Welcome Mel Ballew to Enchantress of Books.
Whether it is romantic, emotional, intellectual or sexual, all character building involves some sort of tension, per se’. For me, while building prose, I delve into really allowing the characters voices to permeate my brain - literally. They style of writing is key with this story & more integral to the overall flow of its delivery. Dealing with a paranormal aspect it needed to be somewhat darker, especially with housing a contemporary erotica flavor. The lighter side comes into play with properly executing the emotional and intellectual development. I hope I have done it justice!
That guides me into explaining how I did this…
With Shattered Into Beautiful, I knew immediately that Sylver & Zander are soul mates, or Twin Flames, rather. Therefore, it became important early on to put that on the table. I needed readers to know going into the story their backstory was emotional, heart-wrenching, and deeply soul-filled. This provides the foundation from which I was able to build their relationship throughout the entire novel, and will continue doing so as the series progresses.
In this particular novel, it was never about slowly building their connection, allowing you, as the reader, to see their love develop and unfold piece by piece. Rather, it was immediate since their souls connected in another place & time. Therefore, once their souls reunited on the earth plane in this time & place, it was beyond cosmic and highly significant for me to execute the level of magnitude between them. I tried to do this upon their first meeting, follow it through to the party, and later Sylver leaving with Z. This initial scene did not permit holding back with their reunion. It needed to include a night of hunger, lust & passion. Executing the intensity required including this scene from the door. If two people were separated for an extended period of time, only to be reunited…they would not be able to contain themselves sexually nor be able to wait to explore one another again. This was my goal with this particular scene. I also needed this to lay the exact premise for going forward. Hence why I chose for Z to tell Sylver that this was not just a night of hot sex for them, it was the night their souls reunited. Proceeding, sexually, like their soul-filled love, each scene captured differing levels of need, hunger, lust, love, passion, and eroticism. When a love is this deep, soul-filled, there is trust, though there may be hesitancy to try new sexual pleasuring. So, there are tender moments, deeper more erotic ones, but each time, I tried to convey their need for one another giving respect to their dimension of loving. Again, I tried to give a little, give less, give a LOT and then only give a few loving slivers…always introducing their intimacy on varying degrees since loving someone is never one-tiered.
I kept thinking about a landscaper, intricately designing with highs in the back, lows in the front. So, I continued to build each scene, keeping this in mind. I tried to peak the highs, and showcase the lows. Aside from Sylver’s emotional state, along with all of the issues she already had faced and is still working through, the chemistry between she and Zander is even more powerful than the two of them, than their issues, with Divine intervention. Referencing the landscaper theory, the backstory gave me the perfect backdrop to build from - being the overall ‘ground’ – to plant in, with the highs/lows the seeds for planting.
Holding onto this in mindset, I wanted to showcase the ‘lows’ for Sylver – the “Why” & “How” of what happened to her, what makes her shattered, but how is she overcoming, growing, and evolving. That leads me into building emotional tension, which will lead straight into the intellectual aspect. Knowing upfront she is strong but enduring weakened states, I desired to weave these scenes to properly explain the death of her parents, her teenage rape, and domestic abuse as a young adult, soul traveling to Summerland after dying, then surviving death to live again with purpose. Throughout, I tried to deliver each one emotionally, pulling the reader in to fully feel what Sylver feels, pulling back when required to give the reader a sigh of relief that Sylver is learning as she grows; evolving. As the story advances, it was vital to weave Sylver & Zander’s paranormal traits so the reader understands exactly who they are, what is expected of them, how their love is forbidden; yet, how they cannot stay apart, and mainly how everything they are each enduring individually affects them as a couple. It is a story of history, depth, love, soulful understanding, tragedy, loss, grief, strength, weakness, magick, and vampirism. It conveys friendship and relationship simplicities and complexities.
All of this is woven intricately together leading the reader to the end of the story, only to learn that the answer as to who they really are was in the beginning all along. The exact end of the story leads the reader, along with Sylver, to open the door. It reveals yet another high/low moment in this story. It is relevant, necessary and triggers a climactic moment with anticipation for book 2 in the series. In the entire A Surviving Soul Novel series, book 2 will be the ‘meats and bones’, as I refer to it. Whereby, book 1 – Shattered Into Beautiful, is only the foundation and introduction – a sampling taste test, if you will.
I hope I have succeeded in accurately executing tension, true to its nature or role in the characters.
For any tension in any of my stories, I will always attempt to “give a little, pull back – repeat”! This is my writing mantra & I am sticking to it.
By Mel Ballew
Blurb:
Her Magick is destined but true love forbidden.
After beautiful Sylver Kyllienne Brady meets death at the hands of her boyfriend, Roland Parks, she transcends into Summerland. There, she reunites with her mother and finds her soulmate, Zander. Pulled back to the earthly plane, she must embark on a journey of discovery. She uncovers a truth. She is the descendent of a long lineage of powerful Witches. She must learn to control her power, protect the family’s Amulet and Book of Shadows. Sylver has no idea what awaits her. And, this is only part of her discovery.
Lives unravel as secrets are discovered and mysteries unfold.
Everything changes when she meets Zander Emmett –a vampire. Zander is gorgeous, exotic, sexy and unbelievably wealthy. He is also the one person a witch, such as Sylver, must avoid. Their love is forbidden but their souls draw them together like a magnet. Their bodies ignite, passion soars and their souls are left discovering, not only each other, but their destiny. His life holds secrets and enticing mysteries of his own that propel the parallels of their worlds to climaxing heights.
Will their colliding worlds separate them? Will Sylver embrace her destiny? Will realizing what is expected of her and falling soul-fully in love with Zander - the vampire she is forbidden to love, just leave her breathless?
Or, will she forever be Shattered Into Beautiful?
Available for purchase at
About the Author
Mel Ballew resides in rural Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter, along with their two adorable cats.
An avid reader, she has always had an equal passion for writing and has written her entire life, to date. Her mother initially birthed, inspired, and encouraged these loves. The two often discussed writing together but unfortunately, that dream never came to fruition.
Years later, this happened, that happened—life happened.
She stepped away from writing to place more focus on being wife and a full-time mom. Today, she would not have changed a thing. The day her daughter was born became the first day she realized a significant rhythm to her heart was also born. Her daughter, now preparing to go off to college, has grown into a beautiful and responsible young adult.
A twisted turn of events in September 2009 left Mel unable to work outside of the home. Forced to consider other options, and while embracing a therapeutic approach of transcribing all of the challenges facing her, post-accident, she returned to journaling. Once again, the writer within her has been re-birthed—awakened from slumber.
Mel is a hopeless romantic. Blessed, she has her very own soul mate, which she calls husband, best friend, and lover.
She is a simple country gal, with a profound love of true simplicity. She is just as hopeless in her love of nature and regards many of her writing aspirations to appreciating its beauty, although every single story is birthed from her dreams. Sometimes, in life, simply enjoying a chilled glass of sangria on a warm summer’s eve or indulging in her love of chocolate and peanut butter is an expression of enjoying such simplicity. For her, these moments are truly d’vine.
1 (ONE) GRAND PRIZE lucky winner will receive:
Modern Enchantment™ Arrangement ($59.99 value, plus tax & shipping/handling)
“Sunflowers,” he spits out, as I make my way toward the door. “What? What about them?” I ask, confused. His entire face lights up, “You are my sunflower. They always turn toward the sun to absorb its energy and light. I’m glad you chose that as your safe word. You are my sun, Kitten. You are my ‘safe’; my sunflower. That is why I give them to you. In my darkness, you are my light. I just need you to know.” Zander to Sylver
5 (FIVE) lucky winners will each receive:
Shattered Into Beautiful Coffee Mug™ ($14.99/ea. value, plus tax & shipping/handling)
5 (FIVE) lucky winners will each receive:
Shattered Into Beautiful Autographed Paperback copy - 1/ea
5 (FIVE) lucky winners will each receive:
Shattered Into Beautiful Ebook copy - 1/ea
20 (TWENTY) lucky winners will each receive:
Shattered Into Beautiful Autographed Postcard - 1/ea
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INTERNATIONAL ONLY
This book sounds highly interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds amazing and I appreciate the insight into how Ms. Ballew created her characters. Thanks for sharing! :)
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