Artsy Writing

(Visual) Art and writing are interconnected, I think. 

Sometimes I try to sketch my characters. Sometimes I draw maps of the world. I almost always make Pinspiration boards on Pinterest. But I've never made an actual inspiration/positivity/vision board before. 

After talking with my CPs about staying positive through the ups and downs of writing and where they find inspiration, I thought it would be fun to make an inspirational collage/vision board for my current manuscript and writing as a way to stay positive. 

Here is the (almost) final product:

I clipped pictures and phrases out of magazines, printed out quotes I found online, and even sketched/wrote things myself. 

Here are some close ups and explanations:

"Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure."

I think that's the perfect quote for writing and querying. It's so hard to stay positive all the time, but a good attitude can make all the difference.

"Hope, but never expect. Look forward, but never wait."

This quote reminds me of something my friend once told me, "Go into something with positive intention, not expectation." Intention and expectation sound similar, but I think with intention you're putting your positivity out into the universe, not expecting something in return. 

"Make it simple, but significant." 

This reminds me of my awesome Pitch Wars mentor Jessie Devine. I was trying too hard with my prose, attempting to make it "fancier" than it needed to be. He taught me how to simplify it. I ended up cutting over 5k of filler from THE TREASURE HUNT with his help.

I found this four-leaf clover in my yard. Obviously, I thought a little good luck wouldn't hurt! :)
(And that picture of Dylan O'Brien is how I imagine my MC's personality—well, more like his character's personality on Teen Wolf!)

This musical-looking sketch represents my first Pitch Wars team: Team PPU. When the lovely Stephanie Garber picked me as her second alternate in 2013, it was my first writing-related ego boost. It was huge for me. (Thanks, Stephanie! <3) 

My teammates, Julie Dao and Katie Bucklein, are two of my closest writer friends. We've been through so much together, so I wanted to give Team PPU, as a whole, positive vibes! The anchor represents Katie's PW book, the music represents Julie's, and the stars represent mine. 

What do you do when you're brainstorming/writing/editing a manuscript? Do you sketch your characters? Make collages? Draw maps? Make vision boards?

If you'd like to be tagged in an Artsy Writing blog tour, let me know in the comments!

Meet My Character!

I've been tagged by the lovely Emily Kate Muyskens to participate in the Writerly Meme (Meet My Character) blog tour. I think you're supposed to use meme(s) to describe/show your character and answer several questions about your character. (I hope I'm doing this right!)

Instead of introducing Ben, my protagonist, I thought it'd be fun to introduce a character he befriends. She's important behind the scenes and was really fun to write.

Jennifer loves long-haired guys

1. What is the name of your character? Is she a fictional person or a historic person?

Jennifer is fictional, but she could totally be real.

2. When and where is the story set?

The story takes place during the summer of 1992 in Bay Haven, Maine. (A fictional tourist town on Maine's coast.)

Mr. Mittens?

3. What should we know about your character?

She's eighteen, a chain-smoker, a metal head (glam metal is her fave sub-genre), blonde, tattooed, and obsessed with Bret Michaels. Her best friend is Mitch. She's not afraid to sing at the top of her lungs in a car full of people.

4. What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?

Her main conflict (not the conflict of the story) is probably that she's stuck in Maine and has no way of following Poison across the country on tour. Plus, Bret Michaels has no idea she exists.

5. What is the personal goal of the character?

Besides meeting Bret and getting him to fall in love with her, Jennifer's main goal is to live life to its fullest. She's not afraid to take chances.

6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

Yes. It's called THE TREASURE HUNT.

7. When can we expect the book to be published?

Someday, hopefully!

I tag my awesome CP and friend Katie Bucklein. She writes epic fantasy about pirates and sea monsters! If you'd also like to be tagged, let me know in the comments!

Pitch Wars Bio

Hello!

I'm Melody Marshall, and I'm entering THE TREASURE HUNT, a YA contemporary, into Pitch Wars 2014.

London in April 2010

A little about me:

I live in New Hampshire with my husband, two pit bulls, and cat. I have a BA in Communication Arts, and I also have an MEd in Secondary Education with art certification. I've worked in daycare/education since I was in high school. All my hobbies are related to creativity: drawing, painting, photography, and writing.

For a while, I considered myself to be a YA sci-fi/fantasy writer… until I had the idea for THE TREASURE HUNT. It took a while to wrap my head around writing something without magic or sci-fi elements (or how it'd fit in with my other mss), but I eventually realized THE TREASURE HUNT is closer to my heart than anything else I've written.

Okay, I feel awkward talking about myself, so I'll just list some random things about me:

• I dip potato chips in yellow mustard.
• Spaceballs was my favorite movie growing up. My brother and I could recite the entire thing. (He was always Lone Starr and I was always Barf.) I asked my brother to get a Spaceballs tattoo with me, but I haven't been able to convince him…yet.
• In middle school, I only read adult sci-fi. (Mostly Michael Crichton.) JURASSIC PARK is still one of my favorite books/movies.
• I love the Real Housewives on Bravo. I don't even care. (If you're curious, Orange County and Atlanta are my favorite cities.)
• I'm obsessed with A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE by George R. R. Martin. So far, A STORM OF SWORDS is my favorite in the series. I love Tyrion and Arya. 
• Even though spring and fall are my favorite seasons, I LOVE snow days.
• I always have lip gloss with me.
• I like a range of music from One Direction to Metallica to Ellie Goulding. My favorite band/singer to listen to is always changing, but Pink Floyd is my absolute favorite band, ever.
• I try to eat vegetarian most of the time.
• I prefer to write in the morning.
• I really like Teen Wolf, but I can't convince any of my friends to watch with me. This makes me super sad. 
• Believe it or not, Doctor Who (River Song in particular) inspired me to write THE TREASURE HUNT.
• I collect foreign editions of HARRY POTTER.
• I really like Star Wars, but I'd totally fail a trivia contest! For some reason, I can't keep names and places straight in that universe. 

 Las Vegas in 2012

Some of my favorite books/series: HARRY POTTER (The Half-Blood Prince if I had to pick a favorite), A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE by George R.R. Martin (ASOS!), VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead, UNWIND by Neal Shusterman, THE UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld, SLOPPY FIRSTS by Megan McCafferty, FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell, JURASSIC PARK by Michael Crichton, PERCY JACKSON by Rick Riordan, DARK PLACES by Gillian Flynn, THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES by Anne Rice, and NIGHT by Elie Wiesel. I could list a ton more, but those are just some off the top of my head.

Selfie with my puppy

Some of my favorite movies: Jurassic Park, Beetlejuice, Pitch Perfect, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lion King, Back to the Future 1&2, The Wedding Singer, Hot Tub Time Machine, Spaceballs, A League of Their Own, and Terminator 2.

Jackson is never amused

Some of my favorite TV shows: The Walking Dead, The Real Housewives, Teen Wolf, The Originals, Supernatural, Modern Family, Mad Men, season 1 of Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Orange is the New Black, BBC Sherlock, Project Runway, and Doctor Who.

They think you should pick me for Pitch Wars!

Many thanks to Brenda Drake and all the mentors involved in Pitch Wars! Good luck to all the contestants! <3