Geek Girl Eats Cake

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MEL

Instead of featuring another interview article, here is a typical back page piece of magazines. I always enjoy the quick-fire questions where you can really find out more about the person featured but with really quirky questions.

Q. DESCRIBE YOUR WARDROBE LOVE.

I have this incredible pair of irregular Choice shoes. They have flowers that look like they have been rained on and rainbow trim around the edge with gold ornate straps. I love them!

And of course, it goes without saying how much I love my Alexander McQueen skirt which is like a painting of a dream, and my skull scarf.

Q. WHAT BOOK SHOULD EVERYONE READ?

There are so many! My favourite of all time though is Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Everything about it is perfection from the setting, to the characters to the writing itself. Pure Bliss!

Q. HOW DO YOU MAKE A GRAND ENTRANCE?

Confidence. Own the space you’re in.

Q. WHAT ARE YOUR TIPS FOR A FIRST DATE?

I married young, so not been on many. But I would say, be yourself. And charming. And funny. Oh, and dress nice. 😊

Q. WHAT SONG ALWAYS GETS YOU ON THE DANCEFLOOR?

I do a mean Beyonce, so Crazy in Love would be good. Or Lady Marmalade. Although saying that, the song I request from the DJ the most is Dr Dre’s Next Episode, so I’ll say that.

Q. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE GIFT?

Something personal. My favourite one ever was a song my husband wrote for my birthday about us. Composed, lyrics, everything, it was pretty special.

Q. HOW SHOULD I KEEP FIT?

Find something you enjoy, do it regularly and stick at it!

Q. HOW DO I SHIFT A HANGOVER?

Never had one. (I know! Extremely lucky.)

Q. WHEN WAS THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE?

Very tough. Probably, seeing Madonna at Hyde Park with my oldest friend. We were both massive fans and we also saw George Michael who came to watch it. We never dreamed we would get to see her as tickets always sold out so fast, so it was quite something. She was incredible!

Q. DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL THREE COURSE MEAL.

Love this question, ask people all the time. So, I definitely know my answer! I would have freshly baked bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip with for starter; homemade pizza made by me for mains, and sticky toffee pudding and clotted cream for dessert. I would drink Valpolicella Amarone with it all and savour every moment.

Q. YOU’VE MET THE CAST OF STAR WARS, WRAPPED YOUR ARMS AROUND JASON MOMOA, JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE AND DRIVEN A BATMOBILE. IS THERE ANYTHING ON YOUR WISHLIST YOU ARE DYING TO DO?

I would love to do so much! Drive a tank, do a panto, and learn French or Italian.

Q. WHERE IS YOUR WRITING PLACE?

At the moment, on my front lawn with a white chair and a little table. I do have a writing room, but at the moment it is full of Christmas things! We have no space in our house.

Q. I’M HEADING TO THE BAR, WHAT ARE YOU HAVING

Jack Daniels and coke. Little bit of ice if you please.

Q. WHAT IN YOUR OPINION IS UNDER-RATED?

Libraries and small-good deeds that brighten someone’s day. I lived in libraries when I was young, first thing I did as a mother was get the kids a library card.

Q. AND OVER-RATED?

Celebrity social media accounts.

Q. IF YOU WERE TO GIVE ADVICE TO YOUR 15-YEAR-OLD SELF, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Stop messing about with boys and actually study! And things will work out, just keep going.

THE COLLECTION BY MELANIE STEPHENS IS OUT ON MONDAY 14^TH DECEMBER EXCLUSIVELY FROM AMAZON.

MINI COLLECTIVES: WORST FEAR CONQUERED

In the upcoming book, The Collection, one of the ways I gained inspiration was by drawing on past personal experiences that shaped who I am today. A big life moment for me came when I conquered my ultimate fear. I remember vividly how scared I was yet also what was at stake if I did not achieve my goal. The Collection is very much a journey of work that defines me and key moments. Hidden within the stories is a seed of truth about myself or something I am passionate about. A big part of being a writer is laying yourself bare and sharing your world with others. To commemorate this, I would like to share this story.

Overcoming Fear

When it came to the anniversary of my Grandad’s death, I wanted to do something special. He was extremely important to me. He was a simple man, yet his honest kind nature made him an incredible one. We believed in each other and held one another on a pedestal so high compared to others. He died from cancer and spent his last days in a hospice. I saw the difference these places made to the families going through the worst points in their lives and so helping them seemed a good idea as a way to honour him.

I wanted to raise lots of money to help, but I knew the only way to do that was to attempt something big. I tried to think of the worst thing I can imagine. I came up with two: holding a tarantula as I hate spiders or jumping out of a plane.

I am petrified of heights, absolutely terrified of them. But if I wanted everyone to give, I needed to do the biggest challenge I could think of and for me, this was the plane. It was remarkably easy to organise, I just had to see if I could do the date I wanted. My husband got quite the shock when he came home, and I announced I am going to jump out of a plane on August 31^st. However, after the shock and accusations of craziness passed, he understood why I needed to do this.

My mum got involved and tried to get as many sponsors as she could. I did the same, and the theory worked. As so many people knew my fear they gave generously. The Hospice and their team gave me instructions and a t-shirt to wear along with photos to take.

On the day I was lucky. I had bright sunshine after rain all week. Both my youngest children had the day off school and my mum travelled down to be there. I designed a t-shirt featuring my Grandad’s photo to wear so it was no mistake who all this was for. I took part in the safety meeting and met my tandem flier, Andy.

As we got into the plane, I was shocked to see the door missing. Immediately I questioned it, and I was told it was for safety! They laughed when the saw my face and promptly sat me closest to it. As soon as the plane took off, I couldn’t look out of the hole in place of the door. It was noisy and cramped, and I was sitting in a very comprising position on a stranger’s lap. Everyone was warned there would be a time when you could no longer back out, it was five minutes before when you needed to get into position to roll out.

Up to this point, I was laughing and joking with the guys on the plane and then as we passed the point of no return, it was only then it dawned on me what was happening. Fear consumed every part of me as I realised, I could die, and for the first time, I didn’t know if I could do it. And then another realisation entered my head.

The thought was exactly what would have been at the forefront of my Grandad’s mind if he knew what I was about to do. It was of the families this money was going to. The help and care they would receive in the timeless hours that they hated but dreaded ending. The pain and heartache, the loss. I was taken back to the last day my Grandad spent in this world. I was with him; I was the last word he spoke. The kindness the carers had shown, the way they took care of me as I could not take care of myself. Every thought was consumed with how petrified I was to lose the man I loved so deeply, yet not wanting him to suffer a moment of pain.

In the plane, I felt all the emotion of those final hours. The money could pay for more carers, supplies, family comforts and so much more. I saw children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and knew I couldn’t take away my chance to help them.

A voice told me to get out of the plane.

And I did.

To me, it was scarier letting all those loved ones down. If I could make one moment of pain easier then I had to try and do so.

To this day, getting through that moment is the bravest thing I have ever done. I screamed until I knew I wouldn’t die and hated every second of the jump, but I am also proud.

I did justice to my Grandad by helping others and that was worth every second of fear.

MINI COLLECTIVES: STRESSED MUM

A big theme of the book is family and parenting but shown in several different ways and genres. Here is a story about a mum, filling in a memory book for her children. I hope you enjoy it.

To my beautiful children,

Thank you for giving me this present, it’s so lovely you are interested in my life and would like to more about me and hear my memories. The title did throw me a bit at first, Grandparents book. As you are all under the age of 12, I thought it was a bit soon to throw that title around. As they say, the thought is the main thing, so, I thank you for that (although I do hope the thought was you are interested in mum, and not that you think I look 50 years older than I am! We’ll go with the first option, shall we?).

My life began,

I was born

(sorry, you all keep interrupting me and I can’t think straight.)

I was born in a picturesque little village in Devon called Clovelly. It is so precious that people have to pay to visit it. It has a little harbour and is famous for

-You know, I am going a little off track here, but I hope when you are older you all learn the gift of patience. And there are possibilities of waiting for longer than three minutes for a drink or packet of crisps. And just for the record, I know crisps are made from potatoes, but you are not getting your 5 a day from 10 packets of crisps!!! It doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid. Wine is made from grapes, but I can’t get away with that one either!

So, back to memories.

Yes, Clovelly is really beautiful and was the inspiration for the book The Water Babies. I know we don’t currently have a copy of the book, maybe I will get one and attach it to this. To be honest, I have never read it. I did see the cartoon and that was quite good. So, you know, something to be proud of.

Lots of things have been filmed there

-Seriously, patience would be a really great thing to have, or the ability to notice when someone is doing something. As a result, you may realise maybe right this second isn’t the time to ask if worms have eyes or ask me how many bridges there are on planet Earth!

As Clovelly is so pretty, my Aunty still lives there. We don’t see her much. To be honest, she’s a bit annoying, but you may meet her one day. I enjoyed my first few years at Clovelly. I lived there till I was about ten. Then we moved to another place in Devon, called Exeter.

We have been to Exeter lots of times. Your grandparents still live there now. As you can imagine, it was quite a change

(I don’t know what technology is like in your time, but I am hoping you do not get screens freezing like crazy like now, or you come up with a better solution than simply turning it off and on again. I have to do this umpteen times a day, it is very irritating and frustrating. You guys need me to do it so much. I have shown you how, but apparently, none of you can press a button and hold it down. Yet you have no problem at all building a rabbit fortress in Minecraft!

I am guessing none of you will work with machinery as a career. If so, God help us all.)

Anyway, we moved to this big place

-I know I keep banging on about it, but patience children! The ability to wait without pulling a face or complaining and tormenting others is a really big bloody virtue and so for the record, is not annoying your mother.

I hope when it is your turn to look after me, I am old and helpless, and you have to do a milelong list of chores that cannot wait. Or, when you have children and become parents yourselves they are little shits that eat nothing but chicken nuggets and pizza and inform your dentist that you do not make sure they brush their teeth twice a day every day. Thus, leaving you to explain that to get ready for school you take twenty minutes to put a bloody sock on, so you always run out of time.

Anyway, I digress. Exeter is massive and it was a big change. I didn’t enjoy school. My sister Faye was however brilliant at everything and was in all the school sports teams, as well as a hoard of after school clubs. She ran cross-country for the county, and hockey for Exeter. I was only okay at the 100m run at sports day, and even then, I would arrive somewhere in the middle. I really hope the genes do a side skip cause your dad was useless at sports too. I was more interested in smoking in the toilets and drinking 20/20 down the park with my mates. So, I guess you could say I was an irresponsible child.

Your dad was a complete geek without the smarts, he just mucked about too. Faye now runs a successful recruiting business and earns lots of money. So, stay away from 20/20 and cigarettes. And drugs. And cabbage.

(That day you all tried it and we all had to endure a less than fresh room that even the smelliest candle couldn’t fix was a nightmare. Four of those Winter Spice beauties burnt for hours trying to disguise the smell. Your bottoms were rumbling all afternoon and evening, it was one of the worst Christmas Day’s in our family history. It didn’t help you all kept blaming Grandma for it. Every time you asked her if she loved to toot, I had to cover for you all by asking if she would like a marzipan fruit instead! We got through four boxes that year. The combination of cabbage and sprouts was a dangerous concoction that shall never be repeated!)

Somehow both myself and your father scraped into Exeter University, which is where we met and fell in love. Your dad thought he was going to have an easy time of it if he studied Photography. Most of his pictures were a last-minute panic after one too many late-night sessions of Dungeons and Dragons with boys from down the hall. Later on, he didn’t do the assignments because he went on dates or time spent with me.

I studied Mechanics, as I wanted to save money on my car when it needed fixing. I thought cars would always be around, so it was a good career. Since then, unfortunately, I have forgotten everything (including according to your father how to parallel park). But I can always retrain if the time is right.

Now I have to change the chargers for your tablets as they are all at 4% but I hope you all found this interesting. I will fill in the rest of the book sometime soon. I hope you are all good people. Kind and thoughtful to others. I do love you all. You’re my greatest accomplishment if I am honest. When you grow up, don’t move away too far. I would miss you. And give me an impromptu hug once in a while, okay? I’d like that.

Love you all,

Mum x

UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE

We are all programmed to look for the fairy tale when it comes to finding love. Boy meets girl, fall in love, happily ever after. And usually this how love is portrayed as it is felt it is what we want to hear or believe.

Yet for me the most memorable love stories are the ones that refuse to follow that convention. They are the ones where there is no happily ever after. Instead, it goes the other way. One of the most enjoyable parts of the movie Mrs Doubtfire, a family friendly movie, is that at its heart is a grown up situation. Mum and Dad are separated and it ends in amicable shared custody. They take a while to get there but that was it’s happy ending, not Mum and Dad falling back in love and staying together.

In the book, The Collection I explore more loves that are unconventional and stay away from the fairy tale. I find them more interesting.

One of my favourite poems of all time is ‘Never seek to tell thy love’ by William Blake. In it, he almost warns people against following your heart and going after the fairy tale. As a result, I find it so much more engaging and dramatic. If you are unfamiliar, I have presented it below. I hope you enjoy it. Being different makes us interesting, and the same applies to love.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF MINI COLLECTIVES

Come with me and you’ll be

In a world of pure imagination.

Take a look and you’ll see

Into your imagination.

We’ll begin with a spin

Travelling in the world of my creation.

What we’ll see will defy explanation.

There is no life I know

To compare with pure imagination.

Living there you’ll be free

If you truly wish to be.

There is so much to explore and so much to see,

Welcome to my imagination, venture into yours and we shall begin.

Schedule for Mini Collectives

AT LAST!THE SCHEDULE FOR MINI COLLECTIVES IS NOW LIVE!

To get the premium experience, 100% free, make sure you follow Facebook, Instagram and the blog, Geek Girls Eats Cake. This will also give you the best chance of winning the competition (details on poster).

Fun starts this Monday and continues all the way to publication day on Monday 14th December. Hope you can join us!

Interview with Author Melanie Stephens about exciting new event MINI COLLECTIVES

Interview with Author Melanie Stephens about exciting new event :

MINI COLLECTIVES

There is a lot of buzz about upcoming event MINI COLLECTIVES, can you tell us a bit about it?

Mini Collectives is a crossover event on all social media platforms that feature myself as a writer. It’s going to be a vast display of pieces including stories, poems, photographs, and easy-reading posts that showcase a small selection of the themes and genres within my upcoming book, The Collection. I’ve never attempted anything like this before, so I am a mix of excited and terrified all at the same time!

Will it cost anything to take part?

No, it is completely free to access all the content. To see it, you just have to have access to or be on the platforms of Facebook, Instagram, or the blog https:geekgirleatscake.home.blog/

It sounds exciting!

Thank you, I wanted to do something a bit more special than a usual press release but also look after my readers as well.

What kind of things can we expect?

Well, I like to put out variety and show unique ways we can look at someone or something. Everything will be easy to read and accessible to everyone, and as the new release will feature photographs to accompany some pieces, there will be some interesting visuals too.

A big part of my book is based on my writing journey so far, so there will be elements of that but maybe in ways, people don’t expect. I’m hoping people will enjoy seeing what’s coming up next. I like being different and surprising people so hopefully, I shall do that.

It sounds like a lot of work!

It is, but all I can give is the best work I can. I have no team behind me, it’s just me. But, if people are willing to give up their time, I must be willing to give up mine. I have a strong work ethic and give my all to anything I commit to. Especially things I am passionate about. The only way I can stand out is by incorporating that passion onto the page. To me, that’s the least my readers should expect.

How long is the series available for?

It is a limited-edition event, so it is only available for a short time leading up to release.

You are well-known for unusually publishing work on your Facebook page for free. Is this mini-series a nod to that?

It is definitely an element of it. Every part of my writing career has been about trying to do things differently. The book market has so many writers, many extremely talented, and I have to stand out any way I can. I usually think about what I would love to see from my favourite writers. I am always waiting to read more of their work which is where free work on my Facebook page was born. I want to give people a reason to follow me and keep coming back.

As well as the sneak preview through Mini Collectives, is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming book?

This book has challenged me. I have gone to new places in my writing and attempted so much I never have before. For the first time, I have included photographs to accompany the work which was interesting. It involves personal experiences as well as pieces that have made me laugh, cry and even gasp. It’s an extraordinary collection that I am immensely proud of and I can’t wait to share with the world. Albeit a little bit nervous too! So much of myself has gone into this body of work. Isolation Tales was so well received, the feedback and attention surrounding it was more than I could have hoped. It is a lot to live up to. I really hope people enjoy it as much.

There is a competition within MINI COLLECTIVES too, isn’t there?

There is! To whoever likes, reacts, shares, and comments the most over all the posts within the event will win a free copy of The Collection as a thank you from me.

Wow! That’s really cool. Are there different points for each?

Yes, if you like a piece or react to it, that’s one point, a comment is three points and sharing earns you five. So definitely all to play for as it’d going to be an eventful week!

And finally, how can people find out where and when to find everything within MINI COLLECTIVES if they want the ultimate experience?

There will be a timetable on each social media platform with details of each piece of the event and where to find them. But keep your eyes peeled as there may be a few surprises along the way. The timetable will also include a reminder of details about the competition and how you can win.

The MINI COLLECTIVES crossover social media event runs from Monday 7^THDecember until Sunday 13^th December.

The Collection will be available exclusively on Amazon from 9am, Monday 14^th December.

Isolation Tales is available now from Amazon, all authors royalties are donated to the NHS Covid-19 appeal.

EXCITING NEWS!

To celebrate the upcoming release of The Collection, I am proud to announce an exciting social media event across all platforms of the Melanie Stephens Author brand.

We present to you:

THE MINI COLLECTIVES

A brand-new miniseries of stories, poems and pieces leading up to the long-awaited release of the new publication, The Collection.

A new instalment will be revealed every day beginning from Monday 7^th December. Each unique prose will give a small indication of the themes featured in the book to give you a tiny taster of what’s to come.

Everything will be written exclusively for the MINI COLLECTIVES series.

In addition are special extras that will only appear on one or two forms of social media.

So, to get the full free premium experience make sure you follow Melanie Stephens Author on Facebook, Instagram and subscribe to the blog: https:geekgirleatscake.home.blog/.

There are exciting plans to expand the brand in 2021, so for now be part of this limited-edition experience and countdown to the most anticipated indie novel of the year!

MINI COLLECTIVES WILL LAUNCH FROM MONDAY 7^TH DECEMBER AND RUN TO SUNDAY 13^TH DECEMBER.

The Collection will be available exclusively from Amazon from 14^th December.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: CONCLUSION

Thank you for all the feedback and messages about the profiles I did for Black History Month. It’s so nice many of you have found them so interesting. We are extremely lucky as a Human Race where across history so many inspiring incredible people are waiting to be discovered.

We always hear things like ‘I never had the opportunity’. Every person I chose to celebrate all had humble beginnings and were born when prejudice was at its height. They didn’t let the colour of their skin define them, instead they took charge of their own lives and made the world a better place for themselves and everyone around them.

There are lots of people you may not have heard of that helped shape our world to what it is today (of every skin colour). Maybe for Black History Month, make it your mission to discover some and share their stories so others can learn too.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: MARTIN LUTHOR KING JNR.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

MARTIN LUTHER KING JNR (1929-1968)

To end my series of prolific Black people through history, I wanted to include the man who comes first to mind when I think of inspiration. I chose Martin Luther King Jnr because he led change but without violence. Considering the battle and task laid before him, this must have been incredibly difficult at the height of segregation. Martin Luther King Jnr was incredibly brave to put himself in the spotlight like he did. He gave people hope for change and a person to believe in during such a tense and scary time. The 1963 march to Washington where he delivered his “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial is one of the world’s most iconic and defining moments.

Nothing I can say can match his words on that day, so I am ending my series with a condensed version of that speech. If you get a chance, I strongly recommend doing a quick google search and having a read. It is also available on YouTube.

‘I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so, we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

There is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again, and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvellous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating for whites only. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last!

Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” ‘

MARTIN LUTHER KING JNR