Merry Christmas Eve

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Wishing you a Merry Christmas Eve. Hoping you will be surrounded by family this weekend. Sadly, Barry Dimick and I will be alone because of COVID. Praying this will be our last Christmas Eve when we are not with our extended family. Unfortunately, I will never be able to call or visit my beautiful Mother on Christmas Eve again.

Rest in Peace, Mother. You worked hard to provide for our family. I pray you and Dad are together on this Christmas Eve. Christmas is the time for believing. I choose to believe there is a heaven and you and Dad will be happy partners in the afterlife.

Friends, thank you for visiting my page. May you have fond memories during this bittersweet holiday season.

My Cover Illustrator and My Book

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Did you feel as if you were living in a snow globe when we quarantined at the beginning of the pandemic? Do you need a gift for a teen? If so, I’d like to recommend my book, No Parents Allowed. This novel, set in a chat room, captured a Gold in the 2020 Royal Palm Literary Awards. The language is text speak, and I’ve included a glossary, defining symbols.

No Parents Allowed is the perfect choice for teens struggling with isolation and mental health issues. Teens will identify with one or more of the characters.

Yesterday, I spoke about Chris Holmes. I made an error. Chris is no longer affiliated with whiterabbitgraphix, but she still creates wonderful covers. She designed the cover for No Parents Allowed. I was over-the-top happy with the job she did illustrating how I pictured the feeling of being secluded and reaching out for contact with others needing to vent.

Thank you for visiting My News located at www.melodydeandimick.com. Please feel free to click on Contact Melody.

Inky by Chris Holmes

Saturday I attended the Daytona Beach Writers Guild’s First Annual Holiday Festival. As I entered the pavilion where the festival was housed, the first exhibit I saw was that of Paranormalice Press, LLC. I stopped because Veronica Hart, the publisher of Paranormalice Press, was my first Florida Writers Association’s group leader. I consider Veronica my first writing mentor.

After speaking to Veronica, I met one of the writers whose works she published, Chris Holmes. Chris and I knew each other from phone conversations, but had not met. Chris was selling her paranormal book, Inky. Inky grabbed my interest because it’s about feral cats. The cover fascinated me for two reasons. First, it sets an eerie atmosphere. Second, Chris Holmes designed it. Chris’s company White Rabbit Graphix, has designed the covers for a number of my books, including Cat Girl since Chris also works for my publisher, Taylor and Seale Publishing, LLC. I learned that like my Cat Girl, Chris’s Inky has a paranormal cat.

I purchased Inky and loved it. If you’re looking for a horror story, I highly recommend you read Inky. It’s short enough to be read in one or two sittings. The way Chris mixes ordinary reality with extraordinary events makes Inky a chilling read, and since feral cats roam many city streets, the book is believable.

As you can see from my two photos, Chris is also a great cover designer. I sent her a picture of a cat that inspired my Cat Girl, and she designed my cover. The cover hints at many aspects of my book.

I recommend you attend book festivals and conferences. You can meet writers, publishers, graphic designers and add to your reading library. Books make excellent Christmas and birthday gifts. If you want to purchase a copy of Inky: Good Neighborhood. Bad Cat, or Cat Girl, you may also purchase both books on Amazon.

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Join Me in Daytona Beach Shores Tomorrow

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I’m excited to say my publisher has invited me to read a poem from my book Backpack Blues at the First Annual Daytona Writers Guild Holiday Festival tomorrow, December 11. I’m more excited that students from Mainland High School will be reading a few poems from book.

Please join Barry Dimick and me. Barry will also have copies of his memoir, Second Son: Growing Up in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom available for signing.

Coming soon. My book of poems for quilters. If you have designed a quilt you would like me to feature, please send me a photo. You may send just the quilt and your permission for me to use it, or you may send a picture of you with the quilt. Thank you. Happy Holidays. 

In this photo I am with Marie Bostwick, author of the award-winning Cobbled Court Quilts series. Marie was the Florida Writers Celebrity Author the year the picture was taken.

An Invitation from Barry and Melody Dimick

Join our Daytona Writers Guild event at the beautiful Daytona Beach Shores Pavilion and Park at the Court of Flags, located at 3048 S Atlantic Avenue Daytona Beach Shores on December 11. We’ll be wearing face masks and signing books for the first time since COVID.

The event will showcase art, music, readings, holiday crafts, and other Taylor & Seale writers. Details will be posted in an upcoming blog.

Thankful

Thank you for visiting My News. Happy Thanksgiving.

One of my favorite poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay, wrote a poem titled “Justice Denied in Massachusetts,” in response to the Sacco and Vanzetti conviction. Whether they were guilty or not, many people believed they were innocent.

Throughout history, writers have written to change what they believe is unjust. As a feminist in a nation ruled by men, I have sought to right wrongs. I won’t be content until we have a qualified woman President.

I was horrified by what I considered an unjust decision in the fictional To Kill a Mockingbird and in real-life cases such as that of Trayvon Martin’s killer. To paraphrase an old adage, I chose the pen as my sword.

I celebrate not having to right a wrong this Thanksgiving. I am thankful because I can believe in the American justice system. A jury of three men’s peers made a just decision, disregarding skin color. We will have parades, not riots in the streets today, and I won’t have to write a protest poem. Woohoo!

What are you thankful for this year?

Thank you for visiting My News. Happy Thanksgiving, followers.

Playing tribute to real heroes ?? Proud members of my family served our country in three wars ?

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Happy to say my husband, Barry Dimick, and I each have a poem in Cadence 2021.

Looking for a great book?

Good Morning

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Between my mother’s lengthy illness and the fog I’ve fought because of our country’s response to COVID, I haven’t been able to read many full-length books lately. My concentration went the way of civility. For two years, I’ve read essays, poems, articles, and short stories.

I’ve been aching to get back to reading books that could transport me to other worlds. When I was called home to sit vigil by Mother’s side, I grabbed a book and headed to the airport with my husband, Barry Dimick.

The first two paragraphs of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens establish the marsh setting–a place far different from any where I have ever lived. If you are looking for a good book, I recommend you read Where the Crawdads Sing.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a combination of a murder mystery, a coming-of-age story, and a love story told through a narrative sprinkled with just the right number of poems to intrigue me.

As you know I write young adult novels and poetry. In my work in progress I’m trying to interweave poems and narrative. Ms Owens’ New York Times Bestseller has provided a pattern. Her poetry moves the plot forward.

Thank you for reading My News. Consider reading Where the Crawdads Sing if you like to be transported to another world, but aren’t into science fiction. This novel is perfect for nature lovers.