Melanie Surani's Blog, page 44

Greetings from Memphis.I’m not really in Memphis, and...

Greetings from Memphis

.

I’m not really in Memphis, and honestly there aren’t many reasons I’d go back there (of course to see @caterpillaronamushroom, but not much else). My hometown was a cool place to grow up, although I wouldn’t know what to compare it to. But like most places, after 20-odd years it turns into something else until now it’s almost unrecognisable. I don’t remember a lot of the street names or where things were located, and I knew that place back and forth. I guess all that memory has been replaced with names of people I don’t work with anymore.

.

Sometimes I think about things I used to have with a heap of sadness. Like why don’t I have it anymore? But at the same time, I can’t progress by having things stay the way they are. I’ve moved physically throughout the world, I’ve made friends and fallen away from people. Some beliefs and alliances have shifted. But that’s all part of it.

.

What’s something you miss?

.

#Memphis #postcards #miniature #agdollhouse #dollaccessories #minipostcards #antiquepostcards #memphistn #growingup #changes #3rdscale #thirdscale #agig

28. What’s next.This one’s taking a while...

28. What’s next

.

This one’s taking a while (although compared to the nearly 15 years it’s taking me to finish Lost in the Museum, it’s going just fine) because I’m including a new medium. Nowhere/Anywhere will be a hybrid novel/graphic novel about a woman who travels back to the 80s via reading a book. And falls in love!

.

I can’t believe I finished the whole #authorlifemonth relatively on schedule. I hope you’ve all had a good time learning about this aspect of my life. It’s been helpful for me to have a little structure to my posts.

.

#amwriting #writersofinstagram #authorlife #author #graphicnovel #comingsoon #comicbookart #comicbooks #drawing #sketch #amdrawing #timetravel #wip #80s #books

26. Character inspiration.Granted, this can come from a...

26. Character inspiration

.

Granted, this can come from a multitude of places, but my characters initially look like singers – you know, before I really get to know them and they morph (so good luck identifying the source material in the final product).

.

Music was my first love, and I had that dream beaten out of me early on. Maybe I really wasn’t good at writing and performing, but we’ll never know. Consequently, my music collection over the last *mumble* years has grown to about 10,000 songs, so their voices and faces get in my head and they’re the most likely to become a character spark. Of course, I fill them in with pieces of the weirdos I know in person.

.

#authorlifemonth #character #characterdesign #characterinspiration #writersofinstagram #writing #drawings #drawingoftheday #steveperry #journey #wip #authorlife #author #books #reading #bookstagram #writer #amwriting #amdrawing #sketch #pencil

yeahwrite:therarestunderrated:s-n-arly:greater-than-the-sword:Underlined PSAFigment, the...

yeahwrite:

therarestunderrated:

s-n-arly:

greater-than-the-sword:

Underlined PSA

Figment, the recently closed writing website, has just launched (after a long delay) their long-awaited successor to figment known as Underlined, where users can post their work and receive feedback, supposedly.

DO NOT USE UNDERLINED. DO NOT POST YOUR WORK ON UNDERLINED.

Underlined’s terms and conditions contains a clause stating that the rights to all your work that you post on their website belongs to them!!!!

Underlined belongs to Penguin Random House. This is an extremely dirty trick for them to play on writers, especially young writers and children, who come to the internet to get feedback and will lose the rights to their work. Please boost!!!

For my writing friends looking for an online writing community, DO NOT USE Underlined. 

I went to confirm @greater-than-the-sword‘s post, because seriously publishers are still pulling this garbage?  And yes, they are.  If you want to check out the full terms and conditions, have at it.  They are full of writers’ nightmares, a few of which I’ll highlight under the cut.

Keep reading

Be aware guys

just a head’s up, y'all!

25. Research.While writing Lost in the Museum, I needed...

25. Research

.

While writing Lost in the Museum, I needed inspiration about hey! abandoned museums. Not too much info online about them because it doesn’t happen a lot. But I did come across a full Google Street View of Kesennuma Shark Museum after the tsunami in Japan. The exhibits were largely left intact, but it’s clear nobodys coming back. I recommend you Google it and take a tour.

.

The last slide is from when the museum reopened, and I’ve gotta say it’s list some of its charm. Unless you like sharks, that is. http://www.uminoichi.com/museum/index.html is their official website, with lots more photos.

.

#authorlifemonth #writersofinstagram #research #googlestreetview #abandonedplaces #abandonedsharkmuseum #sharkmuseum #kesennuma #riassharkmuseum #museum #abandoned #novelresearch #amwriting

23. Cover love.Featuring @ashleyrugg @cardboardmonet .Ashley...

23. Cover love

.

Featuring @ashleyrugg @cardboardmonet

.

Ashley designed my cover for Awake at Booktrope, and she was longsuffering. The first two designs I loved so much, but because of readability and ~legal~ issues, they couldn’t be used. Finally settled on the third and final design, which was totally different in approach, but equally lovely.

.

Book covers are so important to me. Yeah, you’re not supposed to judge from them, but how can you not? They’re like little art representations of the whole story. They let you know in a glance if that book is worth your time.

.

#authorlifemonth #booktropesurvivor #writersofinstagram #publishingpros #support #bookcover #coverreveal #mysterynovel #thirdtimesthecharm #art #digitalart #coverartist

22. Publishing pros.My biggest professional stint with...

22. Publishing pros

.

My biggest professional stint with publishing was through @booktrope. They might not be around anymore, but I learned a lot by being part of the team, and I met some amazing people.

.

While I wanted to buy copies of all my new friends’ books, I couldn’t afford that. So I did the next best thing: requested my local library in Queens to buy them. If you’re ever at the Rego Park branch, they should all still be there.

.

Shoutout to @juliaparktracey @danecobain @hilary_grossman Alex Kimmel

.

#authorlifemonth #amwriting #stillworking #slowgoing #books #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #librarybooks #booktrope #booktropesurvivor #reading #support #publishingpros #writersofinstagram

20. Greatest strength.This is always my least favourite...

20. Greatest strength

.

This is always my least favourite portion of the job interview: greatest strength/weakness. It’s hard to give a strength without sounding like a conceited so-and-so, and hard to give a weakness and still get the job. But maybe I can be honest here.

.

My greatest strength is probably stubbornness. Sounds bad, but when I have a dream, I stick to it and don’t give up unless it’s actually unfeasible. This is what pushes me to travel, how I got my first book contact, and how I managed to move overseas without a college degree (harder than you think).

.

My next dreams include living with cheetahs, more book contacts, and retiring before I’m 50.

.

#authorlifemonth #authorlife #author #amwriting #greateststrength #jobinterview #deanvillage (at Dean Village)

19. Non-bookish hobby.As the majority of you know, I’m a...

19. Non-bookish hobby

.

As the majority of you know, I’m a doll collector. It’s a lot of fun and both helps me wind down after a long boring/stressful day, and reminds me not to take everything so seriously. As a creative person (writing novels, right?) It’s nice to use my imagination in an innocent way. I create costumes for the dolls, research for historic accuracy, and most of all, I brush the pretty, shiny hair.

.

I love talking myself to the toy store, where I’m both the kid saying “I know I can’t buy anything” and the adult saying “but maybe you can”. And then I have to remind myself to not display my excitement as I walk through the door (because there’s no kid with me).

.

But anyway. I love the detail involved in the accessories, as pictured here. The 80s, the 2010s, and the 1770s. Each era is so different, yet we still use many of the same things. Books, writing implements, musical instruments, toys, food. If you look for the similarities, you’ll find them.

.

#authorlifemonth #authorlife #agig #americangirlbrand #dollcollector #adultdollcollector #nonbookishhobby #hobby #hobbyist #miniatures #dollaccesories #pleasantcompany #agdolls #joy2everygirl #dollstagram #dolls #accessories #80s #sprite #hellokitty #thebeatles #agjulie #juliealbright #felicitymerriman #tokidoki

#mask #museum #lostinthemuseum #face #music #sheetmusic...

#mask #museum #lostinthemuseum #face #music #sheetmusic #musicmask #creepy #nationalmuseumofscotland #edinburgh #scotland