Please check out my Etsy page for my paperback books and other creations.
As I said in an earlier post, if you did not notice by the cover alone, The Devil series carries elements of Tarot.
Please note the new button above with a new page, Tarot with Melissa.
I will now be offering tarot readings. Please see the page for details if you are interested.
Don’t worry, I am still working hard on the books.
Confidence. Some people have it, others don’t, and most strive for it. The Cambridge Dictionary defines confidence as “the quality of being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future.”
Mark Twain famously said, “All you need in life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”
Children are great examples, and no, I’m not calling children ignorant. I was a tree climber as a kid. Did I worry about falling and breaking a limb? Hell no. My focus was looking up and strategizing my climb to the top. I didn’t worry about the climb down. I figured if there was a way up, the same way would bring me down. I had confidence in my abilities and a focus on the end goal. That was it. Today, that tree-climbing ability is gone. I’m not afraid of heights, but I do get vertigo, especially after I blew a head gasket (ruptured aneurysm). I can no longer climb an eight-foot ladder without getting tipsy.
We all have some confidence in ourselves. Otherwise, nothing would get accomplished. That small bit of confidence helps a person pick up a paintbrush, write a poem, or apply for a dream job. It’s within all of us; only some are better at using it. Those that are not afraid to climb to the top of the tree, even with a chance of falling.
One of my favorite quotes of all time is from George Bernard Shaw. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” Many people become so immersed in survival and societal obligations that we forget how to play. How proud we were when we reached the top of the tree and surveyed the surroundings from above. How great it felt to fly downhill on a bicycle, the wind whipping through your hair, legs stretched beyond the pedals as gravity led the way, not worrying about wiping out. My childhood was before pads and helmets, and I feel sorry for the kids who are practically bubble wrapped before biking. They don’t get the scars and cool stories to share. If you didn’t bleed at least once from a crazy idea you concocted as a child, you didn’t live.
The moral of my rambling is confidence is taking a chance regardless of what outcome might happen. Confidence is being sure enough of your abilities to take a step, knowing you can figure out more as you go along. Confidence is believing it will work out somehow, even if your goal wavers. Confidence is being who you really are, not what you think others want to see. Confidence is not being afraid to make mistakes, knowing you can learn from them.
I encourage everyone to play and forget for at least a while. Find that inner child and bring it to the surface.
The attached video is of Benedict Cumberbatch reading a letter from artist Sol LeWitt to artist Eva Hesse. Powerful and inspiring. Enjoy!
Book two of The Devil series is deep in editing mode. Writing the story seems easy compared to analyzing everything about it. This is the first series I have written; the challenge is keeping consistency from the previous book(s). The three books I have planned will introduce the leading players and reveal all the details of the main character’s mysterious background by the end of book three. I want to think I will do more in the series after that, but dropping down to one or two a year at the most. I have other ideas I want to play with.
I’m sure all writers are different in how they edit. I work on it nonstop, then take days off, return, and do it over. This is a time of emotions as I jump from thinking my writing is awful to laughing out loud at how funny it can be to a proud grin splitting my face as I read a fantastic scene. Writers can be a bit crazy, which I believe comes to the forefront in the editing process.
Professional editors are not affordable at this time, so I have a friend look it over for me before I give it a final glance. They have perfectionist qualities and are not afraid to tell me when a line or scene doesn’t fit, call me out for inconsistencies, or when a line or scene sounds stupid. When I get over the red pen shock and take a calming breath, telling myself I don’t really hate them, I read and learn. The majority of the time, I agree with their assessments.
One of the biggest things I have learned as an author is there is no way in this vast universe that you can please everyone. It’s hard to swallow someone’s dislike of a piece you poured yourself into over hundreds of hours. I imagine this is true with every form of art. The biggest acceptance you need is yourself. If you love what you have produced, you conquered a huge step. Everyone else is secondary.
We all know June is Pride Month. I love seeing all the rainbows as they bring color to our lives and remind us to get along and be happy. Pride in yourself and your accomplishments can be for everyone. Find what makes you smile, your own sun and rainbow. Life is not forever. Thankfully, neither is the book editing process.
The following is the last paragraph from my book Alice’s Ashes, and it was some of the best advice I ever gave:
“Life isn’t perfect. Life isn’t easy. But once you figure that out and not attach yourself to specific outcomes, opening yourself up to dreams and surprises along the way, life becomes an adventure. Alice had the best advice: Be free. Be brave. Be bold. Be proud. Dream big and believe in yourself. Imperfections are the seasonings of life. And most of all, share your fabulous self with the world.”
If you did not notice by the cover alone, The Devil series carries elements of Tarot. The act of understanding Tarot is fascinating, the history even more so.
Divination is a strange idea to many, conjuring images of witches, wizards, and all sorts of fantastical beings. Britannica defines the word as “the practice of determining the hidden significance or cause of events, sometimes foretelling the future, by various natural, psychological, and other techniques.” Miriam-Webster gives “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.” The difference in the descriptions tells of the views between Britain and the United States toward the act.
I had heard of Tarot when a friend first showed me her cards and did a reading for me. It was fun, and my curious mind began to see each reading as a puzzle to be solved. It helped that I also believe that much of our human brains go unused and that we all can be a bit psychic in one way or another.
My friend gifted me my first Tarot deck, and I took the time to learn the cards’ core meanings on the Fool’s Journey. I frequently pull cards to see their messages, and my intuition about the cards has strengthened over time. However, I do not believe in living my life by Tarot. It’s more loose advice, reminding me to be mindful of myself and how I feel. This was helpful after my ruptured brain aneurysm when I struggled to accept that I wasn’t the same as before and had to find a new normal that suited the new me. Tarot helped me heal in a way I was not expecting. It also gave me the idea for the book series, and it’s been a joy to uncover a part of myself with them.
Whether you believe in the supernatural or anything esoteric, it does not matter to me. You should do what feels right in your heart and head. Look at everything with wide eyes and an open mind. The universe has proven that there is more out there than we will ever understand in our lifetime. The best anyone can do is not to limit what they are willing to see, believe, and learn.
*Seventy-eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack is an excellent read for anyone wanting a deeper dive into the cards.
My old Facebook page appears to have been deleted, which I am surprisingly thankful for. It was tainted from being hacked and taken from my power, their greedy threads trying to reach others within my group of friends. But my friends were smarter than them and put warnings out at every post seen that they were not who they pretended to be. I created a new page and blazed my own guns at them, shouting to the world my old page had been hacked and was not to be trusted. They did not appreciate my fight and sent me messages, trying to pull me in to see how much I wanted the page I had kept for over a dozen years. It carried many memories, but I didn’t lose them because they live inside me, not on a page. I continued to ignore their requests, reporting daily to Facebook support, which I found nary a soul on board. However, more hackers were eager to work with me to regain my page. (Insert eye roll)
This was also an eye-opener in how much pressure we put on ourselves to be successful and sell our brand. Selling a few hundred books would be wonderful, but that is not the whole reason why I began writing. I write to give someone a fun escape, including me.
I have written stories since elementary school, and it is only now that I am trying to follow that dream. I almost lost my life a few years ago and regained a new view of why you should follow your heart. I am also fortunate to have the most understanding husband in the world. We may live with less now, but we love and laugh more.
Life is filled with lessons, and the lessons I learned from this are:
1. Don’t automatically trust that it’s your friend sending a message. Ask personal questions first.
2. Make sure you are fully awake and caffeinated before doing the first one.
3. Some people are assholes, and all I can hope for is karma to give them loose bowels and an itchy rash.
4. I have some pretty spectacular friends who watched out for me and had my back.
5. Your friends are on Facebook, but it doesn’t mean Facebook is your friend.
NEW BOOKSTORE AND MORE!
Check out the new items that are tarot related. A while ago, I created a beach-themed tarot deck. Then I designed a tarot cloth, then an oracle deck. I usually sell them on my Etsy store, but now you can save a few bucks by purchasing them through here. Check them out! Shipping is free on these items.
You will also find my books in the bookstore as I release them.
If you would like to see what else I have dabbled in, check out my Etsy store.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeachesandBeyond
Happy shopping!
I enjoy putting together videos and had fun making this one for my upcoming book. I hope you enjoy!
One bar fight. One ER visit. One curious doctor.
Leila is a bartender at Manny’s, Lytelton’s favorite watering hole for local factory workers and visitors searching for a Manny burger. Stopping a heated argument among patrons one night ends with her in the Emergency Room, where she meets a doctor who stitches her up and ultimately pulls her into a world of bloodlines, tarot, and… gods?
Join Leila and her new friends as she discovers parts of herself she never knew existed, amuses the local stool warmers with her fun facts, practices martial arts, and questions everything she thought she knew. All while learning that the devils in the world are closer than you think and not all family genes are created equal.
Alice’s Ashes was my first book and a very personal one. Not long after I began writing the story, my mother passed away. The story has to do with loss, and I was living it. I believe writing the story helped me deal with losing her.
If you are interested in the book, you can purchase the ebook from the following:
Amazon HERE. A sample is also available.
Amazon Reviews:
“I loved this book. Would like to read others from this author!”
“I could visualize much of the trip. Surprised at the emotion it made me feel. I’d read another by Melissa.”
Copyright @2022MelissaAnn