Author Archives: Michelle Garren-Flye

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About Michelle Garren-Flye

I am an author of romance, poetry, children's books and graphic novels. I also own a bookstore. My love of the written word runs deep.

The Unlikely Hero and Me: Is There a Future for Us?

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Looking back over my romance novels, I don’t find a typical alpha hero in many of them. Dan in Secrets of the Lotus and John in Winter Solstice were the closest I came, and that was because as I started out I thought that was what was required.

Since then, the men of my stories have been pretty much quiet intellectuals or devoted professionals. A physics professor, a family lawyer, a chef, and now…a magician.

Now, keep in mind that most of my life I’ve been a quiet, devoted geek. I’ve seen every episode of Star Trek (original through Deep Space Nine, anyway), and certainly every movie (I love the new ones!). My favorite authors in high school were Anne McCaffrey (dragons!) and Piers Anthony (Xanth!). My favorite hobby? Reading. I’m a librarian for heaven’s sake. (Speaking of which, I’m seriously considering writing a novel with a librarian as the hero.)

So it makes sense that my heroes would tend toward the geek side of the scale, too, doesn’t it?

But is there a future in writing heroes with a geek factor? I may not have found my answer, but I did get a little bit of encouragement the other night while watching Big Brother (another sign of my geekiness!). If you’ve been watching, you know there’s an unlikely showmance going on between houseguests Amanda and McCrae. Amanda is a gorgeous, brash, successful businesswoman. McCrae is a pizza boy…well, I guess you’d have to say pizza man. He’s certainly old enough to have a real job. (Sorry, McCrae!)

Anyway, the two have struck up a relationship and are undeniably cute together, even if they are totally mismatched and would never have gotten together (like, in a million years! I mean who would be caught dating a pizza boy? Really?) in the real world. And McCrae says to Amanda the other night (at least something to this effect), “I don’t even really get it why you like me.” And Amanda starts giggling and just for a second, I got it. I saw it. McCrae’s a geek, but there’s something about him.

Of course, my next hero isn’t going to be a pizza boy (man), and he isn’t going to look like McCrae, but just the fact that I actually could see something in him for a second there made me feel better about my heroes. I mean, hey, why shouldn’t a sexy, devoted, sweet, slightly geeky magician get the girl?

Even in this day and age of fifty shades of twilight, there’s room for a nice guy, too, isn’t there?

I’m back from RWA13…now it’s time to translate.

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So, I had an awesome time in Atlanta, and now I’m home, hot cup of coffee beside me, computer in my lap, and I know it’s time.

It’s time to figure out what I took away from it all.

And put it to work.

So, besides the joy of having an epiphany about my work in progress while Elizabeth Boyle taught me about hooks, the awe of having Liliana Hart share her knowledge of self-publishing with me (and a couple hundred other people), the pure thrill of being in the same room with Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips (two of my idols) and hearing their “secrets”, and a bag full of awesome romance novels, what great wisdom did I take away from RWA?

Here we go:

1. I’ve known this for a long time, but I heard it over and over at RWA this year: Other writers are not your competition. They’re your support group.
2. Carry a notebook with you. Epiphany may strike at any time, and you want to be able to write it down.
3. I CAN give my books away! No really, I worried about this. I was one of the authors at the Indie book signing and I was so afraid I’d brought too many books. But I gave most of them away there and a few later on, and really only came home with a handful of my own books leftover. So, yay! Here’s to more readers!
4. Meeting people in person is so much more thrilling than tweeting with them! I met my multi-talented editor Kristin Anders (The Romantic Editor) in person and was blown away.
5. On the flip side, once you meet an author in person, it’s fun to find them on Twitter. I did this with Suzanne Ferrell (one of the Romance Bandits), who I shared a signing table with at the indie signing. She was so much fun sitting next to, I didn’t want to lose that connection.

To sum up, it was a fun, productive several days and though I don’t want to return to the real world, I know I have no other choice. Besides, next year, RWA is in San Antonio. I do love San Antonio!

Broadening My Horizons: Preparing for #RWA13

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Tomorrow I will step outside my comfort zone and attend #RWA13 (Romance Writers of America 2013 for the uninitiated). It’s a little scary and a lot exhilarating thinking of being surrounded by the amount of talent I know I’ll experience at this meeting. I went to my first one two years ago and loved it, although I had no idea what I was doing. After stumbling through two or three meetings with editors and agents, idiotically blabbing that I don’t like erotica (it’s not my first choice of reading material, but I have since learned to appreciate the art form), and wandering the halls aimlessly in search of the wrong workshops after reading the schedule incorrectly, I think I can safely say I’ve learned a thing or two about RWA meetings.

Five things I’m packing for #RWA13:
1. My ambition. I’ll dust it off first. It gets a lot of use, but in between these meetings, it can be sort of stationary.
2. My guts. I know I’ll need them. Hell, I’m an introvert. This kind of thing is really tough for me.
3. My talent. I do have it. Sometimes I lose it, but I always find it again.
4. My ability to roll with the punches. A no is just a no. It’s not a decree that I should never try again.
5. My determination. I know I haven’t written the Great American Novel and likely never will, but I ain’t gonna quit until I run out of words. And my dictionary is REALLY long.

In addition, I’m taking 52 copies of Close Up Magic, 10 copies of Ducks in a Row, 7 copies of Weeds and Flowers, bookmarks, postcards and stickers. Also, if you see me at #RWA13, ask me about my magic wands. I might just have one to give you!

An odd ode to coffee, my true love

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I’m tired. I’ll be honest, I’ve been staying up far too late this summer, mainly because–for the most part anyway–I can get away with it. Slower starts in the mornings are okay when you don’t have to rush the children to school. But I’m relying too much on my old friend and true love to get me through the mornings.

Coffee.

No matter how you drink it, if you’re addicted to it, you know what love is. I like mine with a packet of Splenda and a dab of plain Coffee Mate. Smooth, creamy and woodsy.

I recently had a friend tell me she no longer drank caffeine. She’s probably healthier than me, and I’m sure her teeth are whiter, but all I could think was…

No coffee?

A writer’s world revolves around coffee. I myself have no less than two cups in the morning and sometimes a cup in the afternoon. It’s a ritual steeped in superstition as much as need for caffeine. And unfortunately, my addiction is complete. I need my coffee. In fact, I was so moved by my need for the earthy tasting brown liquid, I wrote a little poem for it this morning.

And it goes like this:

I may need a cup of coffee this morn.
One cup should do it. Just one is all.
I may need more than one cup of coffee.
Up too late. It’s a writer’s life. One more.
I may need more than two cups of coffee today.
Not even noon and I’m dragging. Another please.
Three cups of coffee and I’m buzzing.
Tired and buzzing and not able to blink.
I think I need…where’s the bathroom?

Tune in tomorrow when I express my addiction to wine in song…or not.

Top Ten Books that Celebrate Our Country…Honestly.

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Happy Fourth of July! Over the years of my reading career, I’ve read a lot of books that leave me with a sense that I know a little more about the United States and why I should be happy to live here. Here are ten of those novels, for your summer reading pleasure.

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Was anybody more honest about our country than Samuel Clemens? I get the feeling he really understood what was going on, at least in the Southern United States. I’ve always prefered Huck to Tom because of the lush, wild landscapes of the Mississippi River, and in particular the relationship that grows between Huck and Jim.

2. The Great Gatsby. An honest look at American excess. We’d all do well to remember the lessons this book can teach us.

3. Little Women. For all its faults, Little Women is still the book I’d choose as the foil to my other Civil War favorite…

4. Gone With the Wind. I love reading this story of the Southern Belle who grows up. Maybe I can relate to it. I’m a girl raised in the south. And yes, I’ve had to adjust my perspective on things as I grew up. I’m no Scarlett O’Hara, but I can see myself in her at times.

5. The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne’s classic tale is surprisingly still appropriate to today’s world. Every time the media chooses a scapegoat or public opinion turns against someone, I think of this novel I was forced to read in high school and have found so fascinating ever since.

6. The Secret Garden. Kid book or not, this is a wonderful story about rediscovering the beauty in something old and overgrown. I hope one day we can find that in our own nation.

7. Look Homeward, Angel. This list would not be complete without a shout out to my fellow writer from the NC mountains, Thomas Wolfe. I always fear I’ll do the same thing he did when I write and alienate the hometown I still love.

8. Little House in the Big Woods. Although it was probably colored by nostalgia, this was my first introduction to life in an earlier day of history.

9. The Red Badge of Courage. Oh, how I hated this book when I was made to read it in high school. I wanted to believe the world was all light and love and war was all glorious patriotism. This was my first introduction to the reality of what war can do to the human spirit.

10. The Sound and the Fury. This story about the downfall of Southern royalty both fascinated and disgusted me when I read it in high school. I’ve often thought I should read it again.

Enjoy your summer and be happy to live in our great nation. It’s not every nation that would not only allow but also support the honesty of some of these authors.

50 Golden Things: Happy Anniversary Mama and Daddy!

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Today is a pretty special day for my family. It’s my mother and father’s fiftieth wedding anniversary. In honor of their special day, my brothers, my kids and I came up with a list of fifty golden things that mean something special to us. I was in charge of typing it up and printing it out…and I forgot to print it out. So instead, I thought I’d share it with all of you. And here it is:

For Carl & Gerry Garren
on their 50th Wedding Anniversary
June 30, 2013

You may think we never had much gold,
and maybe we didn’t—if you’re talking about money, anyway.
But here’s a list of fifty golden things
we learned to appreciate because of your love:

1. Golden sands of Jekyll Island
2. And speaking of which, The Golden Isles!
3. Yellow roses
4. Butterball turkeys on Thanksgiving
5. Daffodils in spring
6. Honeysuckle in summer
7. Golden highlights in polished wood
8. Macaroni and cheese for lunch
9. A gold pen in Daddy’s front pocket
10. Honeybees and butterflies
11. Juicy fruit chewing gum wrappers
12. Gold crosses on simple gold chains
13. Daddy’s gold Oldsmobile
14. Gold and silver tinsel on Christmas trees
15. Yellow flames in a charcoal grill
16. Golden hamsters—like Frances!
17. Goldfinches at the birdfeeder
18. Lemonade on a hot summer day
19. Golden leaves in the fall
20. Gold foil wrappers on chocolate Easter eggs
21. Lemon meringue pie
22. Jack-o-lanterns
23. Sunny days in the hammock
24. A chipmunk’s golden fur
25. Golden music from the old stereo
26. Little Golden Books!
27. Butter on the rolls at Berry’s
28. Candlelight in a “blackout”
29. Gold print on the black leather cover of a Bible
30. Lamplight on a snowy day
31. Laughter is golden…and we had a lot of it
32. Golden tans in summertime
33. Fireworks on the Fourth of July
34. Full moons
35. The Golden Arches and Happy Meals
36. Yellowed pages of old books
37. Golden corn on the cob…fresh from the garden
38. Cornbread with pinto beans and fried potatoes
39. Sunflowers
40. Lightning bugs
41. Little golden pancakes shaped like animals
42. Pinecones
43. Acorns
44. Hot honey lemon tea…best medicine for coughs!
45. Popcorn from our popcorn popper
46. Flashlights…and shadow puppets on the wall
47. Sunsets
48. Gold bows on Christmas and birthday presents
49. Bouquets of buttercups and dandelions
50. Your gold wedding bands

For these and every other multi-colored thing
you’ve given us, thank you. We love you!

I need to be writing. Even if I sometimes ask what’s the point?

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Here’s a little peek at how I as an indie contemporary romance author often feel: Hello? Is this thing on?

I recently read a very good blog article about why indie writers need to avoid underpricing their books. The author made several very good points, but one in particular stood out to me. Unless we write as a hobby, we’re hoping our writing will eventually support us. It’s hard to do that when you’re selling your work for 99 cents.

I’ve spoken up several times on this subject in support of writers selling their work for whatever the hell they want to sell it for—provided they can find buyers. It’s survival of the fittest out there in the publishing world, and anything you can do to give yourself an edge is fair game.

The problem is, pricing your ebook at 99 cents is no longer going to give you that much of an edge. In fact, giving it away is no longer going to give you an edge. The only real way to get an edge in today’s market is to study your craft and write and promote and study and write and promote…and pray. Yup, that’s right. Pray. Pray to God or Buddha or your muse. Pray for that magic moment when, for some unknown reason, the words you wrote catch on. Something snags the attention of the reading masses and it’s your book that’s being tweeted and talked and posted about.

I’m still waiting for that. Reviewers (for the most part) like my writing. But hey, most of them get my books for free. (Want a review copy? Email me. I’ll send it out. Kindle or paperback. Your choice.) So I’m still trying everything I can, including different price points, to catch that wave.

Just the other day, I dropped the price of Ducks in a Row from $2.99 to $1.99 in the hopes that it would spur some sales. The sequel, Saturday Love, is with an editor now and I hope to publish it in January. I think there are literally dozens of people waiting for that sequel, and I have no intentions of disappointing them. If I could grow those dozens to hundreds by January, that’d be pretty awesome, though.

And, can you keep a secret? Next week on July 1, Close Up Magic will be free for one day only. I’m not telling everyone yet, just you guys. I’d hate to discourage anyone from paying for the book now.

But as I wait for that moment when it all comes together with pricing and readers and promotions and magic, be assured I’m writing. And I’m striving to write each book a little better than the last one so that eventually my readers won’t even look at the price of my novels. Eventually, they’ll see another book by me and buy it without worrying about how much it costs because they know it’s worth it.

Blog Tour Winner Announcement!

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As you may know, I’ve been touring the web over the past month talking about magic and writing and specifically, Close Up Magic. During the course of that tour, I’ve met some really great people, who’ve commented on my blog posts. Well, today, I get the happy job of awarding a Magic Basket to one of those commenters. The basket includes, among other things, a copy of Magic for Dummies, a mini magic kit and some magic tricks I picked up at Houdini’s Magic Shop in Las Vegas. I’d put up a picture, but I’m actually waiting on a couple of finishing touches to arrive. When they get here, I’ll put it all together and post a picture before I mail it to Rita.

Earlier today with the help of Random.org, I chose commenter Rita Wray as the winner of the magic basket! Congratulations, Rita! I’ll be emailing you in just a few minutes to get your mailing address.

Everybody else, thank you so much for your support during the tour. It meant a lot to hear from readers and potential readers. I’m planning another blog tour for my next book, Saturday Love, which comes out in January. Saturday Love, the sequel to Ducks in a Row, is set in a vineyard in Eastern NC and the heroine is Greek. Hmm. What kind of grand prize could I come up for that? I’m thinking it’ll be yummy!

Review Highlights from this Week

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During the course of my blog tour for my contemporary romance Close Up Magic, I asked for reviews as well as traditional blog stops. When I did this, I knew there were no guarantees. In fact, at the time I booked my tour, very few people other than me had actually read Close Up Magic. But I believed in it enough to go ahead and do it.

Well, this week, I braced myself as the reviews started rolling in. Five brave reviewers took a stand and offered me their opinion on my book. Thankfully, they were positive, overall, and I drew a breath of relief. Here are the highlights:

“We have all read those books where the girl is infatuated with the guy, they both have been screwed over by someone close to them and they have trust issues. But what Michelle Garren Flye has done that not many authors are capable of is, she had created incredible characters with such depth that they evoke such true emotion from the reader that you find yourself yelling at your kindle even when you knew it was going to happen.” —We Love Kink

“Michelle Garren Flye is a wizard with words and I completely enjoyed her voice. Also, I always worry about self-published books, but this one was well edited and had no overt errors. If you love fun, sweet romances with a hero you’ll fall for just as hard as the heroine does, then I recommend Close Up Magic.” —Long and Short Reviews

Ahem, a short note here. I can’t help but point out the “wizard with words” thing. Seriously, that may be the greatest compliment I’ve ever gotten on my writing! You’re all going to get really tired of that “wizard with words” thing, I think. Especially if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

“It was hard for me to pick one genre for this story. It’s definitely a contemporary romance, but it leaves just a hint of magic, just a bit of imagination which makes me believe that it is a bit of a fantasy book too. You aren’t sure if it’s saying that magic is real or not, but I can tell you that the threads of story and character were woven together..dare I say it…magically 🙂 and I really enjoyed reading it.” —Unabridged Andra

“Ms. Flye is a new author to me and I can’t get over how well written Close Up Magic was for me. The characters had depth to them, the setting was perfect and even the secondary characters were fleshed out. Also, even though I was “reading” the magic tricks, I could picture them in my mind. Great job.” —Harlie’s Books

Another note: I really, really love a good magic show, so obviously I wanted to give my reader a little taste of what it’s like to be at one, and this review confirmed I accomplished that. I’m so glad it worked, and I hope to be a well-known author to Harlie before long. 🙂

“The author has a great way with words, painting a picture so clear I could see the scenes in my mind like a movie. The characters are well drawn and three dimensional – so much so, I loved some and hated some intensely. I was so invested in the well-being of those I enjoyed I wanted to smack those I didn’t, who were interfering with the HEA.” —Straight from the Library

Now, the course of my relationship with reviewers has not always been this smooth, so I’m still waiting for the fly to land in my chocolate pudding. However, I learn so much from competent, honest reviewers, whether what they tell is positive or negative, I’m still looking for more reviews of Close Up Magic. If you’re a reviewer who’d like to check out a copy of Close Up Magic, contact me at michellegflye at gmail dot com, and I’ll be happy to provide you a copy for your Kindle. And if you’re a reviewer who’s already checked out Close Up Magic and would be interested in reviewing one of my other books, let me know that too.

Thanks to all my book reviewers, and all the other hosts of my blog tour! Tomorrow I’ll be awarding a magic basket to one randomly drawn commenter from the tour and a $20 gift card to one of my hosts (again, randomly chosen)! So check back tomorrow afternoon when I’ve had a chance to compile my list and consult Random.org for the winners. 🙂

I love the word “epiphany”. Here’s mine from today.

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I’m not home right now, and maybe that’s why I’m a little more sensitive…and observant. I’m actually in the little town I went to college in, and it seems like everywhere I look, I see myself twenty-odd years younger. The idea that I might catch a glimpse of myself from those glory days when I was more beautiful than I thought and not nearly as smart as I believed makes me look a little closer at the people I pass. And today that led me to an epiphany.

God, I do love that word. And it describes what I felt so perfectly. It was like an explosion of perfect knowledge inside my head.

It was as I passed by a beautiful young woman dressed in a business suit. She couldn’t have been much older than the college students, and she looked tired. I began to imagine her story because she reminded me of me at that age. She’d just come from a job interview. She has a few more classes to finish up in summer school and then she’ll have her degree in business administration or education or library science or economics. Her future is full of uncertainty and promise and she’s having a hard time dealing with everything that’s being thrown at her but she’s doing her best.

And I started wondering why I knew that. And BAM!

I realized it’s because she’s just like me. She’s walking along, keeping all her emotions in check and all her worries and insecurities safely beneath the surface so I won’t see them. But I know them because they’re mine, too. Or they were at one time. And that’s when it really hit me that we’re all the same. We’re all insecure. We all worry about tomorrow and our imperfect bodies and our health and losing the people we love. We all try to keep it under wraps so we don’t freak out the other guy. But the other guy’s doing the same thing. And for just a second as I walked down the street, I could see it clearly. The girl I was passing, the old man sitting on the side of the road offering to have his dog do tricks for a dollar, the biker, the people waiting at the bus stop. And me.

All souls contained by the thin skin of our bodies.

What would happen if everyone everywhere suddenly had that same epiphany? What if we all realized that those little things don’t matter and we can’t change how other people see us and those people are worrying about how we see them, anyway? What if we all stopped trying to suck in our stomachs and say the exact right thing and not look too closely at the people we don’t think we want to know?

Like all explosions, this one was over quickly. What I’m writing now comes only from the last embers of it. It doesn’t come close to the moment of perfect knowledge, but at least I can share this much of it.