Books
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Ahoy, me hearties!
The Peanut Butter Pirate Has A Surprising Day
A hungry tummy leads the Peanut Butter Pirate to the galley, where he is met with a surprise or two! A story to be read aloud with the little ones in your life (recommended age: 2-8). Warning: may induce hunger!
Bottomless refill
Hot Coffee, Cool Head
This book started off as notes hastily scribbled in cab rides to and from hospital when my second baby was born preemie during Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. I was having to hit the ground running each day while trying to be a calm presence for both my toddler at home and baby in hospital.
This book also came about as the result of finding myself being at home with more children, and for longer than I had thought I would be a stay-at-home mum.
The finished book is about getting comfortable in your mama skin, choosing the life you have, and being content in the day-to-day fun and chaos of raising little ones. Penned by a mum of three who continues to learn about practising real self-care in order to be the wife and mum that she wants to be.
My first eBook!
Write from the Start
Get inspired to write!
I had long dreamed of writing a book, but it wasn’t till 2012 when I got a paid offer to ghostwrite a book for someone—that I was pushed to stop making excuses and actually finish at least one book. I decided that I should write my own, as a practice run for my ‘real’ assignment. At this stage I had worked as a writer before, but never had I completed a whole book, from start to finish.
Once I got going, I wrote in a bit of a feverish haze and finished the bones of this eBook in about 5 days. Margaret Haughey whipped my words into shape with her sharp and artistic editor’s touch and Miranda Lees made it all look better than I had dreamed it could look.
In Write from the Start you will find a budding writer’s thoughts on writing, my best tips to inspire yourself and get started ... think of this book as your personal cheerleader companion saying to you, YES fellow budding writer, you CAN do this!
Note: This book was published under my maiden name Melanie Tan.
Woman to woman
How to love with a healing heart
Everyone has a story, and I have several, yet unwritten. But this is one that I wrote as a new-ish wife and a very new mama. I was living in a season of fire, a season of joy; a season of pain, and a season of faith. I started journaling, because that is what I do to process life. Eventually it took the shape of a book.
Marriage and motherhood form the backdrop of my book, but in a wider way this book explores things that are common to us all. Mysteries of the heart, transitions, growing pains and inner healing. It is an honest and uplifting read for women (though a few men have enjoyed the read too!), especially new mothers.
An excerpt from this book was printed in The Kiwi Diary 2021.
Poetic prose
Twenty-six
Rather than blowing out 26 candles on a cake, I decided to pen 26 vignettes.
Turning 26 in the windy capital of New Zealand, Wellington, I decided to write 26 poems/vignettes to mark the occasion. There is no central theme to them; I just followed my curiosity.
A few of these are included on Poetic Prose.
Mini coffee table book
treehousekitchen
Take a peek into my relationship with food, love and various kitchens which have nourished me along the way.
Printed in January 2018, this 6″ X 8″ glossy photo book celebrates the journey of my food blog treehousekitchen, the blog in which I journaled about friends, dinner parties, kitchen experiments and winning tickets to Rick Stein’s show.
People who bought this at the time it was released also received a 12-page Christmas letter PDF from me. In it I paid tribute to members of my family and included my recipe for a dish beloved in my husband’s Maori culture, the “boil up”.
Based in NZ?
Contact me to purchase a paperback from me directly, or visit my Shop.
How to love with a healing heart and Hot Coffee, Cool Head are priced at $15 NZD per copy + applicable shipping costs. To order The Peanut Butter Pirate Has A Surprising Day, follow the link below.
