Super fun Friday news…more books!

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The requisite “signing the contract” photo. My awesome coworker Denise took the photo.

On the Friday before Christmas I received some happy news that I’ve been impatient to share. Impatient like Jack Bauer in an interrogation room with a tight-lipped terrorist. Only I’m not that violent or angry and there’s no bright overhead light and overall, this is just a much happier scenario.*

Anyway, I couldn’t share until I’d dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s. Which I’ve now done. Literally…since my name includes both an i and a t.

What I’m trying to say is I signed a contract this week for more books to release from Bethany House. YAY! I love my publisher and I’m so excited to get to keep working with them.

I’ll have two books releasing in 2015, one in the spring and one in the fall, and a novella is also in the works.

I’m hard at work on the first book now and I’ll be honest, I’m struggling a little with it.

But more and more I’m starting to think it’s the struggle that makes this writing thing its own sort of an adventure. It’s in the mucky plot and rebellious characters that God time and again surprises me with cool moments. It’s in all the emotion that comes along with digging deeper for the story that he does stuff in my heart.

And that gives me hope that the story might inspire, encourage or challenge readers, as well…while also hopefully making them laugh…or swoon…or both.

Thanks for sharing in my happy news! (Oh, also, if you are a subscriber to my newsletter, then you likely already knew about this. In which case, sorry for the repeat info. If you’re not a newsletter subscriber, but you’d like to be, just go here.)

 

A few other fun notes:

  • There’s a new blog on the block made up of about 30 authors called Inspy Romance. I’ll be contributing on a monthly basis, and my first post is live today. I’m talking movies and giving away a copy of one of the only Hollywood rom-coms I’ve loved from the past decade or so. Check it out and enter the giveaway here.

 

  • My second book, Here to Stay, releases in just three months. I read and approved the final galleys last week, and I was reminded once again how much I love stories and how over-the-top grateful I am to get to write them…and, too, how much I love these characters. I hope readers do, too.

 

  • Since I’m trying to make mega headway on book three, I need to carve out a little extra time for myself in the next couple weeks. So for that reason, I’m taking a two-week blogging hiatus so I can put all my writing energies into the novel. I always miss blogging when I’m away, so I’ll be excited to return on February 24. I’ve already got fun plans for that week on the blog!

 

In the meantime, let’s chat: Is there anything in YOUR life you find super challenging, but that you love all the same?

*I just happen to have been re-watching 24 lately in preparation for the new 12-episode season starting in May, which is why that was the first analogy that came to mind. I have this lofty goal of watching all eight seasons before the new season premieres. Yes, I’m an ambitious one.
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    Comments 36

    1. This news made my week!!! I think I literally squealed when I got your newsletter! So excited that not only do we have Here to Stay to look forward to this year but now these two as well!! I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!! Will they be connected to your first two or completely separate?
      Also I got my sis to start Made to Last! She’s been busy so hasn’t gotten very far but she’s loving it like I told her she would!

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        Ohhh thanks for being so happy, Abbi. Makes me smile. And I’m glad you’re sister is liking MTL!

        So, the new books are the start of a brand new series. However, the novella is going to be somewhat of a stepping stone between the two series. So, you should see a familiar face in the novella and that connected in a small way to the new series, too. Fun stuff!! (Of course, I haven’t started writing the novella yet and I’m not sure what direction I’m going with it yet. LOL!)

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    4. Congratulations, so happy for you, Melissa, but I already knew it was a done deal. They know quality, depth, and fun when they see it. God speed you in writing. I know there are many more wonderful stories to come.

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    6. Wonderful news, Melissa!! Congratulations!! Yes, writing always challenges me! But I like that I get through all the emotions in a book. Despair, joy, insecurity, and grandiosity. It’s never boring!

      Congratulations again!

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        You’re so right…writing is NOT boring. I don’t think I’ve ever been so frustrated and yet so energized, renewed and refreshed by any other pursuit. Thanks for the congrats!

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    7. Can’t wait to read Here to Stay! And I’m so excited there will be more. You are a fabulous writer. I’m with you on struggling with a new story. Took me a month to come up with the plot of my 3rd book. But I love it all the same.

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    8. Hooray! Congratulations, Melissa. Like you, Melissa, I find writing super challenging, but I love it just the same. And like you, I sometimes think I love it, in part, because it IS so challenging. I also love mothering and tennis — even though they’re hard sometimes. 🙂

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    9. Congratulations, Melissa! What wonderful news. More fun books for your eager readers.

      I wish you well on the drafting, and I empathize. Diving deep into the creative well and splashing those first words on the page can be a daunting task, but once there, we can rewrite, revise, edit and polish them until they are far better than what poured forth originally.

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        Thanks for the congrats, Keli!

        And glad I’m not alone in being daunted by the first draft. I know that’s some people’s favorite part. But I love it once the draft is done and I get to start digging in on revisions. For me, that seems to be where the magic happens…although there are crazy-cool moments in the initial drafting when characters completely surprise us…love those moments too. Yeah, for all the frustrations, this being a storyteller thing is a lot of fun!

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    10. Woot! SO excited, Melissa. Congrats to you and selfishly, we are thrilled at the prospect of having more books from you (bring on those teasers ;D). Thank you. Best of luck with your writing over these next two weeks with that writing, I’ve no doubt you’ll get through this challenging patch and come out happy with it. I cannot relate on the same level as you to the challenge of writing but in some small way, I totally get what you’re saying.

      CANNOT wait to see what Blaze’s story is all about. :)))

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          Haha, glad you laughed at the Jack Bauer opening! There are people who know me who just don’t understand how I can love 24 so much…it doesn’t seem to fit with my other viewing loves. But I can’t help it, it makes me tense and nervous and I love it.

          And thanks for the congrats. I’m glad you’re excited for Blaze’s story…I hope people love it!

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        Well, here’s the thing with 24…it’s super violent. A lot of people don’t like that about it. But ah, it’s just so good. And they constantly put Jack in these sort of morally ambiguous situations where he has to make crazy fast decisions…and I’m always left thinking, maaaan, what would I do in that situation? And what’s going on in the world around me that I don’t even know about because someone else is making insane decisions and going to ridiculous lengths to protect people?

        Also…I just really love Jack Bauer. 🙂

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    13. Wow!! Congrats, Melissa! This is very exciting for you. 🙂 I’m so happy that you are plunging in there and writing great stories.

      I should have some exciting news to share soon too. 😉

      ~Rachel

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    17. I was still on vacation when this came out, and i know you’re on a blogging break, but YEAH YEAH YEAH! And I’m in love with your struggle, not b/c you’re struggling (lol) but because I can so identify with it. My current WIP is much the same and slogging through it then seeing those moments that only God could have written in the midst of it ARE what make it so cool. He truly does work all things together. He’s so cool like that:)

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        Yay, glad I’m not alone in that slogging state, Susan. Although, today I had all day to write and honestly, I finally broke through the wall. I prayed about it quite a bit this morning because I’ve been pretty tense and stressed and [insert negative mood of your choice] about how this story is coming together…or rather, isn’t. But finally, with some time and focus and most of all, prayer, I had a couple of those God-inspired moments today. So yes, he’s definitely cool like that. Man, the whole writing life is so packed with metaphors for regular life, too…he fixes my writing messes and my real life messes. Love that. 🙂

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