E. Mellyberry's Blog: the mellyberry, page 3

Don't Quit Yet

Alright.
I'm blogging about praises I've received for MY LEA. Yup, you're right, this is me showing off, not gonna deny it.

I have every right to, I guess. Who wouldn't be proud of their own children, right? Our creation is our kid.



My Lea is special to me because of many things :

- it was my debut novel.
- it was written in English, and English is not my first language.
-  I've 

Raising Teens

Raising teens is HARD HARD HARD. Don't look at me. I'm not here to give you answers. I don't know how to do it either because, hey, I'm here for the first time too and I'm still learning. Surprisingly, or not, the only thing I've learned so far is that these teens could surprise me, humble me even, if only I ... listen.
Seriously. It’s that simple.
If they feel comfortable confiding in you,

Kartini Day

Being a Kartini means I can be myself. I can be a girl and a lot more. 
I'm good at what I do, and I do what I love. Skirts and kebaya are not there to confine me, they're a part of who I am. I respect everyone, but most of all, I respect myself.This is me and I love every moment of it.
Selamat hari Kartini, sisters.
*Kartini was an Indonesian heroine. She was a pioneer in the area of women's

Reading Control

First, lemme share with you what I know so far.

I know parents who let their fourteen-year-old daughter read
FSOG.



I know parents who let their young kids read violent manga because they think manga equals comic and that all picture books and comics are
harmless.



I know parents who ban YA books that have pre-marital sex scene in
it. They also black-list the authors who write those scenes

Do Fun Like A Boss

My seven-year-old daughter just finished making a full diorama based on a short story she previously wrote and read on YouTube called "Sweaty Yeti". 

http://youtu.be/6wGUzeU2XZ0

http://youtu.be/eWm4rQSAB2I 



My daughter has been 'famous' for her love for creating knick-knacks from junks. Anything she can get her hands on, she would turn them into some craft.



Some of my friends asked

Ten YA Books that Could Use an Extended Ending

Have you ever read a book, loved it with your heart and
soul, then left dumbfounded when you’ve reached the end? It’s like, did something happen during my downloading, or
did Amazon send me the broken copy
because there’s no way the story ends here. 

There should be
something more, one more paragraph maybe, one more chapter, heck, one more book
even.



Sound familiar? Been there before?

#amwriting

Just the other day, I’ve overwhelmed myself
with the stress of having launched a book.




What kind of promotion I should do next,
how to maximize sales, what to do with negative reviews, why my brain seems to
stop functioning when it comes to writing, where the hell is my royalty payment, what to do with my backlog
titles, whether or not I should keep writing children’s books or branch out to

What I think of Clean Reader App

I first learned about Clean Reader App when I read Chuck
Wendig’s blogpost last night. The next thing I did was to check the app
myself.



It’s true! It’s really there, this Clean Reader App with its
tag “Read books, not profanity”.



I didn’t download it though. I tell you why. I separate my
explanation into three parts: from an author’s point of view, from a reader’s,
and from a mother’s.

Goodreads Giveaway

Hey you, guys.

So excited to tell you that I'm having an International Goodreads Giveaway from now until April 24, 2015.

click here to enter!

Cinderella

I took my family to watch Cinderella movie last night. I left the theater with more than just a big smile on my face and warmth in my heart.
Cinderella is the first fairy tale I've come to know growing up. For years to come, it stayed at the top of the list as the best Disney Princess story for me (Sorry, Frozen). Until Beauty and The Beast animated movie with its iconic song came along. Then, I