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.

Immersing Myself in the Culture of My Creations

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I’ve just finished up a new rough draft, and while I’m very happy about it, I’m also a little melancholy. You know that feeling you get when you finish reading a book and even though it finished well, you wish there was more? I’ve felt that way about a lot of books, most of which still inhabit my bookshelf somewhere. Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Sang (of course eventually there was more to this one!), Jane Austen’s Emma. The characters and stories of these books became like family to me while reading them, and I found it hard to let them go. That happens to me when I finish writing a story, too.

I think it’s partly because I immerse myself in the lives of my characters. For instance, this most recent book takes place on a scuppernong vineyard in Eastern North Carolina. Of course, I live in Eastern North Carolina, so that’s not much of a stretch. Plus, as part of my “research”, I’ve been drinking the wonderful scuppernong wines my state can boast of. However, to add a little complexity to my plot, I made the heroine part Greek. Of course, this precipitated a lot of reading about the Greek culture, Greek wines, Greek men (yes, that was necessary research!) and Greek cooking (lots of olives). I’ve always been fascinated by Greece, and now I’m totally in love with it. I even learned how to make pastichio, and even my kids enjoyed that!

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So what’s next? I’m definitely going to miss my Greek research. I can’t imagine what could top pastichio, olives, and wine, but who knows where my next story will take me?

 

“Amendment One”: Why I agree with Jeff

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This year, North Carolina’s voters get an opportunity they don’t often have. They have the opportunity to stand with our Founding Fathers on the basic principle of what the United States is all about: Equality. Amendment One, or the North Carolina Same-Sex Marriage Amendment, is on the ballot. The amendment defines “domestic legal union” as “marriage between one man and one woman”. In other words, a loving same-sex couple cannot be legally married in North Carolina if this amendment passes. I have every intention of voting against this amendment for the simple fact that it doesn’t make sense to sully our state constitution with an amendment based on limiting other people’s rights.

I didn’t know any of them personally, but I do not believe the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were homophobes. I believe when they said “all men are created equal”, they truly meant all human beings. I like to believe they were idealists who craved a utopia. I don’t think they wanted a nation where any law-abiding citizen’s rights were limited by our laws.

I struggled for a while about what to say about Amendment One, not because I didn’t know what I believe but because I didn’t know how to present it. Yesterday, a friend of mine posted a very passionate, well-written article about Amendment One on his Facebook page. His name is Jeff. With his permission, I am copying that plea to my blog in the hopes that it will reach more people.

I’ve hesitated to post this, but I must – it’s cathartic. I may be hidden from your newsfeed or I may be ‘unfriended’. I’m OK with that.

For two days I’ve watched a controversy on Facebook in my own neighborhood. An offer from a young man to provide ‘Vote Against Amendment One’ signs to anyone who wanted one went the route I suspected it would. That using our neighborhood’s Facebook page to promote a political agenda was not appropriate.

Aside from offering signs myself, I refrained from the debate. It’s too personal. Which is why the those who believe it’s a political or religious issue are wrong. And you have never been more wrong about anything. While Amendment One poses to limit rights in a number of areas I’ll speak to the one that I am an expert on – my own.

I was angry and frustrated to see the dispute in my own immediate environment, but the feeling that I felt the most was hurt. That discussion amongst neighbors was not about signs, political beliefs, or religious beliefs; it was about me. Part of Amendment One is about me. It suggests that I am inferior. It suggests that my feelings towards another human being are inferior. I’m reminded of this every single day. Every. Single. Day. It terrifies me that one person’s beliefs about themselves and how they live their lives has the ability to cast a vote against how I live my life. I have never had that ability, that power, in any vote that I’ve participated and I would never want to.

But it terrifies me even more to think that the unquestionable right you have to be by your spouse’s bedside in a time of need is a right that could be taken away from me or my partner. Many of you go to sleep at night with the comfort that this is something you will never have to face. I go to sleep every night terrified that the government actually has the ability to take that away from me. And they’ve asked you to cast your vote on this. Think about that power.

This isn’t about Democrats vs. Republicans, Right vs. Left, or Conservatives vs. Liberals. This is about people being respected for the human beings that they are. For living your beliefs the way you want to and allowing others to live their lives the way they are entitled.

Educate yourself. Consider others. And remember me when you cast your vote. My name is Jeff. I’m your friend, I’m your neighbor, I’m your colleague. And I have a face. There are so many faces behind Amendment One. The faces of those affected by it. If you are for Amendment One, please ask yourself how it affects you. Ask yourself how it affects your beliefs – no one is taking away your views, your beliefs; but Amendment One takes away the very thing that makes us compassionate beings.

Because Amendment One affects me negatively – I’ve been forced to cast a vote AGAINST it. Please don’t make that effort be in vain. I’m happy to be part of this world, and I’d like nothing more than to be accepted in it. Please stop and think, and take the power you’ve been given seriously. No one is asking you to cast a vote against Amendment One, but I beg you to simply not vote at all if you are for it.

Validation: WHERE THE HEART LIES to be an Audiobook!

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Just a quick update with some fantastic news I justgot a little while ago. Audible.com has selected WHERE THE HEART LIES to be one of its audiobooks. I’m very, very excited about this, as my novels have only ever been in ebook form. The thought that I will be able to hear an actual actor read my story is sort of awesome. Besides, it’ll be proof that somebody else actually did read it!

I’ve written before about my personal quest for validation and how I believe all authors who seek publication probably feel the same way. Well, I picture my quest as hills and valleys and a lot of plains in between. Most of my writing career is spent on those plains, plugging away. Every now and then, I get a rejection and it plunges me into a valley, but then I struggle out and continue on, slogging across the plain of creativity.

And then I get a little bit of validation. An acceptance. An award. A positive review. Hell, somebody buying a book. Then I get catapulted to a peak where I can sit for a few minutes and look around at what I’ve accomplished before returning to the plain and continuing on my way.

The view’s nice up here.

Magic. Again.

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There’s this movie I can’t stop watching. I love it.

I’ve talked before about magic on this blog. If you haven’t seen “We Bought A Zoo”, you should. It’s a lovely story if you look past the obvious Hollywoodizing of the already bittersweet story of Benjamin Mee and his family. (And no, Hollywoodizing probably isn’t a real word, but you know what I mean by it, so it probably should be.)

Okay, put aside the fact that Matt Damon is cute and fun and perfect for the role. Don’t pay any attention to the adorable Maggie Elizabeth Jones who plays his seven-year-old daughter. Ignore the natural beauty that permeates the entire film and the comic relief of the zoo staff. What really made this movie magic? The love story.

I know you think I’m prejudiced, being a romance writer and all. I’m sort of addicted to the love stuff. But I know what I’m talking about here. This movie is magical because of the made up love story between Benjamin Mee played by Matt Damon and his zookeeper Kelly Foster played by Scarlett Johannson. Though not a central part of the storyline, the love story is sweet, sappy and totally magic.

How can I be sure? Well, after I saw the movie in the theater with my kids, I was in the little bathroom holding the stall door for my four-year-old daughter and a little old lady walked in, wiping her eyes. I smiled understandingly. I had just wiped my eyes, too.

She seized my arm. “Do you think he married her?” she said.

Startled, I shrugged. “I-I don’t know.” I didn’t want to tell her that I doubted Kelly Foster ever existed. In fact, I was pretty sure a large portion of the story had been altered (Hollywoodized) to play on our sympathies and desire for romance. It didn’t matter to me because it was a good story and that’s what I went to the movie for (well, that and the chance to look at Matt Damon).

She released my arm and turned away, obviously disgruntled with my lack of enthusiasm. “Well, I think he liked her.” To her, these characters were real. They’d taken on a life of their own, and she had no intention of researching Dartmoor Zoological Park to find out if the story told in the movie was true. For her, it was real, and that was better than true.

Magic.

Final Cover for Where the Heart Lies!

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Final Cover for Where the Heart Lies!

Just got the final cover for WHERE THE HEART LIES, due to be published by Carina Press July 2012. Isn’t it pretty?

Five stars for WEEDS AND FLOWERS!

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A reviewer finally made me cry. I’ve always heard it could happen, but I didn’t really expect it to. I’ve developed a pretty thick exterior skin about my writing. Yeah, inside I wince sometimes but outside, I appear quite stoic. Say what you will about my writing, I can take it. Immature, too much sex, not enough sex, trying to be something it’s not, never going to sell…whatever. I guarantee you whatever negative you can come up with to say about my writing is nothing worse than the negative voices I hear in my head all the time. I’ve had to ignore those inner voices, and I can ignore you, too.

So how did Dolce Amore of Booked Up Reviews finally bring tears to my eyes? Well, if you hadn’t noticed, WEEDS AND FLOWERS is pretty important to me. It was the first novel I ever wrote (and finished) and it sat unread and unappreciated on my computer until last Christmas. Then I did something I thought I never would. I self-published it, because an unread book is nothing, and I didn’t want WEEDS AND FLOWERS to be nothing. Still, sending something so dear to me out into the world was difficult. What if it’s not ready? What if the other books don’t play nice with it? What if it sits alone on the Amazon playground, unread, unwanted?

Dolce Amore, who has written very thoughtful and positive reviews of my other two books as well, set my mind at ease at last with her review, the first official review of WEEDS AND FLOWERS. The part of her review that made me cry (just a little, I swear) was this part:

It’s a wonderful story that makes you stop and think. It’s about love, loss, and life. So well written it makes you feel like you were there, seeing all with your own eyes. It’s different from the other books by Ms. Michelle Garren Flye, but no less wonderful. I love it and I rate it 5 stars.

Thank you, Dolce Amore and Booked Up Reviews!

Booked Up Reviews Gives SECRETS OF THE LOTUS Four and a Half Stars!

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I discovered, to my surprise, that Booked Up Reviews just did a review (yesterday, coincidentally on my birthday) for SECRETS OF THE LOTUS. I am happy to report the reviewer, Dolce Amore, liked it enough to give it four and a half stars. Yay! I am thrilled by the thorough job Ms. Amore does with her reviews, even going so far as to quote some of her favorite passages, and though she didn’t find quite as much to like in this one as she did in WINTER SOLSTICE, she did say it was “a lovely and wonderful story”. Thank you, Ms. Amore and Booked Up Reviews!

Celebrating My Birthday: WEEDS AND FLOWERS is free again!

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I love getting flowers. For my birthday, Valentine’s Day, whatever. I think it stems (pun intended) from my school days when you could get flowers at school and you’d be called to the office to pick them up. For the rest of the day, everybody knew you were special because SOMEBODY sent you flowers.

Well, it’s my birthday, and I can’t send everybody flowers to make them feel special, but I can do another giveaway of WEEDS AND FLOWERS on Amazon. Click here to download your free copy. And enjoy!

An Excerpt from WEEDS AND FLOWERS

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My bike leaned against Jeff’s metal building, but I didn’t know he was there until I smelled the smoke. I froze, looking guilty, almost as if I were the one who’d been caught smoking. He looked back at me, removed the white stick from his mouth and blew a smoke ring. “Wanna smoke?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so.” He turned away from me.
I hesitated for a moment, looking curiously at the cylinder and thinking about Marleen’s remark that Jeff was smoking “something”. Curiosity got the best of me. “What is it?”
His mouth quirked. “Just a little weed.” I must have gasped because he laughed a little. “Cigarette, idiot. You want some or not?”
“No,” I said, but I sat down on the wall next to him. The weeds had died back a little, but the spot still felt secluded. I wasn’t sure why I was sitting there with Marleen’s greasemonkey brother, but I was uncertain about leaving until I knew Marleen had returned from her chat with Brian. And it felt rude to sit somewhere else when I knew Jeff was already sitting here.
Jeff made no comment, but continued to smoke his cigarette and blow smoke rings. I admired his ability in spite of myself. “You’re good at that.”
“Lots of practice.”
“Why do you sit back here all the time?” I looked at the rusted back of the metal building. I couldn’t imagine the draw.
Jeff shrugged and took a long draw off his cigarette before answering. “Because nobody else likes to sit back here.”
“Because of the weeds and bugs.”
“Yeah.”
“You like weeds and bugs?”
“No.”
“So why sit back here with them?”
“I don’t like people either.” Jeff glared at me.
I nodded. “That makes sense. If you don’t like people, the only place to go is where there aren’t any. The only place you can be sure there won’t be any people is where people don’t like to be.”
“You talk a lot,” Jeff said. Our eyes met and I realized for the first time that he had very nice eyes. Blue green with flecks of gold. They reminded me of a description I’d read once about the Mediterranean Sea.

Breathing moment: Quotes about writing

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One of my favorite authors who I am grateful to be able to call a writing buddy, Ellen Meister, recently posted an inspiring quote from J.D. Salinger on her blog. You can read it here: Side Dish.

I’d never read this particular quote, but I found it very inspirational. I love quotes, especially by writers or about writing. When I hit a roadblock in my writing, I troll the internet for inspirational quotes. Every year I put a quote in my Christmas card—something that means something to me and that I hope will mean something to my friends and family.

Anyway, Ellen’s quote got me thinking about some of my favorite writerly quotations. One of my absolute favorites and one that I try to live my writing life by:

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” — Elmore Leonard.

Here’s one that’s a little less light-hearted, but one that I also love:

“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” — Maya Angelou

That quote right there is why I rewrite and rewrite some sentences. I don’t know if I’ve written sentences that go straight to my readers’ hearts yet, but I’m working on it.

But I have to give one of my favorite authors credit for really nailing why I write, and why I try to write something new every time. Mark Twain said it best, didn’t he, when he said:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

I hope one day I will have broken new ground in the writing game. If not new ground for other writers, at least new ground for me.

Don’t forget to breathe today!