"Take a Break" Word-Art Doodle ✍️

I haven’t shared one of my doodles in a while, and this rushed season seemed like the perfect time to post this one.

Whether it’s a fifteen-minute tea or coffee break; an hour with a book; a week off from work; or an afternoon of baking, or streaming movies, or catching a nap, or writing, I hope you also put a thing (or ten) on pause to savor a little break. You deserve it!

Here’s my initial doodle (using pencil and fine-line black pen) from my sketch pad. Yep, I also used crayons on this one. You’ll notice some pencil marks here and there that I didn’t erase well enough (oopsy!) and that the curve of my T and my second line’s k got some extra ink that was inadvertent. Handmade things are perfectly imperfect this way. 😁

Then, I scanned the initial doodle, cropped it, and experimented with adding filters for the background and the doodle itself.

Blog Tour: Review at The Faerie Review 🧚‍♀️

Excited to have a review of my book, From Promising to Published, today at my next book-blog tour stop, The Faerie Review.

An excerpt of the 5-star review: “If you want a guide that’s easy to read, with anecdotes from the author, and exercises sprinkled throughout, then this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Faith walks the line between too broad and too specific in this guide, and does a great job of making everything relatable.”

Many thanks to The Faerie Review! Read the rest of the review at: clickety-click.

Also check out more of their insightful reviews. Are you an author interested in connecting with The Faerie Review for a possible book review or interview? Check out their FAQ page here.

Art & Interview in Bait/Switch 🥳

A true delight to get to participate in Bait/Switch, an innovative, inspiring “call and response art publication” where creatives are given a piece of art as a prompt to then create a new piece of art.

I had the best time creating my cyanotype, “On the Move,” and had a blast talking art, letter-writing, and more with multitalented editor and executive director Lu Valena. Check out the latest/fall 2022 issue for the work of wonderful creatives here: clickety.

Extra props and a very special shout-out to powerhouse of art and dear friend Christine Tierney. Many thanks for your encouragement to submit to Bait/Switch and for the marvelous poetry and life conversations. Such a joy to be publication twins with you, and kudos on your group show! 🥳Check out Christine’s gorgeous collage art and interview in the issue as well as her fabulous poetry book, chicken+lowercase=fleur .

To continued artistic inspiration!

"Pocketed: Adventures with 110 Film and a 1980s Pocket Camera" Published 📸

Splendid news: I’m honored to be published today in Film Shooters Collective, a very inspiring resource and encouragement for photographers who practice the art of film photography.

I had the pleasure to take a pocket camera (sometimes called a “spy camera”) for a whirl recently, and after shooting two rolls of 110 film, I wrote about it. 🥳Curious? Remember these unobtrusive dynamos? Thinking about taking your own pocket camera for a spin or getting one? Clickety to read and learn more. The article is packed with tons of insights, photo examples, and tips to get you started.

Many thanks to the super talented Amy Jasek for her interest in my 110 camera shoot and her enthusiastic camera and cyanotype camaraderie. Please check out Amy’s amazing photography and wonderful cyanotypes.

To the marvels of film photography!

The 50-Word Stories of 2022 Anthology! 📚

Super amped to have work in the The 50-Word Stories of 2022: : Microfiction for Lovers of Quick Reads alongside talented, innovative writers from across the world. Many thanks to Jessica Bell and Elaina Battista-Parsons for compiling such a marvelous collection of stories!

Perfect inspiration for writers, readers, and teachers alike!

Preorder now at Amazon. Clicky!

My Craft Article Published Today 🎉

Super excited that my article, “Hop on Your Horse and Gallop Back in Time: 4 Strengths of Historical and Time-Travel Stories,” was published today at Women on Writing.

Image courtesy of unsplash.com and Kayla Koss

Care to learn more and explore this fun subject as you create your own stories? Ta-da! My latest online class, Leaping Worlds, begins on Friday, September 30th and is is open for sign-ups now.

Read on for my article:
”Hop on Your Horse and Gallop Back In Time: 4 Strengths of Historical and Time-Travel Stories”

By: Melanie Faith

Creating characters whose lives take place in another time can be one of the most enlivening and meaningful writing experiences an author can have. Let’s take a look at four assets writing these stories can bring into the lives of writers and readers alike.

Historical fiction offers maximum flexibility in developing the protagonist. There is no one cookie-cutter image for who the protagonist of your story might be. There are historical fiction main characters of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities. Protagonists can live in literally any place and time (or multiple places and times, should you choose a time-travel tale) that you can imagine and recreate. You even have the flexibility to braid the stories of multiple protagonists within this genre.

Historical fiction protagonists in all types of narratives must have a purpose for being in the story, and that purpose is to inspire change through their actions; to be changed by events, people, or the place(s) where they live; or (ideally) both. All you need to get started is a setting, a time, and a protagonist with a big obstacle to push up against that’ll impact them and the wider world for days, years, or perhaps even decades to come! 

This genre also offers great flexibility of era. Have you always had a passion for the Roaring ‘20s or an interest in ancient Rome? What about a predilection for the early days of TV? Or even (gulp!) the early days of the internet? All include history well worth exploring. Whether a story is set two thousand years ago or twenty-five years ago, the past is at the core and the story is literally limited only by any era or eras that suit your fancy. A great deal of the fun in preparing to write, drafting, and editing within this genre is researching music, clothes, expressions and idioms, and more from the epoch you’ve chosen.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay at Pexels.com

Historical fiction is not a one-trick pony when it comes to styles and formats. Variety, thy name is this genre! Whether you want to pen a magnum opus novel or a flash fiction of a mere 45 words, there’s a style and a format to fit every writer and every project. Great historical fiction time-travel stories, for instance, can be told within a chapbook of stories connected by character or by place or by era, in a novella of a few thousand words (I had a fun time a few years ago writing a Regency novella, Her Humble Admirer, which in the tradition of many historical romance writers, I pen named), or equally well in linked historical-fiction poems (I wrote a collection of thematic poems set in 1918 a few years ago called This Passing Fever ). Historical fiction and time-travel stories also lend themselves well to creating a series. Want to write books about three cousins during the American Revolutionary War: one a Loyalist, one a Patriot, and one a pacifist? A series is born; go for it. Historical fiction allows for great versatility in how stories can be connected, divided, and crafted for maximum reader (and writer) interest.  

At its best, historical fiction sheds a light not only on another time but also on our modern lives. These stories can make us reflect on how far our lives have come and on how far we might go. They can remind us of our own struggles and hopes and setbacks, and they have the power to entertain us as well. That’s a lot of reading happiness in one literary package!  

Try this prompt: Pick a place, a time, and a protagonist. Your protagonist can be a real historical person or a completely fictional person. You don’t need to know everything—or even a lot—about your main character at this point: a name and an initial detail or two will do, even if you end up changing these details later. What does the protagonist, place, or era need the most that it doesn’t have yet? Who or what is blocking positive change? What most excites you to write about this era? Write for twenty minutes. Go!

New Month, New Projects Popping ⏲️

Hello, September!

I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately: how we organize it, how we anticipate or dread it, how we save it through the things we make and the things we share, how it is ever-malleable—both jet-speed propulsion and gelatin slow and everything in-between.

So, I made this thematic pen-and-ink drawing. Writing the interconnected and interrupted “ticks” was relaxing. There’s something very meditative about making something by hand, even something imperfect, as this doodle most certainly is. 😁

Also, my new class about writing historical fiction and time-travel stories, Leaping Worlds, is accepting registrations and will start Friday, September 30th. Can’t wait! Clicky above for more deets. I’d love to work with you and a friend. 📝

Announcing: Leaping Worlds! A New Writing Class

For a long time, I’ve wanted to teach a class about writing historical fiction as well as stories with time-travel elements. Le voila! Wish granted. In this new class through Women on Writing, I get to explore both topics with writers interested in either or both types of fiction. It’s going to be a blast.🚀 Break out your keyboards and your time machines!

Starts September 30th online; sign up today to reserve your spot.

More details at: Leaping Worlds—Writing Historical Fiction and Time-Travel Stories

Photo by sebastiaan stam on Unsplash

My Food-Themed Microfiction, "Sunday Dinner," Published Today! 🍋

Super excited that my flash story, “Sunday Dinner,” was featured today at 50 Give or Take. Story No. 582! Woot! Subscribe (it’s free and fun) to give it a read and to get wonderful microfiction delivered to your inbox each day for reading and writing inspiration.

I also enjoyed writing a new one-sentence bio to keep it fresh and accompany my story: “Melanie Faith is a night-owl writer and editor who often moves through the daytime world with her camera and heart-shaped, leopard-print sunglasses.” 😎

Have some 50-word stories or wanna write one? Submissions currently open (details below):

Fifty Give or Take

To microfiction in its storytelling power! #smallbutmighty

Photo courtesy of Marina Grynykha on Unsplash.

It's Book Birthday Time! 🤩

Welcome to the world, From Promising to Published! Super excited for this book birthday, so I’m burning the midnight oil to ring in publication day. 🎇📔

Get your copy at Vine Leaves Press, Amazon, or my Etsy shop for signed copies.

Fabulous cover by Jessica Bell at Jessica Bell Design.