THE FOREST PORTAL: Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

THE FOREST PORTAL: Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

A short story about a long journey in writing.

I feel that things that happen in a person's life can be a definite driving force in that individual's life for writing. I know that not everyone can articulate well in the written word, but I believe everyone has a story in them. For those who are able to articulate well on paper, then they are truly blessed. I believe that Authors find inspiration for their creations through something that may have happened in their lives, whether it comes from a tragic incident, a happy event, or maybe even a trip they may have been on.

I remember I loved to write short stories as a child, then I started to write more seriously when I was around fourteen years old.
As a child I always had a very vivid, wild imagination. I think sometimes it came from a feeling of loneliness, although I had three sisters and two brothers, none of whom had any intellectual interest and needless to say, there really wasn't any moral support for me from them. My parents were also very busy. If they were not working, they were fighting, but I have to say, my family gave me quite a bit of subject matter to write about. lol!


I remember my mom would ground me, sometimes for a month at a time, which was not warranted, especially for a month at a time, but she always took pleasure in making me miserable. Actually, with all the time I had on my hands, I would read books; watch Mystery movies, Thrillers and Science Fiction movies and TV shows. Many times I would take pen and paper in hand, (there were no home computers in those days) and I would reflect on what I had watched and read and write my own material.

When I was sixteen, I wrote a full manuscript and now when I look back on it, I wish I had turned it in to my English teacher at school, but I was unsure of my writing then, although I thought it was good, but, of course, I had no one in the family to talk to about it and most certainly no family support at all, so, with me being a little shy back then about my work, I decided not to let anyone see it.
As I got older, the demands of work and school pretty much monopolized my time, so I really did not have the time to put into my writing.

I remember throughout my young adult life, I would write short stories, mainly because I had a story in me and I felt I had to get it down on paper. That happened to me from time to time throughout my life, then with work, kids and taking care of everything else, well, I had precious little time to sit and write, but when I did, I enjoyed those times immensley! I wrote not only because writing relaxes me, but because I felt drawn to it.

I remember when I started The Forest Portal, it was basically because I wanted to put myself up for a challenge. I kept adding to the story over time. The more I wrote it, the more interesting it became for me and I was motivated to keep writing in my spare time. I actually started the book in 2003. I was going to school during this time but I managed to finish the book in 2005. After many, many revisions, (it took much longer than I expected because my daughter had a spinal fusion, which is a very invasive back surgery for Scoliosis), well after her recovery and she was able to start back to school and after I finished college, I worked full time, but I still worked on the revisions to my book when I had the time to put into it. Well, a couple of years later, after many, many revisions, I started to entertain the idea for publication. I talked to my kids and husband about it and they said I ought to send my manuscript in to some publishers and see what happens.

I remember the day when I got the call from Publish America telling me that they wanted to publish my book! That was a life changing day for me!

The following is a short synopsis of The Forest Portal.

This book tells of three teens as they embark on a time traveling journey into the past. They are swept up in an unknown world where they save the life of a rapist, obviously not knowing it at the time. They also save a young woman from being raped by the same man they saved from certain death, but they inadvertently end up ruining the life of the young woman as well as wiping her entire family off the face of the earth! Cameron feels he is responsible for hurting this young woman and her future family, not to mention the chaos that he and the other two teens, Collette, his sister and Taden, their friend cause as they unintentionally continue to interfere with history. Will he be able to undo the damage that he and the other two teens created?

Prize Giveaway!!
My prize giveaway for my Book Tour is a $50.00 Visa Gift card and a signed copy of my book to the person who comes closest to guessing the plot to the sequel of The Forest Portal.
If you would like to participate, please leave your guess in a comment on this page,
(if you choose to leave your guess in the comment section, please include your email so that I may contact you if you are the winner), or you can email your guess to me at my contact email address below.

melody.dempsey@hotmail.com

Website: www.authormelodydempsey.com

Purchasing website for The Forest Portal:
http://www.publishamerica.net/product87237.html

Blog links:
http://melodydempsey.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=3

http://melody-dempsey.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-reading.html

Mel's Fun Forum:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/formResponse?formkey=dDBsTTRZbzFZTHl2bGYxRTVGREFIU2c6MQ&theme=0AX42CRMsmRFbUy00OTA1ZTQ2OS02MmI2LTQ3NzMtOTliOS0zZWFlMjM0MDc5MmQ&ifq

Keeping Characters Real

The Characters in a Novel, Short Story or even a Journal piece should be potrayed as normal, regular people. Giving the character life, i.e., having them show emotions, whether it's a positive, negative, sad, or showing excitement, helps the reader connect with the characters. I feel that it is important to see the characters as people. To see them in three dementional instead of one dementional.
When I verbalize my characters, I show emotion through their dialogue, action amd very descriptive emotions. My characters are not perfect and, of course, I don't want them to be. I use real, everyday venacular lanquage, no fancy words, and I also feel that "colorful lanquage" keeps it real when you are potraying anger in your characters because that is usually what happens in real life. I'm not saying to go overboard with colorful words, just keep them in the realms of reality; making the character reasonable, but real. Now, when showing raw feelings, then show that raw feeling through means that are true to life. I feel that it is important to show those raw feelings through very vividly descibed actions, descriptive words and describing the inner feelings that the character is experiencing at the very moment you are writing about.

Please don't forget to participate in the prize giveaway! I am givng away a $50.00 Visa Gift Card and a signed copy of my book, The Forest Portal to the first person who can guess what the plot will be in the sequel to The Forest Portal! You can leave your guess in a comment, ( Please leave your contact email in the comment in case you are the winner so that I may contact you), or you can send me your guess via my contact email.
If you would like to purchase The Forest Portal, you can do so at the following website:
http://www.publishamerica.net/product87237.html

Signed books can be purchased through me for a discount as long as I have them on hand. You can contact me via my contact email below:
melody.dempsey@hotmail.com