Best books of 2014

Or rather, the best books I read in 2014. I rarely get to anything the year it's released because as good as this year's stuff is, last year had good stuff and 10 years ago, etc. I also re-read a thing or two, because there's always something you miss the first time through.

The Princess Bride

The Unwritten (pt 1)(pt 2)

Broken Monsters

The Shining

I also had a chance to re-visit The Silent Treatment. It got a snazzy re-edit and a new cover. I might never be able to stop touching this book, but maybe now that I've worked out some of the major kinks (really the only serious kink was its boring beginning), I can work on getting something new released. 

New Avenues (and a Chapter 1)

Giving Wattpad a try. If you like eyestrain but hate paying for books, my novel is there (and above in the widget)!
For those of you who enjoy a file they can put on their Kindle (or other device), head on over to Smashwords and pick up a copy. Paperback coming soon.

Now, I realize to get good sales, I've got to shove this thing down your collective throats. I did that in the past and honestly, it got me nowhere. Expect the occasional "buy my book!" tweet, but I can't be a 24/7 commercial.

A lot of love has gone into The Silent Treatment. As some of you know, it was available previously, and then mysteriously out of print. An author can never really leave well enough alone with her own work, so I re-edited the whole thing (including a new first chapter), and gave it a shiny new cover.

During the re-edit, I realized how much I love this story. It's not just the silent film angle, it's the budding romance and the family angst. I've also realized that I probably couldn't write southern dialogue today like I did back then. I was amazed at how little the characters cussed (compared to the still-unpublished Awake, which is much more New York in its vocabulary), which is pretty typical of that region.

Anyway, I'm hoping those of you who thought the beginning of the novel wasn't quite gripping enough will give it another shot. Recommend it to your friends if you like it -- word of mouth is everything to an indie author. Write a review if you can be bothered.

And here's a nice closeup of the new cover. A lot of anguish went into its creation, but I'm certain I've got something good.

The Silent Treatment book trailer

New Edit

One of the best things about indie publishing is that if I feel it necessary, I can go back into a book and tweak it. That's what's happened with The Silent Treatment. I love this story. Today, you can get the updated version on Smashwords (soon at other retailers, and soon to paperback).

New cover:

For anyone who has already bought this book and would like the new version (which includes minor edits, expanded scenes, and a new surname for the protagonist), contact me. 

"total" creative freedom

A writer is never finished with a book. In the case of my own work, especially with the cover, I can't leave it alone. Behold the latest incarnation of The Silent Treatment:

This even happened by accident and I'm in love with it. Also, after seeing the cover like this (with no words -- we're dealing with silent movies, after all), I liked the idea of leaving the title off the front. Not many people have done this (maybe for good reason). Some argue that because the book will be sold next to a big paragraph of copy (including title and author), and someone handling a physical book can just turn it to a slight angle and read the spine, a title on the cover isn't totally necessary. They do it on CDs all the time.

But! CreateSpace doesn't allow for this. I even wrote them an email explaining my position and asking them to waive the requirement, but the answer was no. And yes, I tried looking for another company who would do what I wanted (one is a formatting disaster, and others want you to sign up for expensive packages), but that isn't happening. So the next proposed cover is this:

Kind of illegible, but that doesn't make a heap of difference to me (we'll see if it gets through the CreateSpace guy). This version is still sparse, still grungy, but maybe following the rules just enough.

So in the next few weeks/months/etc, expect to see a new version of The Silent Treatment: newly covered, newly edited.

Giving it away!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Silent Treatment

by Melanie Surani

Giveaway ends July 20, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Exchange in Eichstätt

by Melanie Surani

Giveaway ends July 20, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Resolutions

I've had some dreams since I was a kid. Have a pony. Be a ballerina. Be the mom so I can be the one who yells and says "No".

I've grown out of most of those things (the pony would still be nice). Here are some things that aren't necessarily resolutions for 2013, but goals for the next 10 years, for sure. They are all physically possible, and with enough research and determination (and maybe money), I can make them happen.

In no particular order:

1. Be Traditionally Published
I know it's got its pros and cons, but I still want it. My books at brick-and-mortar bookstores (provided they still exist in a few years), movie options, etc. There's so much validation in this one thing -- so much potential of being the "next big thing"...

Source: features.cgsociety.org via Melanie on Pinterest

I've already become part of the Indie publishing community with The Silent Treatment. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunities that I have now that weren't available even 5 years ago. I'm confident that even if I stay with Indie publishing and never get picked up by one of the "Big Six", by dream of being a writer will still be realized. I still want the "Big Six" though. (For those of you who don't know, the big six publishers are: Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon and Schuster.)

2. Cuddle a Tiger
It's right up there with buying a cheetah. Maybe this is a stupid idea, but no one in the world is going to change my mind, especially when I see photos of other people doing it.

@Michael_Card

Source: the-literary-dark-prince.bo.lt via Deanne on Pinterest

As I've already posted, I would like to buy a cheetah -- and I still would! But realistically speaking, buying a cheetah requires a lot of space (they run fast), a lot of food (about 6 pounds per day), and the initial cost is horribly expensive ($15,000 - $20,000 just for the animal, not to mention the permit to house one). And shoot. My housecat has scratched me up just because she's being rambunctious -- what's a cat the size of a great dane gonna do when it gets frisky?

3. Become Carolyn Keene
We all know she's not a real person (come on, she's been writing for ninety years?), so I want in on this. Nancy Drew is what got me started reading like a voracious maniac in the first place. It's only right that I contribute. Plus, how cool would that be? (Realizing this dream can count towards the "traditionally published" one since Nancy Drew is owned by Simon and Schuster.)

The person in the first chapter who "seems too friendly" did it.

4. Be an Artist at Madame Tussauds
Maybe this sounds weird to some people, but having a hand at creating the figures at Madame Tussauds has been a dream of mine for about half my life now. It's got sculpture and painting and wigs and costumes and celebrities ... My family all knows how much I'll beg to go to the museum any time there's one in town. Now I live near one, so guess where all my money goes?

What's not to love?

5. Learn Bellydancing
I've already wanted to be a ballerina, but let's face it: you've got to start that when you're a wee kid or you're just never gonna be limber enough. Plus, I don't want to dance for a living, I just want to be able to bust it out at the work Christmas party when everyone's loopy. Plus, the costuming is awesome.

Source: evbdn.eventbrite.com via Melanie on Pinterest

6. Live in Europe
Europe is so beautiful, and the lifestyle over there seems more laid back than here. Of course, maybe I'm just looking at a bunch of beautiful photography and coming up with my own ideas. However, after having lived in Germany for a month, I can say it's at least somewhat accurate (although I know you can't gather that much info in a month).

Source: misispy.tumblr.com via Melanie on Pinterest

One of these dreams is currently "In the works" and I can't wait to hammer out the details so I can tell everyone. So come on, 2013 -- let's try not to suck!

Year in Review 2012

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

What's going to happen in 2013? Exciting stuff, hopefully!

Going ahead

There's an old saying: You can't please all the people all the time (and going by a quick Google search, this might have been said by Lincoln -- but as Mike Birbiglia points out, everything was said by Lincoln.) As it turns out, I often have trouble pleasing anyone at any time, so I've decided to do whatever the hell I want.

I've changed the cover of The Silent Treatment, you guys. I didn't feel like the old cover was quite what I wanted, but at the time I didn't have any other ideas. This is one of the great things about indie publishing -- things can change! I ran this design past a few people, and their answers were almost completely split down the middle (which makes the point of polling useless). As in text editing, any change is up to the discretion of the author (me), and I chose to go ahead with this one.

The story is still the same, although as many writers have pointed out, you're never really finished with a book. I'll probably do some "4th anniversary special!!1!" version with additional what-have-you.

Additionally, my KDP Select enrollment is coming to an end, but not before I can have one more free promo. Please spread the word and head to Amazon on Sunday the 30th. I might go with the Select program again in the future, but I might not, so consider this your last shot at a freebie! Mama needs to eat.

I've decided to buy a cheetah

New York can do some crazy things to you. There are people here -- a LOT of people -- and after a while, you just stop caring what they think about you. Before when I'd make an idiot of myself in public, I'd be embarrassed for a while. Now I realize no one's ever going to remember me because they've all seen something 10 times crazier than whatever it is I just did (tripped over a sidewalk bump or something).

Also, 99% of the men here have no chivalry. I understand that women want equality, and that means that we have to give up our seats every now and then. But seriously, nothing's going to make me snap faster than when I get off work (standing all day) and the jerky guy in the headphones pushes me out of the way for the last subway seat.

all right, it could be worse.

My year of crazy changes is winding to a slow conclusion: within the next 2 months, I'll find a permanent apartment and reconnect with my kitty.

Since work is under control (i.e. no longer sucking), and my home will be back to normal, and I won't be training for anything, all I'll have to do is moan and whine that I'm not eating croissants on some street in France. Boohoo.

Which brings me to my title: Cheetahs. Bad idea or no, the idea of buying a cheetah and walking it around the streets of NY really appeals to me. It's the size of a big dog. No one would mess with me. So long as it doesn't decide to run at 60mph with me dragging on the leash, they can be nicely domesticated. Cheetahs purr (unlike a lion or tiger -- which would also be awesome to walk on a leash) and make meow-y noises, which is a huge selling point for me. Just watch this squeaky baby and TRY not to shell out $15,000!

Okay, okay. I dream big. I have a huge imagination because without it, I'd be bored all the time. This is why I write books: it's the easiest way for me to flesh out all these crazy ideas without having to do them in real life. This is good news for the guy on the subway who knocked me over and for my neighbor getting on the elevator with me and a frigging cheetah.

Before I go, I'd like to announce that The Silent Treatment is officially for sale in paperback. There are some minor flaws with the back cover that I've decided to let slide because I can't afford to buy any more proof copies at the moment. With enough sales, I'll make the minor adjustment and re-issue. Until then, get your piping hot first editions here: Lulu.com. I've put at 30% discount on it because I'm cool like that. Expect a cheesy "author holding book" photo soon.

Not Writing

Inspired by Amanda Hocking's Things I've Done Today That Weren't Writing, here's a list of things from today keeping me from doing what I do:

• Inventory at work
• Chatting with hubby about moving and awesome apartment ads.
• Waiting 15 minutes to connect to the N train.
• Buying Chips Ahoy! cookies and having the clerk ask if I was having a chocolate chip cookie party tonight. Answer: no - went to work on my day off, therefore, they're all mine. He was satisfied with the answer.
• Watching the forced comedy of a recent Simpson's episode. Why do I do this to myself?
• Joined a new forum
• Watched some video clips on YouTube
• Heated up some tempura chicken from Trader Joe's
• Wasted time on various social media (which leads me here).

I had a great run of editing yesterday after work, and I was looking forward to doing it again today. However, counting some 1000+ hair products turned my brain to jelly, and I can't get in the groove. I did buy another proof copy of The Silent Treatment after making some adjustments to the last one I received. Probably not going to change anything else, regardless, because I can't afford to keep buying proofs. I think it's for sale on lulu.com, though, but won't distribute to Amazon until the proof is approved. Will let you know, as I'm sure you're all on the edges of your seats. I've had to price it much more expensively than I wanted to because the commission from Amazon is pretty low. So for now, I'm offering a 30% discount, which brings the price down to a reasonable $11.20.

So before I waste any more time, I'll go read, rest up for a long day of work tomorrow, and then go apartment viewing the day after that.

Please tell me: what did you do today?

Looking Forward

The updates have been sparse because I've had quite a lot on my plate recently (as referenced in the last post). Slowly, I'm finding things that ease the tension. In no particular order:

Aromatherapy

Looking forward to something

Doesn't have to be anything big like, "One day I'll eat baguettes in a French cafe in France every day." Something smaller like looking for pictures of French cafes, or watching a movie I haven't seen in a while, painting my nails, reading a book, or going to a store I like. Makes it easier to leave my hubby and kitty in my cozy, former apartment when I can think, "well, at least I can watch this chick flick when I get home."

Watch some funny videos

Sometimes you can fight your way out of something, look for a better job, or replace XYZ thing. Sometimes you can't. You make the best of it and listen to your body to tell you if you can take on anything else. If not, watch 10 episodes of The Monkees in a row because it makes you laugh like a 5-year-old.

If all else fails...

In other news ... 

I've been interviewed on Janiera Eldridge's blog: This is From My Heart. It's always great fun to talk to new people and share my love of writing with them. Sometimes it still seems weird that something so personal to me is even interesting to someone else.

Also just got my quarterly statement in from one of my works, and it will probably pay a (very small) grocery bill or one large pizza! But hey, I'm getting to do what I love, and isn't that worth more than all the money in the world? (... Maybe I should ask my husband what he thinks about that ...)

Help me order one more pizza or buy two bags of groceries next quarter by purchasing one of my books!

Finally ...

More Subway Art:

FREE!

For a limited time, I'm offering The Silent Treatment free of charge! Download a copy, recommend it to your friends, leave a nice review. 


As a bonus, if you download The Silent Treatment and email your Smashwords receipt to Untreed Reads, they will send you a coupon code for 50% off The Morning After!


Happy reading!

Giveaway!

Spending Valentine's Day away from my husband has got me bummed out, so I decided to spread some love and give a FREE copy of my new book The Silent Treatment away to the first 10 people who respond. So reply to this message or to my Facebook announcement, or send me an email -- however!

Meanwhile, here's a(n unrelated) video that made me smile today.

LIVE!

It's happened. I pushed the button on Smashwords.com and released The Silent Treatment.

Kat Shergill doesn't expect to find a piece of forgotten movie history during a bout of retail therapy. After watching the coil of film found tucked inside her purchase, she's shocked to witness the brutal murder of a famous 1920's star by a fellow actor. 80-year-old mystery aside, someone will stop at nothing to get the film away from her and silence what she's discovered. 

Head over to Kat Shergill Mysteries for more ...

Silent Movies 102

To get ready for my forthcoming novel The Silent Treatment (you can catch the first chapter here: Chapter 1), I thought I'd share a few more silent movies with you, such as the oldest surviving one:



When I started watching silent films, I got hooked on the comedies -- namely Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The more in depth I got, though, the more I connected with the German Expressionism films because of the emotion in them. They weren't quite so goofy. Also, as silents matured through the 20s, the technique of filming and acting became absolutely gorgeous before plunging into the world of "talkies".

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)
Not even sure when I saw this movie first, but I was captivated. Everything about this film is unrealistic, and that's what makes it beautiful. The sets are painted and angular. The characters are something out of a nightmare. [93 year old SPOILER ALERT] The twist ending in the mental asylum brings all the strange elements together, since the entire story was being narrated by a "crazy" person.

I like this story so much that I've thought about adapting it into a novel. It would be a lot of fun (and not much of a stretch) to make this a murder mystery and create my own new twist.


Metropolis (1926)
Everyone who knows me knows I love this movie. Stealing my answer from The Lisas' blog interview:

I love a lot of movies, but I always go back to Metropolis from 1926. It was never an ordinary movie for me. The first copy I saw was a poorly presented public domain DVD I bought for about $5. The plot didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but the visuals were a real treat. After some research, I found out that after its release, the film was truncated, and the plot veered into some strange territory because it did so poorly at the box office. So, I tracked down the novel it was based off of, and it was a whole new experience. The characters made sense, missing scenes put others into perspective, and most of all, it was how the movie was supposed to have been seen (the director’s wife wrote the novel at the same time the movie was being made). 

Throughout the years, pieces of “missing” scenes have been found in various film museums around the world and plugged back where they belong. Now that the film has been restored to almost its full length (and with the correct plot), I feel like it hasn’t just been a nice movie, but something lovely I witnessed being rebuilt.

Sunrise (1927)

A sweet movie about a husband and wife falling in love with each other again. The film starts out with the husband conspiring with his mistress to kill the wife ... so they have a lot to overcome.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Even if you know nothing about the history of this character (or care), the look of the film will blow you away. Originally, it was meant to be watched completely silent (i.e. no soundtrack), but in 1995, Richard Einhorn wrote a stunning score for the film which even stands alone as a great piece of music.
Because this movie came at the end of the silent era, the cinematography is gorgeous. The acting style (while extremely emotional), is much more natural than films from even a decade before. [581 year old spoiler!] You'd even swear they were burning the actress at the end.



Asphalt (1929)
This movie stars the lead actor from Metropolis, and it's a fun movie about a cop who falls in love with a thief.

The End = The Beginning

Just hanging with Nick

Preparing for my graduation at Arrojo Cosmetology School has me full of mixed emotions. On one hand, I'm excited to be on my way to getting a job I'm actually going to love (not tolerate--LOVE) ... to be able to do something with my hands that will make me happy to go out every morning. On the other hand, I've made some great friends at the school, and I feel like I could work in the student salon forever with the way we get along. Unfortunately, in about a week, we'll say goodbye.

It's crazy that the 7 months I've spent here have gone by so fast, and yet it's almost like I've been doing this my whole life. ... Like working in all those offices never happened.

So what's next for me? Not sure yet. The moment I get snagged by the best salon in town, I'll let you all know so you can come get a gorgeous haircut from me.

Meanwhile...

I've been editing like crazy on The Silent Treatment, getting it ready for whatever is next. Also starting to brainstorm about future volumes in the series -- and if that isn't a good use of my subway time, I don't know what is.

Kat Shergill

Because I've been spending the past few days sprucing up my novel The Silent Treatment, I thought I'd give its heroine her own blog space: check out Kat Shergill Mysteries for information about novel releases and short stories. Since the mysteries follow a definite timeline (unlike, say, Nancy Drew, who remained the same age for 70 years), I've decided to create "filler" stories for interesting things that happen between the novels ... you know, to keep you guys interested.

The first appeared on the blog Generations, called Do Not Spoil the Ending, in which Kat and her friend Bridget get into trouble in Canada.

Without further ado, I'll go back to editing so I can get this novel public soon!

Silent Movies 101

The image most of us get when thinking about silent movies has a lot to do with railroad tracks and mustache-twirling villains. TV shows and commercials use clips of people falling down or being chased by a group of baton-weilding police because they're in the public domain. But those clips probably do nothing to make the average person want to break out an hour long silent movie.

That's exactly what I thought when my mom sat a tween me in front of the TV, put in a cassette of Buster Keaton's The Cameraman, and said, "Watch this. It's funny."




Initially, I was stunned at how much the characters just looked like ordinary people (with a lot of makeup on). They weren't too fast or being tied with rope --  I thought, "Wow, that's what the twenties looked like!" And then I got caught up in the absurd story. Yeah, it was funny, and it also opened a door for me.

Some twenty years later, I've taken the love for the genre and given it to one of my characters (since she's probably the closest I'll come to having a child). Kat Shergill finds a small coil of film in a jewelry box she buys at an estate sale, and after playing it, realizes it's a historic piece from a silent movie, starring her favorite actor.

The idea of finding a lost film (or a lost fragment) is nothing I made up. Unfortunately, because the technology to replay a film at home wasn't really around in the first half of the century, many early films were intentionally destroyed or improperly stored, which caused them to deteriorate.

Occasionally, though, collectors kept films and hid them away. The Passion of Joan of Arc is a good example of a pristine copy of a presumed-lost film being discovered and subsequently distributed on DVD. (The Passion of Joan of Arc (The Criterion Collection) Spine #62)

Silent movies came in all genres, from nearly every country. My personal favorites are from German Expressionism, the first and last generally listed as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and Metropolis (1927). The genre is full of dark themes, interesting, angular sets, and "horror" plots. The stiff acting takes getting used to, but once you suspend your disbelief, they're a nice escape.