Melissa Huie The Broken Road Series

It has been way too long since my last post. I am terribly sorry for that. Between work, kids, and life in general, time has slipped by without me realizing it. But enough of that – here’s some updates.

Broken Promises

I can see the end in sight!!! (Well, because I’ve written the end and working backwards!) I’m close to completing the first draft of the manuscript. As all writers know, this is the first step of many. Then comes my editing, then my editor’s comments, then me having to make the changes, then having my betas read them. THEN comes the awesome piece that will be on your kindle. I’m taking my time, I don’t want to give you, my awesome readers, a shoddy piece of work. So please bear with me. It’s coming. Soon. I promise.

The Series.

So I’ve written an alternate ending to Broken Promises. There are now 2 possible outcomes. I’m not 100% sure which one I’m going to do…. and that’s what is keeping me from completing it. What happens in Broken Promises ultimately affects the entire series. That being said, there is more than likely at least seven books in the series. After Broken Promises, each book will feature a new main character and the stories will come from their point of view.

The Broken Road.
I’ve seen the reviews for The Broken Road and I’m so happy that you all love it. However there are some comments regarding my editing that I feel deserve a reply. My fabulous editor did her job. She went through the entire manuscript and helped me with character development, writing style, and wording. However, and this is on me, she did not get the final manuscript for revision. I am solely responsible for my work. No one is paying me. Everything I do on this book with outside help, I pay for out of my own pocket. Yes, I made some grammical errors which I have fixed. I tried to do this myself and the results weren’t perfect. In my own excitement, I rushed the process and even though I read through each line a million and one times, I still had errors. I hate that I gave you a not-perfect edition – but at the same time, I really feel the minimal errors did not detract from the story. If you feel differently, I’m sorry.

For this week (March 12 to the 16th) The Broken Road will be free. I’ve done everything I can to fix the errors and I hope you’ll love the connection between Megan and Shane.

Thanks for being such awesome readers and I really appreciate all the comments and love you’ve given me. You all are the reasons why I’m writing, without you – there would be no series.

xoxo – Melissa –

PS – Since I’m always on my smartphone – Check out my fb site and chat with me!

Hi all!!!

I wanted to give you some updates on what’s been going on with the series, my writing, and the chaos that is my life.

First and Foremost – I LOVE YOU GUYS! You are all the reason why I’m writing. The support you’ve shown me and love I feel is absolutely AMAZING! When I see comments on my FB page that people are hooked and they loved the book – it floors me. I want to reply - really? Seriously? You’re talking about my book right? Surreal to know that people other than my friends and family (whom I adore BTW!!) like what I do. So thank you, from the bottom of my coffee and chocolate laden heart.

Secondly – Between the days of November 1-17, 50 books were sold through Amazon. That’s great! So $50 went to the American Red Cross. Thank you for your support – and please keep donating – they could use the help.

Oh – and I did a free promo over the weekend. And my mind was blown away at the amount of people that downloaded The Broken Road. Once the promo ended, the book was downloaded 32,688 times. HOLY MOLY! That’s … that’s just bananas to me. I made #2 on Amazon’s Top 100 Free Ebook List, and #1 on both Amazon’s Top 100 Free Romance and 100 Top Free Literary Fiction. That’s freaking huge. So thank you – thank you thank you! I’ll be doing another free promo sometime in January.

Broken Promises - A lot of you want to know when book two is coming out. WELLL – Broken Promises SHOULD be out late February/early March. I say “should” because… well… I’m still writing it. Promoting The Broken Road, working all day, and life in general made Broken Promises take a backseat. But now that life is a little less hectic – I’m focusing all my free time on making it better than The Broken Road. (seriously – I should post pictures on how many loads of clean laundry are piled on my bed.)

I have a million ideas running through my head about the series – and I can’t wait to show you! I’m sure you’ll be just as excited as I am.

Melissa – xoxo.

Or otherwise known as – Happy don’t you dare look at the scale Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, gut-busting, drama free day yesterday. Every year since my husband and I have been together, we celebrate the holiday with my mother’s side of the family. I love going to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving. Its’ my favorite meal (literally – when I was pregnant with #1 – I asked my mom to make me a complete Turkey day meal – because I was craving it that badly). We eat early in the afternoon and pick at leftovers for dinner. Its far from formal, with everyone sitting on the floor/sofa and watching football. Yesterday was no exception – it was awesome (especially to see the Redskins kick the Cowboys’ behinds!).

When I was growing up, my grandmother – then my mother- would always make Thanksgiving lunch. The house would be a madhouse, with cousins running all over the place, my aunts bickering about how much pepper to use (they use a LOT), sneaking bits of turkey, the smell of candied yams (which, btw, apparently no one likes but me – why I didn’t know this years ago is beyond me), snacking on pickles and pimento cheese laced celery. The dads would be in the garage or in the basement watching football. After they called for lunch/dinner/linner?, it was a huge traffic jam in my mom’s small kitchen. Looking back – it was controlled chaos. And I loved every minute of it.

Now that my mom’s passed (8 thanksgivings have passed), I look forward to continuing the tradition. We go to my aunt’s house, where 2 of my mom’s sisters make the exact same type of turkey, stuffing, and broccoli and cheese mash, that my grandmother and mother made. We bicker about pies and cleaning up. And I love it. It reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of what I have to be grateful for. As much as we bicker, tease, etc, we are still family. And nothing can change that.

So I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. I hope you got to spend time with loved ones, either by relationships or by blood. I hope peace was forged between families, if only for one day. I hope fights were forgiven and resentments were laid to rest. I hope you and yours created memories that will last for forever.

xoxo melissa
(and I hope you get really great deals today on Black Friday!)

I was in NYC this past weekend to attend the Self-Publishing Expo. Expo was awesome, NYC was amazing – as usual.
I went to the city knowing that Hurricane Sandy was on her way, and slightly worried that I’d might not make it home to Washington, D.C. before she hit. Luckily, I made it out on the 12pm bus.. and home by 7pm to my stressed husband and stir-crazy kids. During and after the storm, we were lucky not to experience any power outages or flooding. But as you know, so many people were not so lucky. Seeing the devastation – on the news, social media and through my friends – makes my heart ache. I want to help. I want to get New Jersey, New York City, and the rest of my New England friends back on their feet.

From November 01 thru November 17, I will donate $1 from each ebook purchase and $2 for each print purchase of The Broken Road to the American Red Cross. The money will be used for clothing, food, shelter, and medical care for all those displaced or in need. And the need is great.

If you don’t want to buy a book, that’s totally cool. But please consider donating to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or any other legit charity (make sure its a 501-c charity. Beware of scams!).

No matter where you live, or who you are, we are apart of one community. So please help your friends, help your neighbors and help a stranger.

~~Melissa xoxo~~

American Red Cross
Salvation Army
How to check if a Charity is legit

Everyone has their story – where they were on September 11th, 2001. The tragic events of that day will live on forever as everything that we knew it – changed. Some for the better, others not so much. I look at my kids and hope that they never know of the fear we had, the sorrow we felt, or the sense of helplessness that overcame us as the day went on. The country – no the world – came together that day.

Tomorrow is a day of Remembrance. To remember those who were lost on that tragic day. To remember the strength we had and the healing that we had to do as we came together. We weren’t neighbors during that time; we were one. In the ashes of devastation, come healing and solidarity. Let’s remember that tomorrow and keep the feeling of love and country in our hearts, as we mourn for the ones we lost, pray for the ones still surviving, and be strong for those who are defending our country on the battlefield and behind the scenes.

Hug your family tighter tonight. Say hello to your neighbors. Mend a feud. Do something to make tomorrow worthwhile.

Melissa xoxoxo

Did you read The Broken Road? Do you want to know what happens to Megan and Shane? Well, I can’t tell you too much. It’s a secret.

BUT!!! I will give you a few hints. Want to hear about my latest WIP (Work in Progress)? I’ve been tagged by the most fabulous, snarky #badredhead herself, Ms. Rachel in the OC, author of the Mancode: Exposed and A Walk In The Snark, to bring you peeps the latest and greatest on my WIP. Plus I’ve tagged a couple new and wonderfully talented authors to share their WIP too!

Here are the rules:

***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) ***

Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them, and link back to my page (http://www.marksouza.com/2012/08/the-next-big-thing-zombiesaurus-rex/).

1. What is the working title of your book? So far, the working title is The Road Home to You. I have a couple of titles in my head that I’m toying around with. Unfortunately, the titles I love, a million other authors are using. So I’m trying to figure out which best fits the journey of Megan and Shane.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book? It’s the continuation of The Broken Road and picks up exactly where The Broken Road ends. I couldn’t leave The Broken Road with a happy ending, because it didn’t feel right. There is more to their story.

3. What genre does your book fall under? Romance, Suspense, Literary Fiction.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Oh this is funny because me and my friends chat about this all the time. I have SO many ideas. Simply because when I write, I must have someone in mind. Check out my pinterest page for The Broken Road. It gives some ideas.
Megan is hard because there is so much of me in her. Megan’s quirky and a little awkward, especially around men. I love the look of Anna Kendrick; she’s pretty darn cute plus she’s got spunk and Jennifer Love Hewitt has the curves and is beautiful.

As for Shane – I’ve always pictured Charlie Hunnam as Shane. He plays Jax on Sons of Anarchy and he just oozes sexy bad boy.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? It’s a journey of 2 people, trying to re-gain their trust and love, but deceit and deception still wage war in the shadows.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Self-published. I am happy right now with the lack of deadlines and doing my own quality control. In the future, once I get more of the series done, I’ll explore the traditional publishing route.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The very first draft, took about two years. I work full-time outside the home and I’m a wife and mother to three kids. Finding time to write is hard, but trying to keep the motivation and momentum going is even harder.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? That’s a good question, I’m not sure. Even though books are similar in the “theme” of the story, each writer has a way of telling it differently.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? I’ve had this idea in my head for a while, after hearing stories from friends and former colleagues. Their stories, pieced all together, ended up creating The Broken Road. I only started to put pen to paper when I helped a friend write his fan-fiction. I got the bug and haven’t stopped writing since.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? The Road Home to You will have a lot of the twists and turns that The Broken Road did. There is a lot of sarcasm and humor as well. If you loved (or even liked) The Broken Road, I’m sure you’ll like The Road Home to You just as much.

Now, it’s your turn. Come on and play. You know you want to…lol:

Pavarti K. Tyler, author of Shadow on the Wall

Suzie Carr, author of A New Leash on Life

Daniel Carter, author of The G6 Chronicles

Trish Mccallan, author of Forged in Fire

Eden Baylee, Author of Spring into Summer.

A big thank you goes out to my friend and fabulous author, Rachel from RachelintheOC.com and BadRedHeadMedia.com. Today is a hard day for me and my family but I have found that writing about it helps.

Taken from RacheintheOC.com

I’m honored to host author Melissa Huie (The Broken Road) here today with a touching tribute to her mother, and a cool story about a butterfly. Please give Melissa some love at the bottom in comments and check out her excellent book.

This day holds particular meaning for her. I’m so glad she decided to share it with us.

Flying With The Angels

Everyone has that moment in time, when your life as you know it has changed. That moment was mine, eight years ago today.

Frozen in time, my memories from that day still go thru my mind every day. Eight years ago, I was a twenty-three years old, with a husband and one year old daughter. I had just gotten home from work, enjoying the brief respite from mommyhood as my daughter was with my in-laws for the night. I was making a snack in my grey kitchen and on the phone with my friend Courtney, when a call beeped in. Checking the caller id, I saw it was my then brother-in-law, Xavier. The call changed my life.

“You need to get here quickly. Rocky found your mom, she wasn’t breathing. They took her to the hospital.” My heart stopped and I let out a cry of panic. I screamed for my husband, who ran quickly into the living room. We beelined for the car. The drive to West Virginia was the longest hour and half of my life. As we drove down the Dulles Toll Road in Loudoun County, I frantically made the calls to my mother’s three sisters. Listening to my aunt Barbara screaming her prayers to God to save my mother broke my heart even more. Then, the call came from Xavier, telling me to go to the house and not to the hosptial. I screamed the question, the dreaded question that my family demanded from me. I knew, deep down, the answer already.

“Is she dead, Xavier? Is my mom dead?” He choked on his sobs as he answered yes. I screamed. My husband shouted in disbelief. I hung up with Xavier and made the calls to my aunts. Listening to their sobs, their cries of despair, killed me. We got to the small home that my mother shared with my two stepsisters and my stepfather, Rocky. My younger sister, Laura, had already arrived and sobbed in my arms.

The week was the longest week of my life. As the calls were made and the arrangements were decided, we grieved. I grieved the loss of my best friend, of the best mother I could ever know. My mother was an amazing woman. She didn’t cure cancer; she didn’t go to the moon. She had her faults. But she was my mother; the mom who made me a full Thanksgiving dinner for my birthday because of pregnancy cravings. The same mom who taught me how to drive, to stand-up for myself in the face of bullies, to say no to friends who didn’t have my best interest in mind. The same mom who was there for me whenever I had a problem, allowed me to curse her out then cry on her shoulder, asking for forgiveness. At the funeral, her closest friends, her family, her business partners, all came together to celebrate her life. To tell me stories about how her good-natured laugh and kind heart touched their lives.

At the burial, I stood beside my husband, family and friends, listening to the pastor speak. I could see my daughter chasing butterflies close by, under the watchful eye of my sister-in-law. I happen to glance at the pastor, when I saw a butterfly land on his bible. He said, “Bless you,” and the butterfly flew away.

After the service, my husband, stepfather and I went back to my stepfather’s house, where he lived with my mom, where she died. We walked onto his front porch, and there was a butterfly, very similar to the one that landed on the bible. My stepfather told the butterfly, “I’ll be fine Nancy. I love you,” and walked into the house. When we came back out, the butterfly was still there. Shockingly, he bent down and the butterfly landed onto his finger. Rocky gently pressed his lips to beautiful creature and the butterfly fluttered over to the railing. Amazed, I did the same thing. I held out of my finger, gently brought it to my lips, and said a prayer. A prayer of thanks. And said goodbye.

But I never truly got to say goodbye. My mom was taken from our lives in such a swift and cruel manner; I am still coming to grips with it. It kills me everyday when I can’t call her and ask her for advice. It breaks my heart when my kids ask about her. My kids don’t know her, but they know the memories of her and they see her pictures prominently displayed in the house. She wasn’t here for the births of my sons, my niece or my nephews, but I know she’s watching over them. I know she’s watching over us.

When writing The Broken Road, I put so many elements of my own life and personality into the story. The urge to put my own mom in the book was overwhelming. I wanted everyone to know her, know that she was my rock in life, my guardian angel, my best friend. In The Broken Road, the mom is Norah. But her personality and heart, is my mom Nancy.

I love you, Mom.

*RachelintheOC

Rachel Thompson aka RachelintheOC is a published author and social media consultant. Her two books, A Walk In The Snark and The Mancode: Exposed are both #1 Kindle bestsellers! When not writing, she helps authors and other professionals with branding and social media for her company, BadRedhead Media. She hates walks in the rain, running out of coffee, and coconut. Buy Now : A Walk in the Snark * Mancode: Exposed

Thanks to Loren @ LKEditorial Services for letting me guest blog on their site! Please check out www.lkeditorial.com for great advice on marketing, editing, and writing your story!

Developing a Character That Your Reader Loves

Published July 13, 2012

Guest post by Melissa Huie author of the Broken Road Series shares her insight on developing a character your reader will love. Her book is sold exclusively on Amazon and is available for Kindle.

Melissa grew up in Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay, where her favorite memories took place near the water. Not having the physical coordination for most sports and the tendency to trip over air, she gravitated to books. She was never seen without a book. With her imagination running wild, she began to write her own stories at the age of nine, with her first book about a pet-loving family and the adventures they had. As time passed and Melissa grew up, reading and writing always stayed with her, becoming her escape from everyday life.

Melissa now lives near Washington, D.C. with her family, dog and a lot of fish. In between the chaos of laundry, chasing after her three children and trying to learn how to cook, Melissa finds her escape by feeding her addiction of reading and writing of love, suspense and sarcastic humor.

LK is excited to have her as a guest blogger!

Every reader has that one character that they just grab onto. The character that they relate to the most; the character that the reader can say, ” I would have said the exact same thing.” As an avid reader, I’m the exact same way. If the main character doesn’t draw me in within the first chapter, I’m hard pressed to finish the book, much less like it. I want to be able to place myself into the story. I want to cheer on the protagonist and kick the villain right in the nuts. I want to be in the main character’s shoes.

I wrote The Broken Road in first person, to bring you, the reader, into Megan’s life. I want you to relate to her. I want you to feel her awkwardness, her worries, her joys and her despair. Because everyone, at some time or another, has gone through the same stresses of love that Megan has. Most romances do not start with the woman being swept off her feet. They start with shyness and angst. Like many relationships, Megan’s romance with Shane begins with a deep crush and unrequited love. Being just friends with someone you’re in love with is hard enough, but seeing that person in a relationship is devastating. When Megan and Shane’s relationship starts going in the right direction, you feel their tension, their desire, and their heartache.

While writing in the first person may seem one-sided, I believe the reader is more invested. The reader is going through this emotional roller coaster with someone they can relate to and it draws them more into the story. They want the main character to succeed, to find love and to have that happy ending. The reader has felt the same feelings or has gone through the same awkward periods that the protagonist is going through.

Find a person to base your characters on. Who do they remind you of? Your Aunt Betsy? That pompous ass coworker? The sweet girl next door? Are they skinny or are they on the constant diet? Are they a smart-ass who always has a one liner for everything or too shy to look a handsome man in the eye? Bring their traits and their voices to the story. Make your characters relatable and give them flaws and quirks. No one is perfect and it’s easier for your readers to relate to your characters if they aren’t perfect either. Use your own experiences to draw readers in. Your characters will come alive when you infuse them with a back-story, memories and a speech dialect. Picture them in your mind, as the movie of your story plays. If you can relate to your character, then chances are, the readers can too.

Melissa can be contacted at:
Email: melissa@melissahuie.com
Twitter: @melissahuie
Facebook: facebook.com/melissahuie

After 4 years in the making, The Broken Road is finally available exclusively through Amazon.com for your Kindle! I am so excited and I hope you love it!! (For all you book purists out there, the paperback version will be available next month!)

Thanks to my fearless editor, Jessica at Swift Ink Editorial Services, I have completed the final edits to The Broken Road. I can’t tell you how flipping excited I am right now. The Ebook should be out this coming week – so be on the look out for it. I’m going to print on demand thru createspace.com – and it will take about a month or a little less to get the book ready for printing. Once that is done – I’ll be shouting from the rooftops, so you’ll know when it’s up.

I’m also working with Loren from L.K. Editorial on my media release. I can’t wait to show you what she has up her sleeves!!!

Don’t forget to catch me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/melissadhuie or on twitter at @melissahuie.

I will be adding a another sneak peek of The Broken Road this weekend, so make sure you check back!!!