Melanie Spiller and Coloratura Consulting

Hi there. My name is Melanie Spiller, and I am a technical editor who writes fiction and travelogues for fun. In my spare time, I make music: mostly Medieval, mostly singing, but some drums, harp, psaltery, and flute. I have an interest in a rhythm practice called TaKeTiNa, but my favorite leader has moved to another state, so my involvement there has been less and less.

I have a blog over at Office Zealot (http://blogs.officezealot.com/spiller/) that is nearly all about technical writing, but I ran out of material after a while, so it’s pretty neglected now. Most, but not all, of those posts are also on my Web site (www.melaniespiller.com).

This new blog will be about writing, but mostly, I think I’ll do some research about music–my favorite subject. You can find composer biographies, the histories of instruments (especially if they’re ancient), theoretical discussions, and some basic histories that I just plain find interesting.  There might be some occasional thoughts and wanderings, if I think I have something worthy of sharing.

I’ve been working on writing fiction, and you’ll find some content about that experience too. It’s quite a leap from non-fiction, and I hope my thoughts on the subject can be of some help to others trying to travel the same road.

If you check out my website (www.melaniespiller.com), you’ll find all the same material as on this blog and a little more. The nice thing about it is that it’s laid out so that you can find things quickly. The page called “Articles” is strictly about writing (mostly technical writing), the page called “Blogs” is mostly about music, and the page called “Completely Off Topic” includes some Shaggy Dog stories, recipes, a few travelogues, my collection of collectives, and most of the same blogs as on the “Blogs” page. Occasionally, you’ll find  some shameless plugs in there for musical activities. I try to post once a week, although sometimes the research takes me a bit longer. Usually, after a long gap, you’ll find a longer blog than usual. (Sorry.)

I really enjoyed the questions from readers on the Office Zealot blog . I hope you will write to me if you have questions–or answers! And I’m available for hire to do research on music, musical instruments, or composers. Just drop me a note!

Melanie