Melanie Bell

Tag: affiliate links

  • How to Write What You Don’t Know

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    “Write what you know.” It’s one of the oldest truisms of creative writing. Life experience offers a wealth of material and ideas. Once you’ve experienced an aspect of life for yourself, it’s easier to depict it accurately, because you know what you’re talking about. However, there are heaps of books out there about aliens and…

  • 5 Ways to Use Travel as a Springboard for Writing

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    If you love to write and have the privilege of being able to travel, you might dream of doing both things in tandem. Maybe you’ve heard stories of digital nomads who hop from country to country and make a living from their laptops, or writers who travel in their camper vans. If that’s not a…

  • SFF Book Recommendations and Aristotle’s Building Blocks of Writing

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    Writing is a holistic activity, but when it comes to honing our craft, it’s useful to break it down into parts. The June 30 episode of Writing Excuses, a podcast about the craft of writing that focuses primarily on fantasy and science fiction (SFF), introduced Aristotle’s elements of tragedy. These six aspects of writing apply…

  • Book Review: Romancing the Page

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    I just finished a novella collection that combines keen publishing industry insights with charming f/f romance. Presenting Romancing the Page! Written by fantasy author Laura Lam (Pantomime, False Hearts) writing and self-publishing under the open pen name Laura Ambrose, the three novellas in this series spin love stories between writers and publishing employees in the…

  • Lessons on Writing Relationships… from Romance Novels

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    Feedback on the first draft of a fiction manuscript I’ve been working on for a while, while positive in other aspects, suggested that the characters’ relationships lacked a certain spark. So, while working on the second draft, I turned to a genre that models relationship writing: romance. Romance writing is a realm where constraint fuels…

  • Literary Adventures at Sea

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    Fellow book lovers, have you ever daydreamed about going on a literary cruise? I’ve thought they sounded like fun ever since I learned they existed. Despite getting sick on the last cruise I went on, after receiving a deal offer from Olivia Travel on a lesbian cruise featuring a full slate of author events, I…

  • Celebrating My Wins of 2018

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    It’s hard to believe that 2018 is almost over. Hopefully the year has had bright spots for you as it has for me. Following the publication of The Modern Enneagram in 2017, this has been a fruitful year of career building in writing and editing. I’m celebrating these wins as we honor the year that’s…

  • Five Enneagram Audio and Video Resources We Love

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    Co-written with Kacie Berghoef Last month, we shared some wonderful Enneagram books from the Resources section in The Modern Enneagram. This month, we’d like to spotlight audio and video resources that bring something unique to the Enneagram conversation. Recent forms of online learning have been huge assets for bringing new perspectives on the Enneagram to…

  • Our Favorite Enneagram Resources

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    Co-written with Kacie Berghoef In our years of Enneagram teaching and learning, we’ve had the benefit of many wonderful resources. With the Enneagram growing in popularity, there are books, videos, courses, apps, and a plethora of other options for learning about its many applications. Writing our book The Modern Enneagram gave us an opportunity to…

  • Modernizing the Enneagram

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    Co-written with Kacie Berghoef The Enneagram is a practical tool created from combining ancient wisdom teachings and contemporary psychology. Part of its appeal is the way it has stood the test of time. From its roots in the philosophies of the Desert Fathers and the Kabbalah, as well as its integration of newer psychological insights,…