my story Archives - Melanie Vallely

Dear January 2017 Self – 1,000 Followers

faith, my story, novel, writing

Dear January 2017 Self – 1,000 Followers

Dear January 2017 Self, I see your pain, your ache, your frustration from a dream squelched and festering beneath the surface. I know how seeing other people pursuing writing dreams opens a jealousy that makes you hate that you ever wanted to write. I know your confidence in writing is hovering imperceptibly above zero. I know you’re still licking the wounds from college, wishing you could un-hear the jeers and jokes made at your expense in your creative writing class. [...]

By melanievallely@gmail.com|2019-11-24T14:18:11-08:00November 19th, 2019|faith, my story, novel, writing|0 Comments

The Autumn of Letting Go

family life, motherhood, my story

The Autumn of Letting Go

As a child, I loved the back-to-school season. It was a time of new beginnings, a time of fresh pencils and crayons, of new clothes and shoes, of new friends and of reuniting with old friends. As soon as the Fourth of July ended each year, I set my sights on September. I would brim with anticipation. (Yes, I was a nerd.) This year, our oldest child is heading off to full-day kindergarten. She never went to preschool, so it’s [...]

By Melanie|2019-09-22T21:07:27-07:00August 20th, 2019|family life, motherhood, my story|0 Comments

I Didn’t Want to Write It

my story, novel

I Didn’t Want to Write It

It’s hard to explain to others that I wrote a book I never wanted to write. I didn’t even write a book I’d want to read. I went against all conventional advice. Stay with me here. I always wanted to write books that are light and allow a reader to escape from reality. The world is so dark and heavy, and I wanted to bring levity to the weightiness. But, when I prayed for a story, that’s not the story [...]

By Melanie|2019-08-13T11:43:07-07:00August 13th, 2019|my story, novel|1 Comment

Writing Update and Pitch Wars

my story, novel

Writing Update and Pitch Wars

It’s been months (again) since I updated, and it was unintentional. Life has a way of reprioritizing day-to-day events, and my revision process took a step to the back for a month or so. But, I have picked it up again, and I’m nearly 66% through draft two. And, during this draft, I’m eating my words. Though I never wrote it out anywhere, I was cocky enough to think that my second draft would not drastically change from my first, [...]

By Melanie|2019-09-22T12:45:29-07:00May 28th, 2019|my story, novel|0 Comments

Don’t Forget Your Reason

my story, novel

Don’t Forget Your Reason

I finally, finally have a breakthrough in my revision process. And, you know that feeling I mentioned that I felt like there was one more thing I needed to know, but I couldn’t quite grasp it? I think this is a big part of that. And the crazy part is, the piece I was missing was right in front of me this whole time. It was the most obvious piece that I refused to even consider. But first, let me [...]

By Melanie|2019-03-12T15:09:32-07:00March 12th, 2019|my story, novel|0 Comments

Gloppy and Me

faith, my story, novel

Gloppy and Me

Do you remember the version of Candyland that has the Molasses Swamp? The swamp is at the top of the board, near the bend that sets you on the last set of squares before you reach King Kandy’s castle, the ultimate destination of the game. But, before you can reach the castle, you pull the wrong card and lose a turn while you’re slumping around with Gloppy in the Molasses Swamp. I feel like I’m hanging out with Gloppy right [...]

By Melanie|2019-02-27T14:50:23-08:00February 27th, 2019|faith, my story, novel|1 Comment

Be Strong and Courageous and Other Impossible Things

faith, my story, novel

Be Strong and Courageous and Other Impossible Things

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 As a child, I was a performer, despite being so shy that my mom tells me I never spoke to my kindergarten teacher. But, I loved singing and acting. I was the first to volunteer for any church play or solo. I starred as Mary in a church program when I was [...]

By Melanie|2018-10-03T20:00:53-07:00October 3rd, 2018|faith, my story, novel|5 Comments

A Writing Life Update, and a Title

faith, my story, novel, writing

A Writing Life Update, and a Title

This is a long overdue writing update (I think the June 1st entry was my last actual update), so I have lots to fill you in on (especially if you don’t follow me on Instagram). First off, I finished my first draft on July 29th, almost exactly five months after I started. That in and of itself felt like the biggest accomplishment and the most anticlimactic moment of this whole process. Finishing the first draft meant I got the bones [...]

By Melanie|2018-10-02T14:23:01-07:00October 2nd, 2018|faith, my story, novel, writing|0 Comments

The MacBook

motherhood, my story, writing

The MacBook

This is a story about a new MacBook. But, this is also a story of so, so much more. I won’t rewind too far, just to February, right around the time I started this blog. I knew I was supposed to write something, but I didn’t know what I was going to write. In fact, I was procrastinating on writing, and I decided to gather supplies. In my mind, I needed software (Scrivener) and I needed hardware (a laptop). We [...]

By Melanie|2018-07-16T18:11:47-07:00July 16th, 2018|motherhood, my story, writing|4 Comments

Let’s Talk

family life, motherhood, my story

Let’s Talk

It’s been awhile since I’ve really written on the blog. I actually typed up my whole June Wrap-Up and July goals at the end of June, but I never hit publish. It, oddly, didn’t seem like the time to publish it. I added future goals to the bottom of that post, but I didn’t think the brief mention was enough for what I wanted to express. So, today’s blog post is going to be a little bit of a heart-to-heart [...]

By Melanie|2019-09-22T12:47:09-07:00July 9th, 2018|family life, motherhood, my story|5 Comments