Stay Awhile Longer

Another Mt Pleasant Story is HERE!

28
Oct
2022

Please Stay Awhile Longer

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28 Oct 2022

Dear Readers

After two-plus years in the making, the third installment of the Mt Pleasant stories is here! Stay Awhile Longer was inspired by two events.

The first was the death of my brother Henry Lewis Powell in June 2020. And, yes, when I created the character Louie Pyle in the first book, I was thinking of my tall, handsome brother who watched The Andy Griffith Show reruns and appropriated Goober Pyle’s corny jokes for his own use. My brother could be serious when a situation called for sincere reflection but, in his natural state of being, he was a funny guy. He relentlessly bombarded family, friends, his customers, and total strangers with jokes and entertaining stories.

Louie’s family wishes he could have stayed awhile longer on this earth.

 

The second spark of inspiration came from a discussion my creative editor and I had about the Coronavirus Pandemic and past century plagues. In the fourteenth century, a young scholar Giovanni Boccaccio penned The Decameron which is a fictional account of Italian life after the Black Death of 1348. Young Florentine survivors retreat into the countryside to “social distance” themselves from the ravages of the plague. To give their minds respite from their devastations, they entertain one another with stories ranging from morality tales to family yarns.

And, so, like Boccaccio’s characters, Mt Pleasant’s Louie Pyle and his small circle of family and unlikely companions make it through the 2020 pandemic by telling one another stories to escape from their modern day worries, albeit for a short while.

I hope Stay Awhile Longer lifts your spirits in some small way.

Melissa Powell Gay

2
Oct
2020

Twenty-first century technology inspires new twist on old sci-fi plot.

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02 Oct 2020

 

If you’re a science fiction fan searching for a new twist on the time travel genre, Talking To Herself  is your next book to read. Setting aside the 1963 British police call box of Dr. Who , you’ll enjoy the way characters fall back into their past in a new 21st century mode of transport. How? No spoilers here.

Or, if you prefer your fiction grounded in realism, Talking To Herself is that, too. What! How can time travel be part of a story based in realism?  Jack Finney did it in his novel Time and Again.

While living in the year 2049, Amara Vivian Graves somehow finds herself back in 1999. In order for her time journey to appear plausible, I looked to the future and thought about what ordinary life will be like thirty years from now. How will we get around in 2049? How will we live? Entertain? Look after one another?

Inspired by technology futurists, I stretched the capabilities of actual medical and robotic advancements to create a somewhat believable world where Amara, with the help of a first-rate medical plan and a couple of robotic friends, travels to another time dimension.

Today, advancements in medicine delivery systems and genetic therapies are treating cancer and other maladies more effectively. Think what another thirty years of development will bring. Thanks to the Human Genome Project, we’ll have an opportunity to outlive our genetic projections for longevity.

The robotics industry is also excelling exponentially. Two decades ago manufacturers and the U.S. military began designing robotic manpower to perform dangerous, strenuous, and repetitive tasks. These types of bots are now common throughout manufacturing industries. The first generation of robotic technology is well passed its design and development phases and has quickly moved onto application deployment stages. Think of the flawless executions of  SpaceX’s self-launching and self-returning booster shuttles, they’ve become as common as commuter trains from DC to New York. The quick acceptance of self-operating vehicles is another example of universal robotic use. Some of these vehicles are rolling around on the surface of Mars.

In this new century, waves of second and third generation robotic helpers are emerging. Google Boston Dynamics and Hanson Robotics. With the benefit of artificial intelligence (computer science building “smart” machines to perform tasks requiring human intelligence), it’s only a matter of time before we’re sharing our 55+ living quarters with a robot like Mia from the tv show Humans.

I hope you share my optimism about the future. With such optimism we can dream that time travel into our past might be possible in the near future. To find out one way it could happen, read Talking To Herself.

Melissa Powell Gay

2020

Talking To Herself, print and ebook format, will be available at

Amazon and other online bookstores by the end October 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17
Aug
2020

A new book is on the way.

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17 Aug 2020

Dear Reader Friends,

Are you looking for an escape from the crazy realities that are the year 2020?

Talking to Herself, my latest novel, is scheduled for an October 2020 release. The adventurous time travel story features AI robots, love gone awry, and mortal revelations. Perhaps its Christmas setting will inspire you to buy a copy for each reader on your seasonal shopping list—including yourself.

Talking to Herself will be available in print and e-book format through the online ordering sites of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indie Bound.

Happy reading,

Melissa

13
Jan
2020

New Year Resolution for an OK Boomer

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13 Jan 2020

After a few weeks of waking in the middle of the night from heart palpitations, I decided it was time to check in with my primary care physician to confirm that my body parts were aging gracefully.

An assisting nurse asked me the ubiquitous first question, “Mrs. Gay, has anything changed since your last visit?”

“Other than thinking everyone is a dumbass, I’m having a little trouble sleeping through the night.”

Being a professional, she politely ignored the first part of my response and inquired about the second.

Because my civility filter hasn’t completely eroded, I apologized for my language as she wrapped the blood pressure band around my arm.

Later, recalling the nurse’s surprised, nonverbal response to my surly answer, I realized I’d become the crusty curmudgeon who instills fear in children and causes adults to roll their eyes. Oh. My. God. I’ve become Red Forman from That ‘70s Show.

Getting older is not the cause of my Tourette’s like symptom. I’m quite certain of it. Something more perverse is causing my recent increase in coarse language and undignified behavior.

I have a bad case of CDM—common digital mediaitis—a condition brought on by the over consumption of dubious, and mostly unsubstantiated, drivel seeping out of my smartphone from the gluttonous troughs of social media applications and entertainment news broadcasts.

My recovery plan to restore the cheery disposition that people know and love me for is the focus of my 2020 New Year’s resolution. From this day forward, I’m channeling Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” pledge to abstain from swearing and to forgo my obsessions of reading about everyone else’s opinions on why Harry and Meghan are leaving the family business.

16
May
2019

Reader Reviews Count

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16 May 2019

I recently read a thriller by a popular novelist. In her acknowledgements she thanked her editor, who is also the senior vice-president of a major publishing company.

When it comes to author and book promotions, an infinitesimal number of writers have an army of literary staff and a virtual warehouse of data algorithms propelling their works into reader fan stratosphere.

But for every James Patterson or J. K. Rowling there are thousands of other novelists out here telling fantastic stories. We rely on family, friends, and online acquaintances to spread the word about our works.

A reader can show kindness to an “unsung” author in a single, simple way:

Write an Online Review.

The review doesn’t have to be elaborate. But it must be honest. Click on the star count of your choice or write a few words. Here are some examples of reader comments:

One Star: “Wasn’t my cup or tea.”

Two Stars: “Like the story but the main character is (fill in the blank.)”

Three Stars: “Almost as good as (name of favorite book in the genre of the book being reviewed.)”

Four Stars: “Good book.” or “Kept me up all night.”

Five Stars: “Recommended it to my book club.” or “Can’t wait to read the sequel.”

Before you move on to your next read, show an author some love by taking a minute to tell the AI data minions about an amazing book you’ve discovered.

 

 

 

22
Jan
2019

The Hooker Indian Society and Robo Calls

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22 Jan 2019

My phone service requires me to include an area code whenever I call someone. When I dialed a local fabric store to inquire about an order, I fat-fingered the numbers, dialing 801 instead of the store’s area code 804.

Upon hearing an answering machine’s robotic “No one is available to take your call,” I realized my mistake. Without leaving a message, I hung up. I dialed the correct number and conducted my business with the very polite Cherisse at the fabric store.

A few minutes later my phone rang. Seeing area code 801 displayed on my phone, I assumed it must be the person from Utah curious about who would be calling from the area code designated for Virginia. Conditioned by receiving undue numbers of robocalls every day, mostly from Alice at the warranty department, I ignored the call. I reasoned, as it turned out incorrectly, the person would recognize my call for what it was, a misdial, and hang up.

Was it rude of me to not answer and explain my error?

Later that day I checked my voice mail and got an earful: “You called the Hooker Indian Society. I was wondering why the [UGLY WORD] you called me. You sound like a female.” The woman’s tone conveyed paranoia and enraged indignation at my audacity to intrude upon her business under false pretenses.

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Americans received an estimated 2.4 billion robocalls each month in 2016, that’s about 30 billion unsolicited calls a year. Unfortunately, the FCC and service providers’ efforts to prevent the unwanted intrusions have been outpaced by the slick entrepreneurs who continue to come up with ways to pique our collective curiosity enough to answer the call. And when we do, telemarketers demand our credit card and social security numbers least the warranty on the car expires or the IRS threatens to repossess the living room furniture and incarcerate our first born.

Like Ms. Hooker Indian Society, we’ve all been victims of phone abuse and held hostage in our own personal space. Receiving unsolicited calls, some bordering on harassment, is frightening. Seemingly credible threats and our inability to do anything about them leave us all feeling vulnerable and powerless.

Perhaps this is why the movie Taken is so popular. Upon receiving an anonymous call which threatens everything dear to him, Liam Neeson’s character Bryan Mills seeks and exacts revenge.

Oh, if only we mere mortals could do the same with robots and rude strangers on the other end of the phone connection.

 

28
Sep
2018

Every Now & Then has arrived.

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28 Sep 2018

Iris Lee, Bert Tyler Swanson, and Heyu have finished what they started in When Are You Leaving. In the second book in the Mt Pleasant series, their story of family life in Mt Pleasant’s present and past continues in Every Now & Then.

Find out why everybody called Henry Lee “Mr. Henry” and what happened to the valuable medallion found in Elizabeth Lee’s coat pocket. Does Heyu finally get a “forever” home? Does Iris adapt to her new, less sophisticated, life? Find the answers to these questions and more.

Available on Amazon Books and Indie Bound Books.

And, if Iris, Bert, and Heyu crawl into your heart, causing you to laugh and cry out loud, let others know. Rank or “like” Every Now & Then on Good Reads, Amazon Books, Google Books, or your favorite book website. Help them become as legendary as Scarlett, Celie, and Toto. 

Thanks to the many lovely people who helped in the creation of this book. Fans kept asking me what Iris was up to. First readers and editors persistently aided in the sculpting and polishing. I’m also grateful for Inkwell Book Company for transforming the manuscript into eye pleasing text (code for large print.) Iris thanks all of you, too.

 

6
Jan
2018

Click Bait Be Gone

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06 Jan 2018

Screen Shot 2018-01-05 at 8.14.07 PMClick bait bothers me. Yet, I can’t not click for fear of being the only person on the planet who doesn’t know the ten highly effective habits of millionaires.

Once Google informed the publishing universe that I had self-published a book, the promise of literary fortune flooded my mailbox and social media accounts. “Top five ways to sell more books, click here.” “Find a literary agent in less than ten days, sign up now.” “Learn how [IMPORTANT AUTHOR] writes blockbusters.”

These infinite “listicles,” which promise instant success, trick me every time. I click, hoping to discover easy solutions and shorter paths to literary immortality. Instead, I’ve lost time I can’t get back, time which I could have devoted to writing.

Having now spent a few years in the writing wardrobe, I’ve learned there are no shortcuts to writer’s Narnia. Serious reflection, writing every day, and interacting with a writing community are the true paths for obtaining literary goals. Add hard work and a pinch of luck for good measure.

As John Lennon sings: “So this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun,” I state my 2018 writing resolutions.

1st Resolution: avoid fleeting guarantees of instant New York best seller fame.

2nd Resolution: hold fast in my confidence as a writer with meaningful messages.

If 2018 is the year you’ve resolved to write your story, take advice from a novice novelist who’s been there. Spend less time traversing internet rabbit holes. Instead, kick off your writing year by interacting with other writers and those who want to help you succeed.

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Join me for James River Writers’ January Writing Show – A 2018 Creative Plan: Scheduling, Motivating & Organizing Your Writing Life. When: Jan. 31. Where: Firehouse Theatre 1609 W. Broad Street. Time: 6-8 pm

About Me

My name is Melissa Powell Gay. I live in Glen Allen, Virginia, USA. I write Southern stories about family relationships.

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