Melanie Bell

Tag: affiliate links

  • Excerpt from my Forthcoming Novelette “The Cliffman”

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    I’m delighted to announce the publication of my novelette “The Cliffman” in Hard for Hope to Flourish, a Midnight Bites collection of three chilling novellas from Crone Girls Press. The e-book comes out on March 11 and you can pre-order it now. If you like dark fairy tales, supernatural beings, and complicated sibling relationships, “The…

  • So You Want to Write in Lockdown?

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    How are you all doing? Here in London, we’re well into lockdown #3. Remember lockdown hobbies, and the optimism with which some people took up making homemade sourdough bread and learning new languages? If you’re like me, enthusiasm for indoor activities has waned a bit by now.    Writing is one of the things keeping me…

  • Book Review: The Four Tendencies

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    My January blog posts attest to my fascination with New Year’s resolutions, the goals and intentions that some of us set each year in the hope of making the coming year (or ourselves) better. After the coronavirus pandemic dashed many of our plans for 2020, I wonder how many of us will make resolutions this…

  • Books I Read During 2020 That I Wouldn’t Have Otherwise

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    In 2019, I read a lot, partly thanks to gift cards that let me buy harder-to-access books I’d been wanting to read for years. I’d thought that in 2020 I’d spend less time reading and more time doing things. Then March happened. The gist of it is, lockdown left me with a lot of reading…

  • The Joy of Playing with Tropes

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in ,

    This month, I had a very short dragon story published in Contrary, one of my biggest literary bylines. I love dragon stories. I used to think they weren’t “serious literature,” and when I submitted for awards, I’d send pieces about death set in the “real world.” Meanwhile, I’d write secret stories about magical creatures and…

  • A Little Thing That Went Big

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    Last month, I had a personal essay published on Huffington Post. I wrote about the challenges of being petite and mistaken for someone much younger on a regular basis. It was a small essay, about being small. I never expected it to go so big.  As a mostly literary writer, I had a decent track…

  • Some Recent Fantastic Reads by Black Authors

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    Black lives matter. This should be something obvious, not something that needs to be said. But recent news shows just how deeply racial tensions run, how embedded they are in our institutions, and how much harm they cause. In the interest of supporting Black creators, I’ve put together a list of books by Black authors…

  • The Bestseller Experiment: Can You Write a Bestselling Book in a Year?

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    For two years, I’ve wanted to go to London Book Fair. This year I was finally going to get there, accompanying colleagues to look after ICE Publishing’s stand, network, and learn. Then, as you can probably guess, the fair was cancelled due to the coronavirus. The sound reason did not dim my disappointment. Despite the cancellation, though, I got one good thing out…

  • Following The Artist’s Way Again, Over 10 Years Later

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in ,

    During the first year of my undergraduate studies, I encountered a book called The Artist’s Way. A classmate who’d completed a visual arts program told me about the volume and how his class had used it at art school. Julia Cameron’s book has sold over 3 million copies and inspired countless artists, but this was…

  • 5 Reasons to Go to a Writers’ Conference

    —

    by

    Inspire Envisioning
    in

    Last month I attended Gollanczfest 2019, a one-day celebration of science fiction, fantasy and horror writing and publishing, hosted by leading UK SFF publisher Gollancz. The conference had two separate strands. A reader’s ticket gave access to author panels and signings, while a writer’s ticket granted entry to the smaller venue across the street, where,…