Melody Writes

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Happy New Year! Every January I like to make resolutions/goals for the upcoming year. There are people that will tell you that new years resolutions are stupid or just get broken, but I think that's because people either make unrealistic goals, give up too easily, or fail to adjust throughout the year as needed. A year is a long time and a lot can happen. I will often reevaluate my goals throughout the year to see how things are going and if I need to make some changes.  In 2024, I achieved a good portion of my goals. I met my financial goals, fell a bit short on writing goals, and did not keep up the exercise routine I started. Some may point to this and say "see? failure", but I don't see it that way. In the late summer and fall, I had some health issues that I am still recovering from that derailed my progress, which is something beyond my control. As well, one of my goals was to reach 500 Twitter followers, but instead I ...

  I am finally taking the plunge and starting an author newsletter. It's the perfect way to follow me and my work without trying to catch me on social media. Each month in your inbox you will receive: A short post about a different topic each month Mostly related to storytelling, but not just books - games, movies, other media, stories in real life, etc. Updates on my writing Stories I’m working on, reviews, articles, blog posts, etc. What I’m reading/writing/playing/listening to this month; Books, television, movies, video games, podcasts, music, etc. Recommendations and interesting links I’ve found that I think will interest you.   Ready to sign up?  

Project: Short Story Exploration   Last year, I read 70 books, most of which were novels, so for 2024, I’m going to focus on short fiction. I’ll still be reading and reviewing novels, but I want to take a deep dive into short stories. I’ve been accumulating quite the backlog of anthologies, magazines, and bookmarked stories to read. I will be working my way through them and journaling about each short piece as I go, recording date, story, author, thoughts, what I learned, etc. I’m not setting a specific goal, but I am estimating reading somewhere around 250 stories of varying lengths this year. Then towards the end of each month, I’ll be posting my thoughts so far, recommendations, etc. Why am I doing this? I want to get to know the short form better and, in turn, grow my own short fiction writing. I also want to develop a journaling habit, but have no interest in writing about my day-to-day life*. Years ago, I turned up my nose slightly at short stories. I didn’t hate them, but I ...

Hello and welcome to the end of 2023. I, for one, am happy to see it go. It's been a complicated year in both my personal and professional lives. The biggest change for me is that I have left my second job (by choice), and while I'll still be working full time, I won't be quite as overwhelmed as I was. It's a bit of a financial hit, but one I can (thankfully) afford. It'll be a big step for my mental health and will let me focus more on my writing. Speaking of which, I am making my resolutions and plans for 2024 and it's looking like it's going to be a bigger year, writing-wise for me. Ready for a sneak peek? Indie Ink Awards Judging: Trying something new First up: I have been accepted as a Judge for the Indie Ink Awards ! I have never judged a writing contest before and the Indie Ink Awards seem like a good one. They are supportive of diversity and a better future. Also, as a growing indie writer myself, I am happy to support these awards and get to read so...

Return to Karate Today I took my first real karate class in months. During Covid my training had become sporadic (at best). We had some scattered zoom classes, I practiced at home as best I could and inbetween lockdowns we did distanced classes. Our classes are still distanced, but it's still nice to be finally training again. Mostly I did review and marvelled again at how much better my body is at remembering than my brain. Anyone who has trained martial arts for a time (or anything similar) is probably familiar with this concept. I call it "muscle memory". I am sure there are other terms out there. Our style of karate is kata-heavy (kata=patterns). And while I did make some minor mistakes, I was able to work through several kata without really thinking through the steps that much. This is because when I've done them enough times, it's like my body remembers for me. It knows the next step intuitively and will perform it even if I can't fully visualize it. And...