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.

A.J.’s Back: Announcing ALONG THE SPLINTERED PATH!

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Congratulations to my friend A.J. Brown, whose story collection ALONG THE SPLINTERED PATH is available in ebook form today from Dark Continents Publishing. I’ve never put together a short story collection, so I got A.J. to tell me a little about how it’s done. Welcome, A.J. Brown!

BREATHE: First off, congratulations on your new book! This has been a long time coming, and I know I’m not the only one of your readers who’s thrilled about it. Tell us a little about the stories in ALONG THE SPLINTERED PATH.

A.J.: Thank you, Michelle and I’m happy you’re as thrilled as I am.

During the summer I submitted a few stories to Dark Continents Publishing. Though they didn’t accept it at that time, they liked one story in particular, “The Woodshed”. Then in early December I was contacted by DCP about submitting for an e-book release slated for early January, either a novella length story or several stories totaling around the 20-30 thousand word mark.

I submitted four and they took three of them. I think they chose the best three. They all seem to fit together in one way or other. I’m excited to see what the readers are going to say about it.

BREATHE: Two of your stories (“The Woodshed” and “‘Round These Bones”) have already made the journey into the published world but you chose to rework them for this collection. What do you think it was about these stories that made you pursue them?

A.J.: Actually, only “The Woodshed” has been published, but I still reworked both of the stories. Many people thought “The Woodshed” was good when it was published. It received some really good reviews. That was in 2008 and I’m a much better writer now than I was then. To be honest with you, I think everything I wrote before this year is crap.

What made me rework these stories (and about six others as well) was reading Stephen King’s On Writing. It’s not your typical writing tips book. It has an intimate feel to it. It has a challenging feel to it. In On Writing King mentions telling the truth in your lies, in your fiction. Not only that, he also said that the journey for the writer should be the same as the reader (per se). In other words, if I don’t enjoy the journey, then neither will the reader.

That went hand in hand with what I’ve always felt about writing: let stories breathe and they live—literally live—and the reader can feel those stories and get lost in them. I hate the cookie cutter stories, where everything is tried and true and no one is willing to take chances. So, I went back and looked at “The Woodshed”, saw holes in it, saw a lack of emotion and character and I felt like the very thing I loathe: cookie cutter writers.

I went back and rewrote the entire story, keeping parts, scrapping others. Then I did it again and again and again until this version came out. Even then, I had missed something crucial that the editor pointed out to me in the editing phase. Thankfully, we got that sorted out.

As far as “Round These Bones” is concerned, it was bad. Really bad. It was barely alive when I read it. I cringed and hoped I could make it better. I got rid of ninety percent of the original story and completely rewrote it. I let the story lead me instead of me leading the story. It was fun revisiting it and discovering where it should have went to start with.

BREATHE: How does “Phillip’s Story” fit with the other two? What made you choose it to complete the anthology?

A.J.: “Phillip’s Story” is a completely different piece. It’s really two stories in one and actually has a somewhat happy ending to it. It’s also a story that I wrote in one sitting and the first original I wrote after spending three months rewriting several pieces. It just took off and then the idea for the second part came to me and it went from there. It’s my favorite piece in the collection.

BREATHE: Tell me about the process of putting together a story collection. Did you choose a theme for it?

A.J.: When determining the stories for this collection I narrowed it down to six that I really thought were good and that could fit together as a group. I whittled that down to five and had several readers take a look at them. In the end, I went with the four I thought were the strongest and DCP picked up the three best ones.

As far as a theme, I didn’t realize there was one until my friend, Paula Ray, mentioned it. I had completely overlooked a crucial element of the collection: a title. So, when I was asked for a title I drew a complete blank. I have a title in mind for a future collection, but it is definitely theme oriented and I didn’t want to use it for this one.

I gave a synopsis of all the stories to a group of my writer friends and Paula immediately came back with the stories having one common connection: torment and discovery. Then she added, “How about Along the Splintered Path?”

I’m not going to lie, I have sweated about this since the offer came to submit again. I want this to be great. I want the readers to enjoy it. You understand how that is, Michelle. The readers are the most important people in a writer’s world—without them, we are nothing. Period. So, having the opportunity to do this is huge for me.

BREATHE: You know I have to ask: Are there any particularly interesting character names in these stories?

A.J.: Michelle, I’ve been following your blog and I see that you’ve done another Rose is A Rose series—I think you should do one of these each year to see how things change for writers.

As for my characters, there is definitely an importance to Phillip’s name. It was the only name that felt right. The same goes with Hollis Williams, one of the other characters in “Phillip’s Story.” To me Hollis was the type of name that said he could be a big fellah, maybe a little goofy or not all together there, which is what I was going for. The tragedy that is Hollis Williams is a vital part of the story and I gave his name a lot of thought. Of all the characters in the collection, those two names are the most important.

Buy ALONG THE SPLINTERED PATH now!

Type AJ Negative

2011 in review

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,700 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

New Year, New Book, Free Book! Send Me A Typo Offer.

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Happy Free Book Day! Seriously. Well, free Kindle download, anyway. If you’d like to read WEEDS AND FLOWERS, today is the day to do it. It’s available today only at Amazon.com for free download. Go check it out: WEEDS AND FLOWERS.

I re-read it yesterday. At first I couldn’t put it down. I was blown away by my own literary awesomeness. No kidding. Then I got into a couple of rough spots and had to wince a little. I sort of wished I’d re-read it (again) before I jumped right on it and published it. So I decided to offer a deal to you guys who suffer through my rough self-editing. Send me a typo from WEEDS AND FLOWERS in the next week and I’ll send you a copy of one of my other (professionally edited) books free. Or you can choose to receive my as-yet-untitled romance due out from Carina Press sometime this summer. Just specify which book you prefer and what format you’d like it in (for Nook, Kindle, etc.).

And enjoy your New Year, by the way!

2011: The Year of Publishing, Self-Publishing and Fighting to Be Published

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I posted a few days ago about self-publishing an ebook for the Kindle. I was overwhelmed by the amount of support I received from fellow authors. I had a lot of reasons for publishing WEEDS AND FLOWERS, not the least of which was nobody else was going to do it for me. Seriously, if I could have found a publisher for my little story, I would have.

For two reasons:

1. Publishing a book in any format is not easy. Maybe it gets easier, but I struggled with it for several hours. I had to format and reformat and even though the instructions told me to format it one way, I found another way worked better. And then, after I published it, I found that there are still some bugs. So yeah, publishing ain’t easy. Even e-publishing.

2. Self-publishing still carries a stigma. Even now. Especially now. After all, anybody with some computer know-how, a completed manuscript and a few hours to spare can publish their book to the Kindle. Many of those stories have not been edited, and some of the formatting is even buggier than mine. (Hard as that is to believe!) But they’re out there in a published form, available to be read.

So how is mine any different? It wasn’t professionally edited, although it was peer-reviewed and I’m slightly better at self-editing than your average person. But really, it’s not any different. I’ve got two professionally edited and published ebooks under my belt. I have another on the horizon. Why would I choose the self-publishing route now?

Answer: WEEDS AND FLOWERS was my first novel, written from a lot of what’s true in me. I write fiction. I make up stuff. And yet, I put a little bit of myself in everything I write. It’s necessary. In fact, I think when I can get to the point where I put a whole lot of myself into what I write, I’ll have gotten the elusive “it”. That’s when people will really start paying attention, and you know why I think that is? Because at our hearts, we’re all basically the same, and what we’re really, really looking for is somebody else to acknowledge that.

My son has a book called “The Hoppameleon” by Paul Geraghty. It starts out with a “very odd-looking creature” who calls out for anyone like him. The book follows the creature through a journey in which he finds several other critters with similar characteristics to him, finally ending up (happily) finding another one just like him. The Hoppameleon’s journey is very similar to what I think we’re all seeking: someone like us.

I always felt I achieved something with WEEDS AND FLOWERS that I never have with my other books. I wrote that novel out of some childhood feelings I’d almost forgotten about but that came to the surface in the process. I reached out in a way and let other people know I’m at least a little bit like them. It’s true fiction in every sense of the word. Almost none of it ever happened, but it’s based on a smidgeon of fact. Go figure.

With all that said, WEEDS AND FLOWERS is available tomorrow only for free download from Amazon. Get your copy here: WEEDS AND FLOWERS. If you like it, leave me a comment here, or even better, a review on Amazon. You might even want to try out one of my other books. Just for comparison’s sake.

What I Did in My Free Time Yesterday: Announcing Weeds and Flowers on Kindle!

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So I had a few minutes yesterday. Okay, a few hours. The kids were playing with their Christmas presents and most (not all) of the mess was cleared away. I decided to try something I hadn’t had an opportunity to do, but that I’d heard was really easy.

I messed around and self-published a book.

WEEDS AND FLOWERS was a manuscript I wrote years and years ago. I tried submitting it to different people, but nobody really wanted it. It’s not quite 50,000 words long, it’s not a romance, it’s not horror, it’s kind of hard to define, really. What it truly is is a story about a girl growing up. A coming of age story, in a way. I could have changed it and made it into a true young adult story, but I didn’t want to do that. It deals with themes like racism and child pornography, gossip and small town life. Things I remember the adults whispered about when I was a kid, though I never had to deal with them head on like Charlie, the heroine of my novel, does.

In a way, this was my coming of age story as a writer. It was the first novel I ever wrote. At the time I was writing “flash fiction”, stories less than a thousand words. I got pretty good at those, but I was always being told that what I wrote wasn’t true flash fiction, it was a piece of a longer work. A few fellow writers on the online writing workshop Zoetrope even encouraged me to explore what the story might lead to, if I let it. Two of them that I remember even read my work as I wrote it, letting me know how I was doing. Kathy Fish and Steve Gullion, two incredibly talented writers (Google either one of them to read some great free fiction), read very early manuscripts of WEEDS AND FLOWERS, and their feedback was invaluable to me.

And so, even if nobody is all that interested, I decided to let my “trunk novel” (nod to Stephen King) see the light of day. I priced it at ninety-nine cents because that’s the lowest Amazon would allow if I used their Kindle Direct Publishing service, and I’m really just hoping a few people will read it and enjoy it, and maybe drop me a line to let me know they did.

You can find WEEDS AND FLOWERS here: WEEDS AND FLOWERS for Kindle.

Introducing John Peters, winner of the Winter Solstice E-Reader Giveaway

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When my daughter drew the name “John Peters” out of the hat for my e-reader giveaway, I wondered: Could it be THAT John Peters? The one I’ve known for years on Zoetrope.com? The HORROR writer John Peters a.k.a. JP2? Surely not. I mean, really, my old horror writing pals seldom show their faces on my blog now that I’ve gone over to the romance side of things. But could it be? I decided to ask. Sure enough, he responded that it really was him, and I was thrilled. Enough to question him a bit about what he’s been up to recently.

MGF: So congratulations, John. Now you can never say I never gave you anything. It’s always nice to run into one of my Horror Library pals on my website, but it doesn’t happen that often. Tell the truth…are you a closet romance fan?

JP2: The truth? Ah, well, I suppose I have to say I am. I’ve read quite a bit of Nora Roberts — yes, I know, that’s a little like claiming to be a big horror fan because you’ve read some Stephen King — but I’ve read other romance work, too, some from obscure writers, some from more well-known ones.

In truth I’m just a fan of good story-telling, smart and slick writing, and genre isn’t as big a concern for me. And I’ve found some really good writing and story telling among romance works.

MGF: You’ve written some pretty horrific stuff in the past. “The Mattress” in Horror Library Volume 1 is the one which immediately springs to my mind, of course, since I also had a story in that anthology. And of course, there’s “Patron Saint” from July 2011 Spinetinglers. What are you working on now?

JP2: I have a story called “A Mother’s Love” being published by Blood Bound Books in the Night Terrors 2 anthology (due out Dec. 29). That’s a story I really enjoyed writing. As a parent, I found that one more horrific than either “The Mattress” or “Patron Saint.” If your readers are really interested in taking a look at that one, I’ll have detailed information on how to get a copy on my Website as soon as the anthology is published.

I’ve also got a novel I’ve more or less wrapped up called “The Return.” I told my wife one day that I’ve been reading enough romance, it’s time to write one! As you can imagine, that turned out to be more of a daunting task than I realized it would be, and before I was done the work had strayed into the realm of horror, and murder mystery a bit (I was reading a lot of Robert Parker when I was writing “The Return”), but I really think there’s a little romance in it. Now, if only I can find someone willing to publish the darn thing!

MGF: Okay, so if we see you in the airport with your new Kindle Touch, should we assume you are reading a novel by:
a. Stephen King
b. Diana Gabaldon
c. Yours truly 😉
d. Seriously? None of the above!

JP2: Ah, come on….YOURS TRULY…who else? But just on the off chance I’m done reading all your work….who knows?

MGF: Any last words? (Not literally. It’s Christmas Eve and we’ve both got better stuff to do, though!)

JP2: Well, I would be a real heel if I didn’t say thanks for the Kindle, Michelle. I am really looking forward to using it, and I appreciate you running the contest and sending out the prize. It’s been good reconnecting with you.

And to you, your family, and all your readers, Merry Christmas!

Right back at you, John! And to everyone who’s helped make the Christmas season on my blog so special (my Rose is a Rose guests, those who’ve left comments and encouragement, entrants in the Winter Solstice giveaway, and anyone who’s read either of my books), thank you and Merry Christmas!

A Rose is a Rose?: Rebecca Rose

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I have so much to report this morning, and I really want to get to my Rosy guest. First off, I forgot to tell you all that I had an interview up yesterday on Autumn Piper’s blog Piper Patter. It’s all about Christmas and a lot of fun. Second of all, I tracked down the winner of my e-reader, John Peters, and sure enough, he’s an old e-friend of mine. We met years ago at an online writing site called Zoetrope (which I highly recommend to any writers). Check back tomorrow for more information about John, what he writes, and what he plans to read on his new Kindle!

But for now, help me welcome my guest Rebecca Rose. (Side note: Doesn’t she have the best name for my rose garden?) Rebecca is the author of DIVINE REDEMPTION, another of Lyrical Press’s Christmas Bash offerings and available for 30 percent off right now

BREATHE: Do you feel your character names are influenced by the theme of your story? Why or why not?

REBECCA: Oh, totally! If you have a kick butt character you can’t name them Sally. LOL In Divine Redemption, my heroine is very soft spoken. She can’t help it, it’s the way her voice is. So, I searched for a name I thought would fit my character best. That’s how she became Jacqueline. 🙂

BREATHE: If you wrote in another genre, would it affect the names you picked for your characters? Why do you think this is?

REBECCA: Absolutely. I’ve always wanted to write mysteries but after a good go at it, realized I suck doing them. I believe names need to be an extension of your characters and only, when done right and mentioned in your piece why, should they not fit your hero/heroine.

BREATHE: What is your favorite character name—either your own or somebody else’s? Why do you like this name?

REBECCA: Sophia! It’s such a beautiful name and it’s very versatile. It’s strong, yet sweet.

BREATHE: Do you feel a character’s name affects the way you write him or her?

REBECCA: Yes. I’ve written whole novels and then went back and changed the names because they didn’t fit. Or, if I’ve tried to build the character’s personality around the name. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. Depends whether or not my character agrees. 🙂

BREATHE: Are there any names you absolutely will not use for a character?

REBECCA: Hhhmmm… Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any. There are so many different personalities out there to write about and names to describe them. So, I guess there’s nothing off limits.

Excerpt:
“Hey, Donald, I need that expense report. Where are you?”

“Under the desk.” Since Donald started working for the Allens, he’d learned a valuable lesson in patience. Not touching Jacqueline was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

“You know, Donald, there’s talk that you’re the most eligible bachelor in town.”

Donald craned his head to look at her. “That’s my chair you’re sitting in.”

“Yes, but I like the view of your behind.”

He wiggled it for her and she laughed.

“Donald, what are you looking for?”

“I dropped my paperclips.”

His dry response had another giggle coming from her.

“You’re too cute.”

“I’m not trying to be cute. This job really sucks sometimes, you know.”

“But you’re so good at it.” She rubbed her foot along his bottom, then attempted to go between his legs but Donald closed them.

“We talked about this, Jacqueline.” He turned and placed a hand on each of her knees.

“I’m only flirting with you.”

“You’re sexually harassing me, and I believe there’s a strict policy about that.”

“Donald,” she said, bringing her face close to his.

“Ya.” His eyes went to her lips and back to her eyes.

“I need that expense report.”

Find out more about Rebecca on her website: http://www.authorrebeccarose.com/!

Winner of WINTER SOLSTICE E-Reader Giveaway in Pictures

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Just had my daughter select the winner of the e-reader. Here’s what happened:

Congratulations!

Seven and a half hours (and a bit) left to enter E-Reader Giveaway!

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A short reminder: The winter solstice hits the east coast at 12:30 a.m. tonight, and I’m accepting entries in my e-reader giveaway right up until then (one per person, please). My hat’s filling up, but you still have a pretty good chance of being the winner. Tomorrow morning I’ll put the last entries into the hat and have my sweet daughter pull the winner, just so there’s no chance of favoritism (since she can’t read yet and doesn’t know most of you, anyway).

Don’t forget to check out the veritable garden of Roses I’ve planted over the past couple of weeks. Autumn Piper, L.K. Below, Lori Green, Sutton Fox, Stephanie Beck, Diane Escalera and Cristal Ryder have been here already, and I’ll wind things up, appropriately enough, with Rebecca Rose on Friday! It’s been wonderful hearing how other romance authors go about the character-naming process, and I hope they’ll all stop back by at some time or another.

Good luck with all your last minute holiday preparations wherever you are, and don’t forget to take a breathing moment from time to time!

A Rose is a Rose?: Cristal Ryder

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Cristal Ryder is a talented author who writes some…well, very HOT stuff. Her novel BEING ARIANA would no doubt melt a snowman in a few seconds, but it’s featured at the Lyrical Press Christmas Bash for 30 percent off! Cristal is here to share her thoughts about naming characters. Welcome Cristal!

BREATHE: Do you feel your character names are influenced by the theme of your story? Why or why not?

CRISTAL: Yes I do. At least for me, I *feel* the character differently by their name. Somehow their name becomes the essence of who I’ve created and the name seems to reflect it.

BREATHE: If you wrote in another genre, would it affect the names you picked for your characters? Why do you think this is?

CRISTAL: Yes it does. I finished a sci fi and the names were quite different. The heroine’s name changed as well after the story was complete. All the way through she went by one name and then when I did the read through she no longer represented that name and it changed to something else which fit her so much better. I think it could be because of the world building and the naming fits it better.

BREATHE: What is your favorite character name—either your own or somebody else’s? Why do you like this name?

CRISTAL: I used to love the name Kash. I knew a Kash years ago and he was gorgeous, nice, sexy, everything yummy. I used this name in my first ever written book, yet to be published :). The strange thing is, when I read it through now, I don’t like it as much and have considered changing it.

BREATHE: Do you feel a character’s name affects the way you write him or her?

CRISTAL: I’m not sure. I think the characteristics of the character becomes who the name fits. It’s like they go hand in hand somehow. But when the name doesn’t fit it stands out like a sore thumb.

BREATHE: Are there any names you absolutely will not use for a character?

CRISTAL: I hadn’t thought about this. Good question. Right now, I don’t think there is anything that specifically sticks out in my mind.

Excerpt from BEING ARIANA:

Ariana carefully composed herself and positioned the peak of the organza hood a little lower over her face. She felt the flush on her cheeks and the need to regain her composure from prying eyes. Her focus for the night had shifted dramatically in the last few minutes because of this strange man. Ariana turned her head within the hood to see if he was still there. He stood at the bottom, watching her. Ariana’s heel caught on the runner and she saw him start as if to jump up the stairs and assist her. She caught herself in time and shook her head, hoping he would get the message to leave her alone. Again, his brilliant smile clutched at her heart and he nodded his head. But she didn’t really know what that nod meant. Was he agreeing to leave her alone, or was it simply an acknowledgement of…what?

Oxygen filled her starved lungs and clarity came back with air. She decided to think of him as a delectable treat to help enhance her experience tonight and nothing more.

She knew her encounter with the mystery maitre’d had been noticed. The arousal of those around her was tangible and the weight of hungry gazes followed her until she found a table close to the balustrade. Ariana loved the interest the observers had in her recent encounter and rather than be intimidated by being watched, she thrived on it. At the table she paused and turned her head slightly behind the veil, enough to see some of those sitting around her and their stares skittered away when she caught them gaping with curiosity. Ariana smiled, and with a graceful movement sat at the center of a butter soft, wine-colored settee big enough for two.

Her fingertips touched the edge of the veil, making sure it was still where she wanted it. These seats offered a clear view of the lower level and yet the high back hid her from anyone seated behind. She scanned the floor below and concentrated on bringing her heart and breath firmly under control.

Guests in all kinds of masquerade mingled about or sat with their drinks at tables placed in concentric arcs before the stage. The lights, already dim, would be lowered even more in a little while, then all the focus would be on the performers.

Ariana could almost taste the growing excitement of the crowd. It thrilled her, and she grew more aroused, tightening her thigh muscles in pleasure.

People on the upper level shuffled around the seats in costume. Their choice to be at the top had purpose. They didn’t want to be noticed. Their tastes leaned toward watching only. Lighting ran along the edge of the floor, low and muted, mostly for safe passage between the tables and chairs. It gave the room a cavernous appearance that swallowed the furniture and guests into a dark void. Perfect for their anonymity. Many curious voyeurs in the dark hungered to watch the performers on the stage.

She swung her gaze to the main floor and watched the activities below. Costume clad hostesses fussed with guests and ensured their satisfaction with cocktails. Many still mingled and others had found their seats.

Her gaze stopped at the base of the stairs. Was she hoping to see him? Her breath caught slightly and sweet heat tingled between her thighs. She admitted he aroused her, unlike others, and sought him out with her gaze. The dark velvet curtains did well at hiding anyone standing in their folds. Then a section moved and she focused on the spot.

Visit Cristal at http://cristalryder.com.