I’m thrilled to announce the release of my book, which is now available on Amazon.com!
The title of my book is An Altered Existence: Fictitious Stories About Faces from the Past. It’s a combination of both my writing and altered art, and I’m so happy to see the project come to fruition!
About the Book (from the back cover)
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An Altered Existence is a collection of short stories, each illustrated with a vintage photo. These photos, also known as cabinet cards, were “orphans” collected from flea markets and antique stores. They sparked the author’s imagination, and resulted in 14 short stories illustrated with photos “altered” by the author.
- A photo of a bearded man with haunted eyes is paired with a silver key, and a story of a family with hoarding tendencies emerges.
- A wedding portrait of a young couple, combined with a gold wedding band and the words “false” and “true”, yields a tale about a gentle schoolteacher who sets her small town’s rumor mill on fire when she poses for a photo with a local scoundrel, though they’re not engaged or married.
- A young girl’s portrait, when paired with vintage buttons, births a story that many can relate to: loss, and the subsequent struggle to feel whole again.
Look into these 14 portraits from long ago, and venture into the “altered existences” they inspired. This collection includes stories about life, love, birth, death, self-acceptance, salvation, and taking chances. Their stories just may be our stories, too…*
GIVEAWAY!
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Please spread the word!
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51 Comments
How exciting! Congratulations! I will spread the word about your book. Thanks for the chance to win one!
brilliant ideas, and great inspiration for art and paintings to come!
Congrats!! and much success!!
xxoo
Vanessa KiKi Johanning
RhinestoneContessa.com
How Awesome. What a great idea. Congrat to you!!!
The cover is awesome steampunk! Don’t think I can wait until your Lincoln book signing to get a copy. Congratulations!
Can’t tell you how thrilled I am for you! Can’t wait to get a copy in my hands, then disappear into my sewing room (only place I am relatively undisturbed!) for several hours to pore over the pages. And thanks for the opportunity to win a signed copy!
Yay Melody!!! I’m so happy for you and can’t wait to see the finished product! And if I win a signed copy, I’ll give the copy I just ordered from Amazon to another avid reader and spread the word. Congratulations!!
Hooray, you did it! Wishing you much success with the sale of your first book.
Congratulations!! I am so excited for you!! I love the artwork and can’t wait to see what’s inside. I wouldn’t expect anything less than amazing from such a talented human being. Wishing you continued success sweet Melody.
Much good luck with the sale of your book, Melody! It sounds like a fun read!!
Holy Moly! Melody’s book is now for sale!!
Can’t wait to read it .
I can’t wait to have this in my hands! This looks absolutely delicious, Melody! Wow, what a terrific project you’ve completed! Bravo! Bravo!
Many congratulations! What a great concept. And I’m sure it’s beautiful in its execution.
Huge congrats, Melody! wishing you the best. Abrazo!
Congratulations Melody! A unique and eminently collectable book. I have my fingers crossed, but good luck to all.
WooHoo! Congratulations! Can’t wait to check it out!!!
Hi Melody, how exciting for you. It seems we have a friend in common in Barb Langan. she sent me notcie of your book as well. I am so happy for you. Best of luck to you and to me in the contest.
This is awesome! I love historical fiction types of books and look forward to reading yours. I’m not a big blogger but will certainly try to keep up with yours.
Congrats on your new release!
Shari
Such a fabulous idea to combine two things you are passionate about. Congratulations!
Best wishes and congratulations!
Melody – congrats on the book – can’t wait to read and see it!!
Congratulations Melody. Can’t wait to read it.
Congrats on getting your book published. Thanks for a chance to win a copy. I wish you many successes.
Congratulations Melody! So exciting – I always feel sad when I see those old photos left with no names and no stories… Such a great idea! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to win one of your books too.
Best of luck, Lorraine
Congratulations! You already know I’m a huge fan of yours hehe. I will spread the word 😀
Congrats! It’s very interesting cause I would have never thought you’d do a book like this. I’m sure it will do well! I’d love to win one. Spreading the word for ya!
Congratulations! You are such an inspiration! You have taught me, as a not-so-artistic grade one/two teacher, to embrace art and just go for it. This is then past onto my students and all of us benefit. I can imagine writing a book is also scary, but you did it! Way to go! I look forward to reading it even if I am not one of the lucky receivers. 🙂
Congratulations! I am so excited for you and wish you the very best. The cover looks great. Wishing you much success, which I believe will come.
Melody, the cover of your book is wonderful and it sounds great. Congratulations, I hope your book does really well. I look forward to reading it.
Hello, I just learned about you and your creative book through the yahoo group and just wanted to say congratulations on your publishing achievement! Your book idea reminds me of the many vintage photos I’ve collected that started some stories in my head…I collected the photos to use for art or cards and I’m now inspired to return to that idea after hearing about your book. Thank you for sharing your inspiration and thank you for the opportunity to win a copy of your book!
PS: I love your art program of art journals for at-risk youth!
Excited to get this book. Hope Honey sees it on my wish list! Would be a perfect gift.
Would love to be included in the drawing for your wonderful new book.
Love the concept, i often will find myself doing the same thing around vintage photographs.
Much success to you!
Congratulations to you, my dear friend! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of your book…and I want one signed by YOU whether I win one or not…I’ll be in touch!
Sending big hugs your way…
xo
Debbie
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Hi Melody, Congratulations! These are exciting times for you. I look forward to reading your book and spreading the word.
Congrats!!!! I cannot wait to read it! I love the whole concept!!!! No book about bunnies, huh? Saving that for the next one? :0)
I can understand how vintage photographs got your imagination going. But to go on and write stories to bring the photos to life is a real accomplishment. I, too, am looking forward to reading your book.
Dear Melody, what a wonderful book idea! I would be honored to receive a signed copy! I so admire your scrapbook work with the kids and your dedication to enlightening their lives through art! looking forward to reading your short stories. well done!
best regards from Germany
Karin
Melody, is there no end to your talent. I’m really impressed!
You go girl!
congratulations on your new book!! thanks for the chance to win one!
Hi Melody, Your book arrived today and I read the first story. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the story and the characters, and of course the wonderful altered photo. You would not believe how the story resonated with me. I can’t wait to read the rest of the book. Karen
Karen,
Thank you so much for commenting and sharing that with me. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book so far! I hope you enjoy the other 13 stories just as much. :] And thank you for purchasing my book!
Melody
Congrats Melody!
I am thrilled for you~
It sounds amazing
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got your email, thanks again for being an inspiration to us all!
Congratulations! It sounds like a fascinating book!
Congratulation and Much Success!!!
So excited for you!
Congratulations on your book. It looks fantastic.
Do your bunnies run around your home? Are they box trained?
Evette Rice
Best of luck with the new book!
How exciting!! Congrats and wishing you great success on the new book venture–looks like a winner 🙂 ps Bunnies are never wrong!
Evette,
Thanks! Yes, the bunnies are box trained – which is great. They’re outside on our (walled and shaded) patio during the day so they can move about, hop, stretch, and nap. We have them indoors during the evening. They get “free range bunny time” for a few hours, where they get to hop around and explore. The sleep in a very large cage/crate. They’re spoiled, and have us – their humans – well trained. :]
Melody
Congratulations, Melody, your book cover is fabulous, as are the bookmarks, etc. I think the stories will be great fun to read and associate with the illustrations. Best of luck with the book.
Congratulations, Melody.
Also, I will have papers, stickers, etc. available for your classroom projects. We will need to work out how to get them to you.
Karen
CONGRATULATIONS, Melody! I love the cover of your book and would LOVE to win a special signed copy, crossing my fingers!!!
Tami