Melissa Alvarez, is an award winning author, graphic artist and website designer who obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Tech. She has always been an entrepreneur and owned several successful businesses with her husband. Melissa became involved in the publishing industry in 2000. She formed New Age Dimensions to self-publish her first book, The Phoenix’s Guide To Self-Renewal, which was released in January 2001. It quickly landed in Amazon.com’s Top 1000 where it stayed until it went out of print. At the time, Melissa was manufacturing the 416-page book in her home and eventually couldn’t keep up with the demand. Melissa says, “The learning process that went with the publication of this book was phenomenal. I jumped into the industry in an unconventional way but it was fun and worthwhile.”
Between March of 2004 and February of 2006, Melissa, founder and CEO, operated New Age Dimensions as a small press. The company had 40 authors and over 70 titles released. During this time Melissa designed the book covers, created the print book layouts and ebook files, designed and maintained websites for the company as well as some of the authors. Melissa had the final decision on contracted books. The company won awards for website design and the books published received numerous five star reviews and won many awards including EPPIE’S, the Oscars of ePublishing.
Because of the industry contacts made when Melissa worked as The Guide To Romance Fiction at About.com, she decided to release her first paranormal romantic suspense novel, Night Visions, under the pen name Ariana Dupré. She wanted the book to stand on its own, to receive good or bad reviews because of the writing, not because she knew a lot of people in the romance industry or because she owned the publishing company. Melissa didn't want her jobs, past or present, to affect the reviews in any way (good or bad). So she kept Ariana's real identity a secret until enough reviews came in that she knew the book had indeed earned success on its own. Night Visions became a multiple award winning title that is currently published by Cerridwen Press along with her latest titles, Paradise Designs in Beneath A Christmas Moon and Talgorian Prophecy.
In the past, Melissa has been a regular columnist for Suite Magazine, a writing correspondent for The American Kennel Club, a contest judge, a free lance editor, and she is considered a publishing expert and is listed on a Writer’s Digest Top 100 website as such and has appeared on radio shows in the same capacity. As an internationally renowned clairvoyant advisor, with experience in many different areas of metaphysics and as a paranormal romantic suspense author, Melissa wrote an article about the emergence of the psychic fiction genre for Romantic Times BOOKclub Magazine. She has also been published in The Writer's Net Anthology of Prose, Paranormal Experiences Volume One, New Age Dimensions Holiday Extravaganza, and was quoted Book Marketing A-Z by Francine Silverman, How To Operate A Successful Pizza & Sub Restaurant by Shri Henkel, Successful Meetings by Shri Henkel and Book Promo 101 by Nikki Leigh.
Melissa is the founder of International Paranormal Fiction Month, a member of Romance Writer’s of America including the following chapters: PASIC, RWA Online, Kiss Of Death, Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal, and From The Heart. She is also a Publishing Expert at Moonspinners Ask the Experts (Writer's Digest Top 100 Website) and a Spirituality & Publishing Expert at BookPromotionNewsletter.com. She is also listed in the top ten psychics on bestpsychics.com.
Melissa hosts three radio shows on Blog Talk Radio. They are: The Reader's Round Table - interviews with authors and those involved in metaphysics. One free psychic reading live each week. Show is on hiatus until the Fall.
Celtic Seers - This is a show hosted by Celtic Seers Sally Painter and Melissa Alvarez that will start in September 2008. Discussions include all things paranormal and metaphysical.
Friesian Ink Radio - this show discusses horses, training, showing and other horse related topics.
Melissa can speak or write about the following topics:
• The publishing industry – how to get started, self publishing, owning a small press, critiquing, manuscript formatting, romance fiction, the submission process, looking at both sides of the industry as a publisher and author, ebooks, psychic fiction, and many other topics.
• Metaphysics – clairvoyance, past lives & past life readings, ghosts & hauntings, developing your psychic abilities, spiritual awakenings, spirit guides, empathic abilities, psychometry, telepathy, divination, life paths and lessons, connecting with your higher self, unlocking latent abilities, meditation on the go, crystals, chakras, tarot, pendulums, third eye activation, karma, soul quests, palmistry, elemental spirits, protecting with white light and much more.
I can finally announce that I've signed two new contracts with The Lotus Circle for two titles in their To Go series. The first book is Handwriting Analysis To Go and the second is Color Power To Go. I'll have more information about these when I have a release date.
And I just found out that the anthology I'm in with fellow authors Eden Robins and Karen McCullough titled, Beneath A Christmas Moon, will be going to print sometime this summer. Talgorian Prophecy, my paranormal romantic suspense t… Continue
I am so not ready for Christmas. I just realized I don't have much time either. One good thing is the DH is off Friday and possibly all next week, so I can give him a few chores to do, which may help some. I'm counting on him to put stamps and labels on the Christmas cards, and do a few things around the house to straighten it out some. Unfortunately, I'm the organizer in the family, so I can't expect too much on the getting-the- house ready front. That's pathetic, since I'm not very organized. (g)
Anyway, I hope to get the house into decent shape before Christmas, when I do my annual meal for the family. There's also that Christmas list to get together. Time is ticking away.
What about you? Are you ready for Christmas? Or do you celebrate another Holiday? If so, are you ready?
One of the main reasons for writing "Cynthia's Attic" came from my failure - failure to appreciate my ancestors. Our family stories are probably no more or less interesting than most, and I went out of my way to avoid remembering most of them or asking questions about my grandparents lives.
For instance. Did I bother to ask my grandfather what it was like playing in the first night football game in America?
Or did I try to find out just which relative "supposedly" sold a city block on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles for $20,000? Guaranteed, I would not be sitting here writing a blog had that particular relative held on to the property.
Then there's the story, "Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou," of my great-great grandfather, Augustus Boilliat who disappeared in 1860 while taking a load of produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans? Oh, sure I've read different accounts about what happened to him, but lost forever are the stories his grandson (my grandfather) could've told me about facts he'd heard from my great-great grandmother, Marie Julia, about her husband's disappearance.
I remember a few accounts told by my dad about his adventures as a teenage cave guide at one of the largest caves in the Southern Indiana area, Wyandotte, but I only have to guess at some of the adventures he must've had.
That's why I'm writing adventures I wanted my ancestors to have; adventures I can enjoy with them through the eyes and voice of my character, Gus.
The idea for Cynthia's Attic: The Magician's Castle came from detailed genealogy research done by my cousin, Betty. Long before the Internet, she traveled to Switzerland to search for documents that would tie our great-grandmother, Harriet Kistler, to Peter Kistler the First, President of the Republic of Bern, 1470-1480. I've tried to honor the Kistler family in the fourth adventure in Cynthia's Attic.
Thanks, Morgan, for having me as a guest!
Mary Cunningham
Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning 'Tween fantasy/mystery series, Cynthia’s Attic. She is proud to announce the release of book four, "The Magician's Castle," Dec 1, 2009. Her children's mystery series was inspired by a recurring dream about a mysterious attic. After realizing that the dream took place in the home of her childhood friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped and the writing began.
She is also co-writer of the humor-filled, women's lifestyle book, "Women Only Over Fifty (WOOF)," along with published stories, "Ghost Light" and "Christmas Daisy," A Cynthia's Attic short story.
To celebrate the release of "The Magician's Castle," (Quake/Echelon Press, DEC 1, 2009), a winner will be chosen on each blog stop to receive a copy of the "Cynthia's Attic" short story, "Christmas With Daisy!" So, be sure to make a comment!
Monday, I'm over at my group blog, http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/, where I'm blogging about the mystery of the missing checks. Come on over and find out what it's all about.
I'm firming up some dates for speaking engagements in 2010. One's tentatively set for March 28, at 1:30 at the Niles Public Library, another probably in mid May at the Schaumburg Township District Library.
Also, coming up is a radio interview at WJJQ again on May 7, at 9:35 a.m. before my booksigning May 8 at Cover to Cover Books in Tomahawk, WI.
I've heard that some people are more afraid of public speaking than of dying. Surprisingly, I find it easier each time I do it. As long as I have my cheat sheet with me to glance down at once in a while for security and I like what I'm talking about, I'm okay.
What about you? Do you like to talk or would you rather not?
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Morgan Mandel