Melissa Charles author

  • Welcome to the New Me?

    A brief introduction to the site

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  • Goodbye, Dolly

    Her family announced that Ms. Parton passed away today, at the age of 80. There are so many reasons to have had admired her, and I’m not going to list them all here. If you know, you know, and if you don’t, please do some research. She was a woman of integrity, respect, and generosity.…

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  • How To Write A Novel – Inspiration

    So, back in this post, I said I’d boiled down my writing process into three points when drafting a new novel: inspiration, outline, and characters. For me, everything starts with an idea. This can be something from a headline, a day dream, a bit of conversation overheard while waiting in line at the grocery store.…

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  • How To Write A Novel

    Being an author can be an awkward life. There’s so much work that happens long before you can point to an actual book for sale that I’ve considered claiming a career in something more straightforward, like being an international spy or llama psychologist. How do you explain the journey of writing a novel? “Well, I…

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  • Revisions, Plotting, and Tickets

    The progress on the current novel or WIP (Work In Progress) aka ms (short for manuscript) continues. Sort of. I’ve handed in the most recent round of revisions, and now will find something else to do until I hear back from my agent. For me, I’m gonna hang out with the Minions, probably watch a…

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  • Scaring A Normie

    I often describe our family as the not-wealthy, Canadian version of the Addams family. It’s a short form that most folks instantly understand, and is more accurate than anything else I’ve been able to come up with. I genuinely wish we had the house, to be honest. There’s something about the Victorian style houses that…

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  • Bye Bye Bessie & Other Chaos Pt 2

    If you haven’t read part one, you can find it here So. We had a new vehicle, finally, and were on our way to purchase a new washer and dryer at a local store. I’d reviewed everything online, knew what set we wanted, and we strode in, ready to drop a chunk o’change on a…

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  • Bye Bye, Bessie & Other Chaos

    To be honest, the entire month of July had me wanting to pull a blanket up over my head and hide under my desk for days at a time. The first issue is our Bessie. Allow me to reassure folks that Bessie is not a person or pet. Bessie is our well loved van. I…

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  • Happy Birthday To Me!

    That’s probably the big news, having a birthday. Wheee! Many thanks to my family, for making it a memorable day. Lovely gifts, and plans to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower one evening this week. In celebration (or acknowledgement) of the occasion, I’m setting some goals for the next year. Goals Before my next birthday, I…

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  • From Pantser to Plotter Update!

    This is a follow-up to a previous post, found here As I mentioned before, I’m normally a ‘pantser.’ Someone who has a vague, hazy idea of how the book might go, and discovers the whole of it during the writing. A process I love, by the way. No shade on pantsers. I just had this…

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  • Author Challenge: How To Research Crimes Without Getting Arrested

    Maybe it’s my anxiety squirrels having a moment, but is there a good way to call up, say, the local police or fire department to ask questions about how to plot a crime? It can be really hard to find accurate information sometimes without sending up some concerning flags. Telling them, “I swear, I’m an…

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