first page.} You may tell me that you're just interested or intrigued by the story, but let's dig a little deeper into what that means.

It means you have questions. And I'll bet your questions have something to do with a wondering of how a problem is going to be solved.

In Star Wars, we immediately meet two likable droids whose ship is under attack. Our question? Who are they and how are they going to escape? The problem? They're under attack!

In The Hunger Games, the problem is immediately presented: Katniss is struggling to support her family.

In Frozen, Elsa has a power that hurts the people she loves.

In every news article you've ever read, a problem is presented: People are starving. People are dying. People need healthcare. People pay too much for healthcare. The police are abusing their power. The police need more power. Tuition is too high. The university is running out of money. Problem after problem after problem.

And why do you read on? Because you need to find out how the problem is or can be solved.

It's the same with a lab report. Granted, it's a little difficult when you're doing experiments that have been done before with predicted results. I've gotten around this by stating that the problem is our need to confirm the results. If you didn't know what the results should be, the paper would be a bit easier. You could simply state the problem: This does this and we don't know why, so we're going to find out. Bam. Problem.

No one wants to turn to the second page if there's not a problem on the first page. If there's no problem, you don't care. Why should you? There's no need!

Good story-telling begins with a problem to be solved. And everything you write with words is a story. Emails, articles, books, and lab reports. All are stories. If you want people to read them and enjoy it, start with a problem to be solved.

Breaths & Heartbeats

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 05:38:00 +0000

My first idea for this post was to write about writing on the bus, how I steal away those brief moments in order to scribble down stories. {No, I type them. Yay for tiny laptops.}

But something else has been on my mind.

Time is made of breaths and heartbeats.

I think sometimes we think of time as an entity in and of itself.

I'm running out of time
You only have so much time.
I don't have time to spend on that.

And while time as a measurement is very handy to the sciences, it's hard to grasp as people. We throw it around like it's an actual thing...except we can't touch it and can't stash it in a safe, so believing that we only have so much, or that it's valuable, is a bit...difficult.

Time is made of breaths and heartbeats.

You know how valuable your next breath is. You know how much your next heartbeat means to you.

That is what your time is: valuable. God does not hand you a gift of time, per se; He gives you the gift of so many heartbeats.

Wasting time? Wasting heartbeats.

Running out of time? Running out of breaths to breathe.

We spend time like it doesn't exist, and, in a way, it doesn't. It's conceptual, somewhere out there, in the clouds. 'Cause, like, time, you know, it's like, dude, man, it's time. We don't think of it as real. Oh, five minutes on Facebook. Well, there are worse things, right?

Seventy-five breaths on Facebook.

Four hundred heartbeats...on Facebook.

Thinking of time--and time spent--this way is changing my perception and impacting my actions. I'm not spending time, I'm spending breaths. I'm spending heartbeats. {Perhaps that Justin Timberlake film was more accurate than we thought.}

I want to make them count.

Bouncing

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:04:00 +0000

I've been bouncing around when it comes to stories.

A lot of bouncing. This story, that story, oh, wait, there was this other one!

I am currently bouncing three stories. That is subject to change at any moment. I may add another. I may discard one of these. I may bring it back again.

There was a time when this would have been extremely unhealthy for my writing. Not that it isn't now. It's the worst way to accomplish anything as a writer, that refusal to focus on one story. Your brain can't focus on all that at once.

But my brain is already reaching its focusing capacity. Homeworkhomeworkhomework. This group, that meeting, those plans. The added focus of one story is something I honestly can't even fathom.

It's a strange place to be. I feel like I've rewound my life and gone back to my pre-high-school days, when I started everything and finished nothing and was happy to scrawl bits and pieces of stories down without thought of ever finishing them. {I always thought I would, of course.} I was fourteen or fifteen when I determined to actually finish a novel {I did}, and ever since then, I've always been more or less working on something specific that I intend to finish.

And I'm not now. I don't know if it's good or bad, though I know it's the only option right now. Focusing on one story would draw focus away from my studies, and studies are...important. {That's what they say, anyway.} Honestly, I'm just glad I've been able to steal snippets of time away in which to write things down.

Even if I'm jumping from character to character. From Mara Wade, passionate and selfless heroine, to Aerin, reluctant prince's bride, to Olivia and Maximus, terrified queen and the mage that serves her.

It is not some new method I'm trying out with which to be more productive. It is a desperate attempt at sanity, at being able to let the stories continue, even if I must slow their rush to a trickle. Any bit of story is more than none, and better than none.

And so I bounce. Almost daily, I am exploring a different character. There was a time when that would have bothered me, when I would have sat myself down with orders to pick one and see it through. But those days are paused. I have other things I must see through.

It is sad, I suppose. But I am not complaining. I have stories. I have quick glimpses of time in which to write the stories. I may be on a sort of hiatus, but I am so very grateful that I have not had to give up the words completely.

* To all taking any sort of advice from this: don't do this if you want to finish a book. There is only one way to do that, and that is to stick with it. This method is good for either building your skills or keeping them up, but it won't help you write "the end."

Television Meets Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 17:47:00 +0000

Television and writing have been intersecting recently in my world.

Season 4 of White Collar, where creator Jeff Eastin conned us all.
Season 1 of Almost Human, where the world-building is kinda interesting, but the dialogue's been done before, and before, and before. I didn't know they could still get away with such cliche stuff. Isn't it hard to get on network television? Are they that hard up on dialogue?
Season 3 of Sherlock, where every episode is a mosh-pit of things that don't make sense together...and then do. I swoon over this writing. It's superb.
B. J. Novak, actor, writer, and producer in/of The Office, has written a book. And released a book trailer. That I like. And that may or may not be the whole reason for this post, because it made me laugh, and it was literary, and I couldn't really think of anything else. So.

But yeah, I want to write for television someday. That would be lovely. To star in it like Novak stars in The Office would be doubly grand.

Think Of The Author

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 17:34:00 +0000

Some people read the ends of books before the beginnings.

Until recently, I'd thought this was a myth. Truly. I'd heard of it but thought it limited to people who don't read much, or often. People who read more for looks and image than for any actual enjoyment or respect of literature.

Apparently this is not the case. Decent, self-respecting, smart readers actually do this. It bothered me a lot to make this discovery, and I couldn't figure out why. Why should one reader care how another reader reads? Literature is art. People have a right to their own methods of experiencing art.

Ah, one reader shouldn't bother with how another reader reads. But a writer? Perhaps that is a different story {no pun intended}.

When a painter, sculptor, or mixed-media artist is given the opportunity to show his pieces in a gallery, he makes a lot of decisions about how the art will be viewed. This angle, that angle. This lighting, that lighting. This painting first, then that one. That sculpture last. A part of the art itself is its display, the manipulation of how it will be experienced by the viewer.

A writer does the same thing. This scene first, then that one. This character introduced here and not before. This lie told here, this misdirection here. An author knows she can't really surprise you; after all, on the whole, most books are not books if the characters don't fall in love or triumph over the villain in the end. But she wants to try.

An artist does not simply paint a collection of pictures, and a writer does not simply scrawl a story. The paintings must be displayed. The story must be the right blend of hidden {but obvious} truths, misdirections, and points that seem to be of no return. That is the truest work of a writer; I know I haven't attained the talent here that I desire. {Megan Whalen Turner is phenomenal at this sort of thing. Eva Ibbotson and occasionally Ted Dekker, as well.}

Everyone has a right, of course, to experience art how they choose. You can ignore the arrows and traverse the gallery backwards. But as you do, think of the artist. Think of the hours spent arranging the room just so, the paintings hung at that particular angle so that you don't see them until you've turned the corner. Think of the tears shed by hapless assistants who didn't understand his vision for the space. Think of the money spent on a particular kind of track lighting only found in Sweden.

Do you have a right to read the end of a book first? Of course. Absolutely. It is a free country, and, even if it wasn't, it is art. Art is about experience; art does not adhere to rules.

But when you do, think of the author. The author who spent hours in agony, staring at a screen and knowing that it wasn't quite right, that something was too obvious--or too hidden. The author who studied the works of other authors, noting the twists they created and how they did it and how it could be done to fit the author's particular style. Think of the author who did her best to craft a book, and who wrote it intending for it to be read from beginning to end.

Dessert may be the best part of the meal, but you wouldn't dare insult a chef by insisting he replace your appetizer with Creme Brulee.

Manuscripts That Didn't Happen

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:28:00 +0000

Well hello! Long time no see!

My break was...interesting. I returned home for Christmas, not with visions of sugarplums, but visions of manuscripts.

Manuscripts that didn't happen.

I could blame a lot of things--busiest Christmas schedule in quite a while--but it boils down to to one thing:

It's really hard to write, when you know that any momentum you create will be shattered in just four short weeks--three short weeks--two short weeks--tomorrow.

Oh, I did my share of dabbling. I worked on the post-NaNo-novel {working title: EXOGESIS}. I abandoned that for the NaNo novel. It was all very inefficient and convoluted.

New Year's Day, I sat down to make my goals. I'm not big on resolutions, but I like laying out a plan at the beginning of each year, something to hold myself to so that I don't drift aimlessly through life. For as long as I can remember, writing goals have been a huge part of these plans. They usually involve finishing drafts, sending out queries, or entering contests.

This year, I stared at a blank page. Not because I didn't have ideas or dreams, but because accomplishing them was not feasible. I'm starting my fourth semester in college, and I've learned something about writing and physics-majoring: they don't mix well. In fact, they don't mix at all, and it's always writing that gets put on the backest of burners, because it's the one that won't be graded.

Last year, I didn't let it bother me. After all, I thought, I have the summer. But I shall have no such thing this summer; I'm going overseas from semester's end to semester's beginning, and writing times will be few and far between.

Thus, New Year's Day found me in tears because of a realization that broke my heart: twenty-fourteen was to be a year of no serious writing and no writing goals.

I don't even know what that looks like. I know that after I came to that conclusion, I became a chronic moper. "It is like I have shoved my writing into a box inside my heart," I told my dad. "And I cannot let it out because I cannot give it what it needs." He understands as much as anyone can; he is a musician.

It got so bad that I had to come to terms with it again {I had thought I was through}. Where I had formerly sworn off writing for the greater good, I now relented. And I think I have found the compromise:

I'm returning to my writing roots. Those minutes stolen away to imagine a scene, the carelessness of creativity, because no one's ever going to actually read this {don't laugh--that's how I wrote Those Who Trespass}, the utter ignorance of market trends and genres and what is acceptable and what is not. When I was in high school, I allowed myself to write anything I wanted, just to get better through practice. I need to get back to that place.
This year is an adventure. Writers need stimulation. They need to meet people and see new places and endure hardship and feel the wind on their face. Life is an exercise for the creative brain, and this shall be a year of triathalons.

So yes, you're reading this correctly: there is no forthcoming book. The wrong words, I know, for someone who just published. They are words that both crush me with disappointment and give me the wings of relief. Any words I write this year will be because I want to, not because I have to. This was not an easy decision. But it was the right one.

No, this is not goodbye! The blog will remain, don't worry. I'll still be here. I'll even still be writing! But I'm having to apply my epic overachievement skills to other things right now, so it will just be different. I'm not writing this blog post as an announcement, either. It's just another chronicle in the story. Because life is as much--more--of a story than words on a page, and it was meant to be lived to the full.

{And just so you know I'm not completely repressing myself, I've actually got something in the works right now. Will I finish it? Who knows. But I like it.}

What To Expect

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 18:25:00 +0000

Over Thanksgiving break, Those Who Trespass was available for free on Amazon Kindle. It was my first time to do such a thing, and I didn't know what to expect. I was ready to be happy with, you know, 5 or 10 downloads.

5 Days Later: 2298 free downloads

That in itself blew my mind. Then my {small} number of Amazon reviews doubled, including one five-star from lov2readinNC that almost made me cry from happiness:

"Lean, clean, well written and well edited. I read around 7 - 10 books a week and I slog through a lot of free kindle books that need extensive work. This isn't one of them. I prefer books that have well developed characters, a good and hopefully unpredictable plot, a little romance and that also avoid profanity and explicit sex. That can be a tough combination. This book acheives all that and more. While not explicitly Christian, themes of forgiveness in the face of seemingly unforgivable sins dominate. No pat or easy answers are given and the pain and grief of loss is poignantly portrayed. The author is a master of showing not telling. The dialogue flows smoothly. This book is a bargain for free. Snap it up and go along for the ride with Jenn and Clayton as they search for her missing brother and the truth. If you like Dee Henderson, DiAnn Mills or Kristen Heitzman, you will love this book. I sincerely look forward to more by this author."

Is. That. Not. The. Best. Thing. Ever? Way to make my day, luv2readinNC. Seriously.

After the promotion, I lowered the Kindle price to $2.99, just to see what would happen. It has good reviews from people who don't know me, I thought. Maybe good things will happen. Again, I had low expectations.

And once again, my low expectations were blown out of the water. Not in the thousands range, not close, but December's income is already significant to a poor, unemployed college student like myself. {It doesn't take much at all to be significant to a poor, unemployed college student, for the record.}

The goal of this blog has always been to be open and honest, a record of what to expect for those who follow in my footsteps. Since I'm self-published, I can do what I want, reveal what I want, say what I want. It's glorious, actually. {There's a huge part of me that has no desire to return to the whole traditional publishing race.}

So here is what to expect:

A good book + free Kindle downloads = good reviews
Good reviews = paid downloads
Lower prices + good reviews = more downloads
More downloads = more money

For what it's worth, in December Those Who Trespass has made more money with $2.99 downloads than it did in November with $4.99 downloads.

Also, I have heard from various sources that the number of downloads fluctuates sometimes with no apparent reason. You are responsible for playing around with the price of your own book and analyzing your numbers yourself.

My life right now consists of switching between school websites, where my grades depress me, to the Kindle Direct Publishing site where I can see how many people have downloaded Those Who Trespass today. Also, the actual Amazon site, where reviews pop up at random. Reviews make me so happy, star count matters not! {If you've read TWT, you should leave an honest review, just so that I'll have something to bring a smile to my face during all this studying for finals, yeah?}

Excuses Are Well-Planned Lies

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:25:00 +0000

Today is Cyber Monday! You know, that day when all of us smart people who did NOT get trampled on Friday go shopping...from our laptops. It is a great idea, and now you can be a part of it! There are a ton of indie-books on SALE right now, ready for Cyber Monday wonderfulness! Those Who Trespass is one of them, yours for 20% the regular price (with code). Not to mention a terrifically nerdy giveaway that you do not want to miss. Check it all out right here!

note the weekend/weekday difference

Also, it's December. Which means it's not November. And no, I did not win National Novel Writing Month this year. I was eleven thousand words short. :( My pride was injured, but there is nothing else wrong with me. I wanted to so dearly to prove it could be won while in college! And I still think that's true, if I'd given it just a little more attention over the course of the month and not left the poor thing dormant during the weekdays.

But I did learn something very important: I do too have time to write while in college. Maybe I'm not up to NaNo speed, but I'm definitely not incapable.

"Excuses are well-planned lies." -- Dani Johnson

I remember what I thought the first time I heard that quote. "Not true!" I said. "I know excuses are wrong and not worth it, but they are, at least, true!

"Aren't they?"

Turns out, they are false. They are false statements that you agree with in order to live a comfortable life right now and cheat yourself of the life you want later. I used to think they were true, denoting a fact I would have to hurdle. You know, like, "I don't have time, so I must work to make time." But even that isn't quite right. The truth is: "I do have time, I'm just spending it on other things." Ouch.

I have NaNo to thank that I finally realized how not true my excuse was. And my thanks is genuine. Now I can return to writing, knowing that it is possible. Knowing that I can accomplish it. Knowing that the time I thought I didn't have actually did exist and was simply spent on other things.

Bam.

For You, For Others

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 01:43:00 +0000

FOR YOU:

Those Who Trespass is currently FREE on Kindle (limited time, so download it now)!
A super nerdy goodie giveaway right here: a wonderful Rafflecopter giveaway!

FOR FRIENDS & FAMILY: The paperback version of Those Who Trespass is 20% off!

Welcome to the Holiday Indie Book Sale, where all of your reading dreams become a reality. Or rather, your holiday shopping spree! You don’t have to look any further than these awesome books by awesome self-published authors for gifts to stuff your stockings. From Black Friday through the day after Cyber Monday, fill your shelves with paperbacks! And if the romantic/YA/suspense of Those Who Trespass isn't the right read for someone on your list, there are many other awesome books to choose from!

Melody Valadez

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I Have Time

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 13:46:00 +0000

Special things will be happening this week, by the way. Amazon *may* just be giving my book away for for a few days! for those of you stuck in the car as you go over the river and through the woods. {It's not free yet, but I've heard rumors that this promotion begins on Wednesday.} AND there might just be a Black Friday sale on the paperback! KEEP YOUR EARS OPEN.

And onto previously scheduled things.

Yeah, I've never been this behind on NaNoWriMo. I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed that despite never reaching the goal, I am still trudging on. I'm counting on the fact that I have no tests this week and it's only a three-day week thanks to Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving, my friends!

My NaNo novel is a mosh pit of scenes. Scenes in present-tense, scenes in past. Scenes in first-person, scenes in third-person. Scenes written twice. It's not a coherent story. My most recent method is to write it in scenes starting at the end. None of it is anything I'm particularly proud of, but, on the upside, it's not a total failure like the great NaNo novel of 2011 {which I won, but not prettily}.

The best thing about NaNo is that it has proved to me that I do have time to write. Among tests and homework and starting a new campus group and supporting an old campus group and joining a new campus group {yes, all three of those things have happened this month}, I do have time to put words down on paper. After all this time complaining that I didn't have time and it wasn't fair and why can't I write, blah, blah, blah...I have time.

I have time.

This is something I knew in my head, but I've experienced it this month. You always have time for your highest priorities. Problem is, sometimes your highest priorities don't match the things you would write down if someone asked you to do so.

Because here's the thing: your highest priorities are revealed, not by what you write down, but what you do. We think our highest priorities are things like writing and studying, but what they turn out to be are tv shows and Facebook. No joke.

The truth is, you can change your highest priorities. And something like National Novel Writing Month can help you do that. I know. I speak from experience. You do have time...but only for your highest priorities. Make sure they are what you want them to be.

And don't forget to keep an eye out this week for free e-books and sale paperbacks! :)

The Deep End

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:32:00 +0000

Just three more weeks of classes! Just four more weeks of school, and then I'm freeeeeeeee!

First off, did you catch J. Grace Pennington's superb guest post last week? You should go check it out now, it's much more interesting than this post, which is going to be a bit of a ramble.

I'm still NaNo-ing. If you can call it that. As of this moment, I'm nearly 11K words behind. Never in my life have I faced catch-up like this. Yesterday I considered quitting. I had good reason to do it; I'm behind, I have tests, I can't find Anne's voice no matter how hard I try {you don't want to know how many points of view are splattered across this manuscript}.


this is not the cover of the book I read, but I like this cover the best

And then I read Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein. Oh my goodness, if you have not read this book...go read it. Go. Now. Stop reading this blog post and order Code Name Verity or put it on reserve, for goodness' sake, READ IT. I've read a lot of books in my lifetime, and I can count on one hand the number of books/authors that have been/written a perfect book. Very rare, those perfect books are. Very, very rare.

And Code Name Verity is a perfect book. Flawless. Meticulously plotted. Gorgeous. Heart-wrenching. Beautiful. Just...perfect. Read it.

Anyway, among other unique things, the points-of-view and tenses in Code Name Verity jump around a lot. It flows with excellence, but the style of writing gave me some idea and inspiration.

So I jumped back into my NaNo novel with renewed purpose and vision.

On the upside, I think I can make 50,000 words happen this November. On the downside, it probably won't look like a manuscript. Or, if it does, it won't be a finished one. But that's okay. The goal was to get me back in the deep end of writing again, and, even if I'm treading water at an increasingly frantic pace...I'm back.

Guest Post: Learning To Write

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Today I am beyond excited to feature a lovely guest post from J. Grace Pennington! We have many wonderful traits in common--we both live in the Texas Hill Country {yeah, be jealous}, we both write young-adult fiction, we both self-published, we both had books come out this fall, we're both NaNo-ing it up this month...basically, we're just both incredibly awesome, I guess. :) So without further ado, here is J. Grace Pennington:

I’m not convinced that anyone ever learns how to write.

You learned to write back in kindergarten? Well, maybe you learned to spell in kindergarten (though I dare you to spell “acquiesce” without consulting a dictionary), maybe you learned to form letter symbols with a pencil (though most of us use keyboards these days anyway), maybe you even learned what predicate nominatives are (though I myself have no idea). But that’s not learning to write. Yes, you need all of those things in order to write (at least to some degree), but writing is a lot more than that. It’s voice, and style, and molding words to your will to express the ideas, opinions, and stories in your mind.

I myself have written several novels, two of which are published, a number of short stories, articles, and some screenplays. I’ve written innumerable blog posts and forum posts and poems. I’ve written things for the public, things just for family and friends, and things for my eyes only. I’ve written stories that are eighty thousand words long, and stories that are only six words long. I’ve written awful things and pretty good things, and some things that people say everyone should read. I’ve written things that took months and things that took less than a day, and… well, I think you get the point. I’ve written a lot. With almost twenty years of writing under my belt and a few humble published stories, you’d think I’d have this writing thing down.

Unfortunately, there’s a little matter of every story being different that keeps getting in the way.

I recently published the second book in my young-adult Christian sci-fi series, Firmament. Right now I’m working on the fourth book, and am about a third of the way through. The third book needs editing, and the first book has been out for over a year.

The first book went something like this: Grace has a dream, she wakes up and lays in bed thinking of a way to make it into a story, she writes a bit of it, she thinks a little more, then she plows through and writes it in sixty-six days. She sends it to a friend and realizes there are moral considerations that need to be fixed, so she rewrites most of it. She sends it to another friend and realizes that it makes no sense, so she rewrites it completely from scratch. Then after a couple years of tweaking and cover-design and formatting and tweaking some more, she self-publishes it. Lots and lots of work!

The second book went more like this: Grace is finished writing the first draft of the first book, and after about a month, she finds she misses the characters, so she starts writing the second book. She writes it in also around sixty days, and it flows out with remarkable ease. She gets a friend to read it, and the friend thinks it’s pretty much good. She tweaks it a bit and sends it to another friend, who thinks it’s good. Then she tweaks it a bit more and self-publishes it. It turned out right the first time! Wow! She’s got the hang of writing now.

The third book: Grace finds again that she misses the characters, so she starts writing the third book after a month or two. She tries to start it, and the opening is boring, so she dumps it and starts again. That opening is bad too, so she dumps that. This time she starts near the end of the first chapter, then goes back and fills in the beginning and finally gets it right. Then she writes the second chapter, then realizes the story makes no sense and goes back to the drawing board. She plans it out, fixes some things, and moves ahead with the third chapter. After the third chapter she realizes it makes no sense, so she stops and gets a friend to brainstorm it with her. Said brainstorming takes months, and then NaNo rolls around and she decides to try to write some of the book for NaNo. She plows through another few chapters, but finds that things still make no sense, so she stops and brainstorms more. Then she takes the big mess of the book out again for the Camp NaNo NaNoThon, and writes through and finishes the last several chapters in two days, making the writing stretch over more than a year. The result is messy and will probably need to be rewritten from scratch.

The fourth book: Grace decides to be naughty and start it before the third book is finished, brainstorms it, and the story comes together perfectly for an outline. She breezes through the first three chapters happily and then slams to a halt. For a year the story sits and has nothing done to it, then she picks it up for NaNo 2013 and finds herself dragging through it, forcing a thousand or two words out each day.

Notice anything about these four stories? That’s right. Not a single one of them is the same. And I have an inkling that the fifth will probably be completely different. They say that genius is about one percent inspiration, and about ninety-nine percent perspiration. The same can be said of writing, but for the purposes of this post I have another observation. Writing is about ten percent learning, forty percent, experience, and a hundred percent perseverance (yeah, that’s not as catchy, and I’m not very good at math, but it works for my purposes). Give your writing a hundred and fifty percent effort, and refuse to give up, and you will find yourself joining this person (who has no idea what a predicative nominative is) on a rather fantastic adventure where no two stories are the same.

J. Grace Pennington lives in the beautiful Texas Hill Country with her parents, her eight younger siblings, and her horse, Pioneer. When she is not writing she enjoys reading good books, playing movie soundtracks on the piano, and looking up at the stars.

You can {and should} check out the blog of this lovely authoress at www.jgracepennington.com, become friends/followers on Facebook and Twitter, and find out more about her books at www.firmamentseries.com. Don't forget to check out her newest book, In His Image!

Wonderful Experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 14:13:00 +0000

Well, I decided to do something crazy.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. {What is it? An attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.} I've done it before {twice}, but that wasn't while I was in college.

Reasons why:

I had already been thinking that I needed to start writing again making time for it. {There's always time for something if you make time.}
A young friend of mine emailed me for advice as she began her first NaNo foray.
I had a story in mind that was shorter than most {most being 80K words}. A story I've actually been formulating for years. A story that was coming into its own.
A school friend of mine was NaNo-ing, and I knew I was going to be jealous all month long.

And so I am NaNo-ing. I'm already a bit behind, but nothing that can't be fixed {especially after tomorrow's test}. I'm excited. Slowly, the passion that equals good writing is returning to me. {Especially after watching the film, Now You See Me. So brilliant of a script, that. So worth the watch. I am inspired.}

One of the curiously fun things about this is that I'm writing a new couple: Anne and Isaiah. I was surprised yesterday by a simple fact: they're not Jenn and Clayton. And it's awesome. I love Jenn. I love Clayton. But getting to slowly sink into another world {kind of}, with different characters that interact...differently...is a wonderful experience after spending what amounts to four years with Jenn and Clayton.

AND SPEAKING OF WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES: Aimee L. Salter {the critique partner brain behind my book and an amazing person all around} is releasing her book, BREAKABLE, today! I have read this book {twice} {and I will again when I hold the finished paperback in my hands}, and it is full of high stakes and mystery and romance and deep thoughts and absolute marvelousness {not to mention a stellar plot that twists and turns and leaves you guessing until the very end}. GO HERE NOW for all the awesome!

No Longer Totally Obscure

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 13:30:00 +0000

I already knew it was the sign of a great communicator to engage the opposite person in conversation. A "great conversationalist" is usually the person who just asks questions. But I have more incentive than ever, these days. What I do has become increasingly private.

When someone asks what I do, there are three possible answers and reactions, all accurate.

I major in physics. Reaction: Oh, wow, you must be so smart. {Please inform my professors of this apparent fact.}
I'm a worship leader. Reaction: Oh, wow, you must be so holy. {Well, yes, but only because Jesus gave me His holiness for free because He's awesome like that. Has nothing to do with anything I ever did.}
I'm a writer, and I just published a book. Reaction: Oh, wow, you must be a person worth knowing. {Well, yes, but...I was worth knowing before.}

The third thing is what has me most perturbed. I've been writing since I was 11. I've been telling people that I write since I was at least 18, maybe even longer. And it's always been received with something more or less akin to, "That's nice, dear." People have gone on to like me for me. Sometimes they wanted to read my books. Sometimes they didn't. I didn't mind either way. People didn't take my writing seriously, and I didn't blame them, because I had nothing to show for it.

Now that I've self-published, they take it seriously. I am now someone who has done something, someone who was one of those "I write" people that has actually written. Suddenly, I am cool and important and worth knowing. It's a subtle shift, but it's there.

I'm not saying I'm Miley Cyrus famous or anything like that. I'm not even University of Texas famous. I'm not even famous. But I'm no longer totally obscure, and I kinda miss obscurity. There is something to be said for being...nobody. {Not really. God didn't make anyone to be nobody. Everyone is intentional.}

It's odd, adjusting to this new way of life. I tend not to mention the book when I meet people for the first time. Instead, I go the physics major route, am told how smart I must be, and wonder why my grades don't reflect the compliments. And whichever route I take, I am still meeting great friends, friends who see beyond what I've done and see who I am. There truly are many wonderful people in this world, many more than this cynical blog post would make it seem.

I am learning to embrace the spotlight that occasionally sweeps across my face. I am learning to steward the influence {the coolness} that this book has brought me. If I can continue to be myself, to grasp tightly to humility, to lead toward Jesus and be nothing but love, then I have succeeded. It's a difficult task, but one I'm honored to accept.

The Possible Answers

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I take it back. I blog only on Mondays. I could write a long paragraph about why I thought Thursdays would work, but the end result is...Mondays alone.

I've been getting an interesting question lately. A question I don't in the least know how to answer.

"How's your book doing?"

Does no one realize the sheer number of possible answers to this question?

{sassy i} Well, technically, I don't own a final-copy book of my own, so...the question is irrelevant.
{sassy ii} The copy of my book belonging to my family is sitting on a shelf now that my mother has read it. So...getting dusty.
{sassy iii} Last I heard, Jenn and Clayton's story had ended.

Of course, I know what people mean. They want to know if I'm on my way to becoming an author millionaire. I had not realized until now that normal people--people who don't feast on writing blogs--assume that a published book results in a significant income. News flash: it doesn't. Even if I had been published by a real publisher and not myself, the money wouldn't be all that much to write home about, so I hear.

But just because I know what they're really asking doesn't make the question any easier to answer.

Rate of purchases/downloads has significantly declined since most of my family and friends have bought and loved it.
I've sold ~50 books. Not exactly up to the expectations of most people.

The numbers don't surprise me {well, they do, but only in a positive I-have-such-amazing-friends-and-family sense}. I didn't promote Those Who Trespass much outside of my friends/family circle. Part of that was intentional, part of it was just because I frankly just didn't have time.

But just because the numbers don't concern me doesn't make it any easier to tell people how my book is doing. Because what they're really asking is, "How close are you to becoming a millionaire?" And my answer is sure to disappoint. I'm not disappointed, but I hate giving disappointing answers.

I'm honored that people ask and are interested. It truly makes my day to know that other people care about my writing journey. I'm just at a loss in how I should answer. If anyone has any advice or tips, feel free to share.

My Type of Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 14:27:00 +0000

Guess what! Today I am guest posting over at J. Grace Pennington's blog! I'm talking about my type of Christian fiction {not exactly "normal" Christian fiction}, and why I write it when I once swore I never would. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!

The Book Signing

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 11:00:00 +0000

they spelled my name right! win!

So. The book signing!

It's still hard to believe that it happened. I had a book signing. People have bought Those Who Trespass. People will read it.

So for those of you who couldn't attend, here was the order of events:

please ignore the odd expression
on my face :-/

it's a book!

I talked. I think my talk went a little long, but maybe we can chalk it down to me having to start from the beginning? Future books won't have such a requirement...
We ate cake. My insistence on a cake was mainly the fact that, ever since the technology came out, I've wanted a photo cake. This was a stellar opportunity...plus, this way, no one was eating my face.

concentrating...

I signed. The best part about this was that I was signing my own name in my own books. I never dreamed...well, actually I did. But still. {The worst part is the fact that I wrote personal messages in each one. Please. Don't write personal messages when you're in a hurry and can't think straight due to ecstasy+stress. Bad idea. Those messages are the most uneloquent I've ever been. To those who have such a note, I apologize. But think of it this way, you have something incredibly unique, the like of which shall never be seen again.}

my grandparents and florist aunt sent me
this lovely bouquet for the special day!
so pretty!

At the end of the day, I have run out of books in my possession. {I didn't run out of any at the signing, but there were just enough afterward to fulfill some other orders/intended gifts.}

And now it's over. I have bared my soul to the world.

And today, it's back to class. Oh, life...

The College Variable

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 13:25:00 +0000

Thursday, I said. I'll be mostly free Wednesday night, I said.

Lies.

On the upside, I can assure you that the human body requires much less sleep than previously supposed in order to survive. Less sleep = more things done. Why didn't we think of this before? {Because survive does not equal thrive, my friends.}

Yesterday morning, I decided to post on my personal Facebook a little reminder about the signing. So many more days! is what I planned on saying. And then I thought, "How many more days is it?"

Three days.

My own post surprised myself. Three days. Well, two days now.

I have a talk to write/outline. I said I would write it earlier, edit it, polish it down. Write + edit + polish = awesome. I just forgot a variable...College. Write + edit + polish + college = LOL.

But it will get done. That's one of the many things I've learned in college. If something has to be done, it will be done. It will. Even though I agonize and fret and stress about how much time I don't have, at the end of the day, the assignment will get turned in. The talk will get written.

Sorry for all the equations scattered about this post. I've been lab-report writing. {This is the one-hour credit lab that swindles me into perfectionism every single time.} Did you know Google Drive has equations in it? They work out quite well. Not as well as other programs that I don't know how to use {yet}, but I can use it.

Okay. Keep an eye out next week for a new series: How To Paperback! :)

Blathering

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:16:00 +0000

One of the odd things about a daily blog is that you have to write something every day. Understandable, I suppose.

But I have nothing writing-related to write about today, and I dislike blathering on just for the sake of words. I mean, I can. I'm very capable of writing much about nothing, but I feel sometimes it's discourteous to the reader. You know, "Here are a couple hundred absolutely pointless words that I wrote just so that the daily blog would not go unblogged."

I have some deep thoughts, but I have to return to campus soon, and deep thoughts take time to blog, because I like to get them right. Campus. I live on campus. Not really. It feels like it, though. Twelve hours yesterday. And that's just the first day in a week of three tests.

Three tests, two homework assignments, and one quiz.

Yeah, I'm a little sleep-deprived. And it's only Tuesday. Oh, dear...

Take A Sabbath

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:55:00 +0000

If you haven't heard yet, the paperback of Those Who Trespass is finally available on Amazon! And you can still get the Kindle version, as well.

In other news, I wrote over 2000 words yesterday. Not on the TWT sequel {it's a standalone novel, most definitely, but I have ideas for what comes afterward} some-other-super-secret-thing else. :) It's still so hard to get into the rough draft game again. I guess that difficulty never really went away while I worked on TWT revisions.

The reason I was able to write those words while being bludgeoned by college {three tests this week, yay!} was because I've made a diehard decision this semester to "take a Sabbath." I didn't do this in the spring, and the end-result was that I was exhausted spiritually and emotionally...and my grades didn't even show all the life I poured into them. So I thought I'd try something different this semester. Trial and error, right?

Every Saturday evening, sometime after 4pm, I stop. No more homework. No more studying. No more logistics of book signings. No more emails. And I keep it that way for 24 hours. A weird time for a Sabbath, I know, but it worked with my schedule. {I wanted to have a late evening as part of it, which nixes the "day off" idea.}

During those 24 hours, I relax. I turn on worship albums like this and tell my God how good He is. I get all the empty dishes out of my room and into the dishwasher where they belong. I watch Doctor Who {still trying to get myself into that show, but I'm trying} until I get tired of the dark and creepy side of it. I read {I finished Shadow and Bone this weekend; loved it}.

And sometimes, if I feel like it, I write. The kind of writing I do when I want to, not when I have deadlines looming. The writing that was why I fell in love with writing in the first place.

What about you? Do you make yourself stop to rest during the week? What do you do then?

The Long-Awaited Paperback

noreply@blogger.com (Melody) — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 15:28:00 +0000

It's happened! It's here! The paperback is finally available!!!

Shelley Sly has all the details--and an interview including a host of with Those Who Trespass references--right here: http://bit.ly/16LStsu!