My News
A Must Event for 2019
Thank you for visiting my website and blog.
I’m starting to book engagements for next year. Please consider joining me at this event: https://floridawriters.net/conferences/multi-genre-book-signing/
If I were to visit your school, what would you like to discuss: poetry, novels in verse, or YA fiction? Do you like it when writers read passages from their books? Do you enjoy learning new forms of poetry and writing and sharing your poems? Have you ever participated in a poetry slam? Would you like to participate in or watch a poetry slam in your school?
Did you read a book you loved in 2018? If so, what was it? My favorite book from this year was Long Way Down by Jason Williams. Have you read it?
As the president of the Florida Writers Foundation (FWF), I would like to sponsor activities to promote literacy in schools across Florida. If you are a teacher or student, how can the FWF meet your literacy needs?
Thank you for responding to my queries. Respond by clicking Contact Melody on my website at www.MelodyDeanDimick.com.
Happy Holidays.
Want to know what the FWF is?
Thank you for visiting my blog. I often mention that I’m the president of the Florida Writers Foundation (FWF). I’m proud to be a member because I believe literacy is important. About thirty-two million adults in our country are illiterate. Ever wondered what your life would be like if you couldn’t read?
The FWF is about writers promoting literacy. We seek to do our part by reaching out to schools. Please follow this link to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlZJByzvIN4&list=UUGxjmG1fl2AAuRDK8VXTZGghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?
Thank you to the St. Petersburg Chapter for contributing a more-than-generous number of baskets to last year’s Silent Auction. Another thank you to the Tampa Writers Group for starting early on next year’s basket quest. Great idea to combine it with a seasonal party.
Thank you for visiting my site. Hope you have a better understanding of the Florida Writers Foundation.
Being Authentic
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting my blog. As I often do, I’m turning to you, my readers, for advice today. I want to be authentic when I write for young adults. Dialogue can be an issue.
As a former teacher of high school English, I know teens use language that some teachers, librarians, parents, and grandparents might find offensive. I also know these adults are the people who frequently purchase the books likely to appear in school libraries and classrooms (the gatekeepers).
BUT I don’t want to turn off my teenage readers with a preachy or corny adult voice. I need your help. How can I use colorful, but clean, language to replace the words and phrases that would offend the gatekeepers who buy books without turning off my young adult readers? What words do you use when you want to swear, but you don’t want to offend your minister, grandmother, the principal, or your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s parents?
Teens, how do you cuss without cussing? What words do you use? I’m sick of saying, “She swore.” Can you help me? If you are willing to give me some ideas, just click Contact Melody on my website at www.MelodyDeanDimick.com or invite me to be your Facebook friend and answer this question. Thank you.
Thank you for following me.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s Words
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting my site on this Small Business Saturday when you could be shopping.
This morning I read a discussion between Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible, and Richard Powers, author of The Overstory. The Poisonwood Bible, one of Oprah’s novels is on my list of favorite books ever. I’m asking for The Overstory for Christmas because according to the article I read, trees are the protagonist of the book told from the points of view of eight intersecting characters. Intriguing? I thought so.
In my pile of rejected books, I have a novel told from multiple viewpoints that critics say doesn’t work. I’m hoping Richard Powers’ book will give me some insight. Could The Overstory give me ideas for making my book work? Hopefully, it will give me perception as I revise.
Back to the discussion. Miss Kingsolver said, “As novelists we’re looking for the universal that makes a reader understand that a human person is a human person regardless of where and when and how.” Wow! She put into words exactly what I was trying to say in Backpack Blues: Inspire the Fire Within. It is my hope that my teenage readers will understand that young people are humans regardless of where and when and how. Wouldn’t it be great if we all understood this universal truth?
Miss Kingsolver goes on to say writers are in the empathy business. “The first challenge is “to get a reader to just forget themselves and be there in another body, another time, another set of worries.”
Do you agree with her? Does a good book give you the ability to understand and share the feelings of another? if my books help you to empathize with others while reading a good story, I will have accomplished my goal.
Give Thanks
Good Morning,
Thank you for taking time from your Thanksgiving festivities to read my blog.
The people in my life are my blessings. I’m grateful for my family and friends. Mother is ninety years old. I’m fortunate she’s well enough to visit me this Christmas. My sister helps Mother. Without her, I wouldn’t be able to live in sunny Florida with my husband and pickleball partner, Barry Dimick.
Barry makes the best coffee in the world. Earlier this week we took a couple of days to vacation on Daytona Beach. We enjoyed peaceful time, but the mornings weren’t the same without his coffee.
What are you thankful for this year? Why not create an acrostic poem about your blessings? I’d love to see your poems. Just click Contact Melody on my website to share your poem. Thank you.
THANKSGIVING
Thankful for you.
Husband, Barry, you are my number one blessing.
And we cherish our son, Barry.
No one knows the joys he gives us.
Krista,
Son’s wife, is the daughter-in-law we adore. We’re
Grateful she sprinkles sparkle into our lives.
I pray for many more Thanksgivings,
Valuing the love we share.
Isn’t our extended family a
November blessing and the best
Gift of all?
Your turn. Write the word Thanksgiving down the left side of a page one letter at a time. Fill in the poem with words that fit what you are thankful for this year.
Weezies
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting my page. I’m doing research. I’d love to hear from high school students and those of you who have high school students in your home.
The characters in my books love Converse sneakers. This morning James Corden referred to the cost of Weezies. Have Weezies become more popular than Converse with your friends, with you, in your school?
Thank you for reading and responding to my blog.
EXCELSIOR
Good Morning,
Excelsior, the motto of New York State, indicates superior quality. Translated from Latin it means “ever upward.” Is it any wonder Stan Lee ended his weekly columns and his cameo in the Avengers with the catchword or that the word is the title of his autobiography?
According to QUORA, when asked why he chose excelsior, he said, “I used to have a lot of expressions that I would end my comic book columns with …, and I found that the competition was always imitating them and using them. So, I said I’m going to get one expression that they’re not going to know what it means, and they won’t know how to spell it.”
Stan Lee was like the father to all comic book superheroes and the fans who pored over their deeds. Since the 60s, kids have read this WWII veteran’s comics to escape from reality. Luckily for us, nobody ever truly dies in the comics. RIP, Stan Lee, no one will ever be able to compete with your legend.
Good Morning,
Doesn’t the ferris wheel entice you? How many of you love to attend a fair? My characters do, but sometimes stuff happens at a fair or carnival. Read SILENT SCREAMS to learn what happens to Layla. It’s the first in my Silent Series.
Do you have a story related to a ferris wheel? I’d love to hear it. Please click Contact Melody on my page. Tell me your story.
RIP Stan Lee.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Photo with other authors published by Taylor and Seale Publishing. Dr. Mary Custureri and many of my fellow writers have been planning an event for next Saturday, November 17. Sponsored by the Daytona Writers Guild, the event will benefit the Volusia County Literacy Council. Hope to see you there.
Where and when? The venue for this elegant event celebrating arts and culture is the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach. Hope you’ll join us at 6:00 p.m. on November 17, 2018