Melanie S. Hatter

I’m excited to share the release of “Health and Fitness for Seniors” – I had the pleasure of working with Newlie Hewson, who turned 90 this year, in helping to edit his book. He has created a comprehensive guide to help seniors live longer, healthier and productive lives. He truly is a testament to having done just that through physical fitness and healthy eating.

It’s a great gift for seniors who want to get fit, and features color pictures throughout and larger type. Take a look! It’s available nationwide on Amazon.com and you can download a copy to your Kindle (if you have one).

Enjoyed hearing Marita Golden, award-winning author of more than a dozen books, read from her newest book, “Living Out Loud, A Writer’s Journey” at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. She shared the spotlight with Jamaican-born writer, Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn, who read from her soon-to-be-published novel. It was a great evening shared with wonderful writers. Thank you, Marita, for sharing your wisdom.

Me with Marita Golden at Busboys and Poets

Me with writer Nicole Dennis-Benn

Many thanks to Athena Lark, guest editor at The Whistling Fire for selecting my short story, “Nikki,” to be featured on the site. She says, “the characters are rich, the setting is intimate, and the plot intriguing.   Hatter gives a knock-out punch with this story of a young woman’s search for enlightenment.” Nice! I hope you enjoy it.

The story was posted on Tuesday, July 3, but a storm on Friday night had knocked out power in my neighborhood. Rather than swelter in the house, my son and I took off to the Shenandoah National Park for an impromptu camping trip. We had already talked about visiting Luray Caverns in Virginia and considered the possibility of camping, but figured a day-trip would be fine. When the power went out and Pepco’s recorded phone message indicated that it would be a week before electricity was restored, away we went!

The Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

The weather was gorgeous – quite  hot during the day, so heading underground into the Caverns was perfect. The stalagmites (rising from the ground) and stalactites (dropping from the ceiling) were amazing. If you get the chance to visit, you should. At night, temperatures fell into the 50s – quite chilly after 90s. But so much better than sweating a sea in my house.

Luray Caverns

Nice to see my son with his head in a book!

The microphones were taller than me!

I had a fantastic day at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. The weather couldn’t have been any better (totally made up for Kensington!) and the people were just fabulous. (Pictures.)

Many, many thanks go to my “sister” Amanda, who drove down from New York City to support me (it really didn’t help her book addiction. She went home with seven books!!); and to my son, Chris, who didn’t complain once about spending his entire day away from his computer! Thanks also go to my friend Randall, who drove up from DC to show his support, and take pictures of the event. You guys are awesome.

Congratulations to my other “sister” Dottye – this was her first book festival and she was there selling her debut novel, “Andrew’s Gift.”

I must admit, I enjoyed being treated as a VIP even if there were only about a dozen people in the audience, but I know, I know, it was early for a Saturday morning. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and I met some wonderful people who stopped by the Washington Writers’ Publishing House booth where I stayed for most of the day. Sid Gold did his part in promoting the publishing house and also sold quite a few of his poetry books. I especially want to mention Carla Dean, who stopped by the booth. She sells these very cool “author” t-shirts — I had to have one.  Also it was a pleasure to meet writer Barry Nix. I must also give thanks to all the volunteers at the event. They did an amazing job. After I don’t know how many years, it was great to see Robin Ferrier, who was helping coordinate the author services – Robin and I used to work together in communications.

Gboyinde Onijala prepares to interview me for MCPS.

A funny thing happened. Amanda spotted a camera crew and invited them over to talk to me. The woman with the mic kept saying I looked real familiar and I was thinking the same thing about her. Turned out it was Gboyinde Onijala who had worked at a youth organization in Silver Spring where I had been a volunteer several years ago. What a small world! It was great to see her again. She now works with the Montgomery County Public Schools and was interviewing event participants. Not sure when or where her story will air, but if you see me on TV, drop me a note.

Thank you to everyone who purchased a book and came out to say hello. You truly made my day!