My Book Blog Tour began this week
I'm guesting with Denise Covey
____
But here I have
Melanie Schulz, author of The Haunted
from the IWSG Anthology
Thank you, Yolanda. for having me here today;
it’s always fun to discuss all things bookish.
My pleasure, let's get started.
1. As a writer of alternative
fiction the IWSG anthology was a perfect fit, did you find the challenge easy?
Yes and no. Writing with prompts, even as minimal as they
were for this anthology, has always been a challenge for me; that’s why I don’t
enter more contests. The stories I write always begin somewhere inside of me; I
can’t write any other way. But, as it turns out, I already had the stirrings of
this story when the anthology was announced, so in the end, I was able to write
it, or rather it wrote itself.
2. Where did the idea for
Haunted come from?
I really can’t answer
that without giving away the ending. Let’s just say I wanted a particular group
of people to have a voice. You’ll know what I mean once you read the story.
3. What is it about an altered
universe that you appreciate?
It
gives us a chance to see the world that would’ve or could’ve been. The tagline
I gave this story is: Sometimes the best things in life are the things you
never got to have, and that’s what this altered universe let me do; it let me
give back that best thing.
4. Please tell us about the
UBook or Newstead project.
The
Newstead Project was my first novel and the first novel in the Newstead Saga
Series. Five years of my life went into developing this story. There’s some
serious love there. And it’s that love of all things Newstead that led me to
invent Ubooks, a patent pending new way to enjoy reading. I listen to music
when I write; it takes me to that deeper level I need to be at in order to get
into the character’s heads. I wanted that same experience for my readers. And
now they can have it. Ubooks, in essence, are books on video, set at reading speed,
augmented with scene enhancing music. And best of all? They’re free and able to
be viewed on all your devices. Check out my YouTube
Channel to see the latest releases.
Wow, what an amazing idea!
Thank you, Melanie!
Your story The Haunted - is remarkable.
Thanks for sharing your journey.
What do you think folks, music and reading
combined - do you listen to music when you write
or when you read?
or when you read?
***
Tagline:
Sometimes the best things in life are the things you never had.
Blurb:
For five years Andy has been
consumed by nothingness. Her life was fine—normal even—and then suddenly it
wasn’t. No one knows why, least of all her. Desperate for answers, she seeks
out yet another psychiatrist, not knowing that psychotherapy has nothing to do
with it, not when the problem is that you’re being haunted.
Excerpt:
“Your dream bothering you again?”
he asked, knowingly.
Andy closed her eyes and held on
tighter.
He kissed her again. “It’s okay,”
he whispered into her hair. “I’m here.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she
breathed, shaking her head. “Nothing does.”
John pulled back to look into his
wife’s face. “Are you sure you’re okay—do we need to call your doctor?”
“The only doctor I have is an
ob-gyn, and I don’t think she’ll be able to do anything about this.”
John shrugged. “I don’t know,
maybe it’s a hormone thing.”
Andy raised her eyebrows. “Do you
really want to go there?”
“Hormones are powerful things,
Andy. They can make you do all sorts of weird shit.”
“Like dream your husband’s dead?”
There is was; she’d said it.
His face softened. “Is that it—is
that what happened?”
Andy looked past him to the sky
beyond. His hands cupped her face and brought her focus back to him. “I’m not
leaving you, ever. Even if I die, I promise to haunt you.”
Andy frowned. “Don’t say that.”
“What? It’s true. You can’t get
rid of me; face it.”
Andy shuddered; she didn’t know
why.
***
Melanie Schulz is planted in
upstate New York with her husband and three kids on a smallish plot of land she
likes to believe is a farm. She plays at being a writer, same as she plays at
being a farmer, and nurse, and overall enjoyer of this thing called life. One
of the things she enjoys most are people who delight in discussing all things
listed above. Join in the conversation at:
