Melanie Stanford

Author's posts

12 Days of Christmas, Day 5

…5 WORD SEARCH PUZZLES! I’ve been pretty quiet around here this past year. More than a year ago, I started working at a bookstore, which I love, but there’s a long commute, which I hate. So basically an 8-hour work day becomes an 11-hour workday. Yikes. My reading has slowed, my writing has slowed, time …

Continue reading

Jane in January: Finding Inspiration in Random Places

Like most authors, inspiration comes to me anywhere, anytime, and from anything. Sometimes I’ll randomly think of a line and quickly jot it down, with the plans on using it someday. Sometimes a What If? kind of scenario enters my mind and the beginnings of what could be a book are formed. With my retellings, …

Continue reading

Jar of Hearts: A Mystery for your Halloween Reading

My writing journey has been a roller coaster thus far. I know it’s a cliche to say but it’s absolutely true. One of my manuscripts which has gone through a ride of its own is a YA Mystery I wrote a few years ago. I landed an agent with this manuscript only to have that …

Continue reading

My Happy Place

I can’t imagine a life without books. When people tell me they don’t read, I try reallllly hard to keep any kind of expression off my face, while inwardly thinking, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU??? Books are my happy place. Reading them, writing them, hugging them… whatever it is they make me smile. So recently, a big …

Continue reading

Would You Rather: Austen Edition

My kids love to play the game Would You Rather. The questions range from, Would You Rather have Wi-Fi that’s always slow, or have a phone that’s always about to die? To questions like, Would You Rather burp every time you speak, or fart every time you kiss someone? A lot of the questions are …

Continue reading

In Which I’m Cheered Up By JJ Feild

Do you have a go-to movie that you watch when you’re feeling blue and need a little pick-me-up? I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of you said Pride & Prejudice. I mean, the famous quotes, the music, the pond scene… 😉 Pride & Prejudice actually isn’t my go-to. Nope, when I’m feeling down in …

Continue reading

Elation and an Excerpt!

Hey there, people! I’m feeling pretty great today. It’s a gorgeous day here in Canada (we had snow last week, ick), I’m seeing the new Avengers this weekend (!!!), and best of all… I’ll finally be finished my work-in-progress TODAY!   So last time I posted was in February and I was right in the …

Continue reading

A WIP Excerpt, Despite Misplacing My Brain

Oh hey, it’s already Friday afternoon, and I was scheduled to post today! What happened to my brain, you ask? That’s a very good question and I’ll let you know when I find it.   Anyway, I’ve been working on a certain WIP for over a year now. Other projects, like the publication of Clash, …

Continue reading

Jane in January and You: Let’s Talk Heroes

Jane Austen’s heroes are some of the most varied, most intriguing, and definitely the swooniest out of all classical literature. Even people who haven’t read Pride & Prejudice know who Mr. Darcy is (at least, I’m assuming they do otherwise what kind of world do we live in?). If Helen was the face that launched …

Continue reading

Jane Austen’s Advent – Day 13: Mansfield Park Meets Holiday Inn, plus a Giveaway!

My first ever published work was a short story found in the Austenesque anthology Then Comes Winter. My story, Becoming Fanny, is about a girl performing in a musical production of Holiday Inn over Christmas. Aside from performing, Blair likes to do quizzes. The story opens with her taking a quiz entitled: “Which Jane Austen …

Continue reading

Load more