Category Archives: Thoughts

A Lesson I Learned…at Walt Disney World of All Places!

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Before I begin writing this post, I just want to say I have every respect for the so-called “cast members” of Walt Disney World. I just got back from vacationing there, and I have to say that of all places I have ever been, the members of the service industry there are overall the hardest working and most cheerful I have ever encountered.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. On this particular trip, we met one cast member in the Magic Kingdom who was, well, on a bit of a power trip. Armed with a flashlight and a bad attitude, he roamed Main Street during one of the evening parades, ordering those of us who had been held up at dinner to stay behind a white line on the sidewalk instead of pressing forward into the backs of those who had evidently arrived well before the beginning of the parade.

“Get back behind the white line!” he yelled, brandishing his flashlight. “This sidewalk must remain clear!”

Honestly, Walt Disney himself could have told this man what would happen in his obvious effort to diminish the spirits of young folks out to have a good time. The man, who must have been near sixty years old, had probably never seen a Disney movie or he would have never attempted it.

My boys were in a mood that night and noticed the poor guy’s name tag. Deprived of a good view of the parade and with no immediate way to get across Main Street to Futureworld and their real destination of the Buzz Lightyear ride, they decided to get their fun out of this guy we’ll call Steve. As we waited as patiently as possible for the parade to end and everybody to get out of the way, my boys peered down the sidewalk, deliberately stepping into the middle of it, then scampering back. “Here comes Steve!” they yelled gleefully. “Get back, quick!”

For the better part of fifteen minutes they enjoyed themselves in this fashion, then the parade ended and we started up the sidewalk only to encounter Steve waving his flashlight wildly and shouting, “One way only! This sidewalk is one way only, going that way!”

Bewildered, we looked around at the mass of people going every which way, but Steve was obviously not about to let us past him, so my husband turned, walked several steps in the indicated direction and stepped off Steve’s sidewalk into the tide of people on Main Street. He turned again in our original direction and my sons yelped in unison, “But, Dad, Steve said we had to go this way!” They were obviously delighted by my husband’s disregard for Steve’s authority and, with me holding onto their shoulders just to keep them from disappearing into the crowd, they formed a makeshift Conga line singing something about how Steve was going to get them. We drew many smiles from passersby and some even joined in our little dance.

I will go on record right now to say I was not dancing. I may have been shaking so hard some people might have gotten the wrong impression, but it was from laughter.

At any rate, on the other side of Main Street, we encountered another cast member holding a flashlight, who stood back, smiling, to let us pass. My sons immediately read his name tag. We’ll call this man Jim. “Hey, that’s Jim!” cried one. “He’s a lot nicer than Steve!” replied the other.

And we danced on.

What lesson did I learn from all this? Well, obviously Steve didn’t really intend to have a real effect on our night. He was doing his job. He was probably sick and tired of sweaty, stinky tourists who insisted on doing the exact opposite of what they should do and expecting to get away with it because they’d paid a freaking fortune to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom. Steve didn’t care about the price of tickets or the little girls who wanted to dress like princesses or the little boys who wanted to meet Buzz Lightyear or Jack Sparrow or the parents who wanted to indulge their kids’ every whim. Steve just wanted to do his job and go home.

He certainly didn’t intend to impact our vacation in a positive way. And yet that is exactly what he did. For the rest of our time at Disney World, every cast member fell into one of two categories. The “Steves” were unpleasant. The “Jims” smiled and waved and made us feel welcome. And whenever we encountered a “Steve” we had only to say the name to elicit a smile from each other.

My point is this: we don’t really know what effect we have on the lives of the people we meet. We may not even be trying to be unpleasant when we impact somebody’s life. We might be just doing our jobs in an uncaring fashion. But if we become Jims, we might make life more pleasant. And if we insist on being Steves, we might just find ourselves the unwitting butt of somebody else’s joke.

Rainbow Chasers: A Tribute to Steve Jobs (with a HONEOWP announcement at the very end)

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This week, two extraordinary things happened. The first ever quadruple rainbow was photographed and Steve Jobs, visionary founder of Apple, passed away. In my mind, these two events are linked by more than the time period, however.

In an article I found about the quadruple rainbow, I found the term “rainbow chasers”, and that phrase has caught my imagination in a sort of magical way. I’ve mused about what it would be like to chase rainbows. It’s an actual job, too. Check out the Urban Dictionary’s definition. What a wonderful way to introduce yourself. I’d love to be able to walk up at a dinner party or a PTO function or really just about anywhere, shake someone’s hand and introduce myself as “Michelle Garren Flye, rainbow chaser.”

But in a way, I am a rainbow chaser. And Steve Jobs was one of the most successful rainbow chasers of our time. In his own words:

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Stanford University Commencement Address 2005

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903596904576520690515394766.html#ixzz1a6UcP55X

So, in honor of Steve Jobs and the rainbow chasers who went before him (Walt Disney, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Einstein), I offer a new definition of a rainbow chaser: Someone who recognizes the joy of constantly striving toward the goal of perfection in their life and work. And in honor of Steve Jobs and the future rainbow chasers who may have been inspired by him, I designate my next HONEOWP Charity as Rainbows International Grief Support Organization for Children.

What Makes a Super-Couple? A Study of Soap Opera Characters

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Hi. My name is Michelle and I am a soap opera addict.

Well, I’m addicted to one soap in particular. Days of Our Lives. My mom watched it when I was a toddler playing in the living room with blocks and baby dolls. I took a brief hiatus during elementary school (although I did enjoy it when I was sick), and then the advent of the VCR and then the DVR allowed me to become re-addicted. Nowadays, I watch it on Hulu while I’m on the treadmill. I almost never miss an episode.

It’s exciting times in soap opera world. You’re either fixing your formula so you can compete with the talk show hosts or you’re getting cancelled. Days, or DOOL as my fellow addicts and I affectionately refer to it, has chosen the first, and far more preferable, route. After years of sub-par plots, untalented (and very young) actors and a startling preference for violence over romance, the Powers-That-Be seem to be listening to the fans. They’ve pared down the cast to the most talented, and now they’re bringing back some old fan favorites and giving some others more meaty storylines.

This all got me thinking. Soap operas, at least since the eighties, have been known for creating “super-couples”. These are the couples in soaps who are truly together “until death do they part.” If you’re a fan of soaps, you know these couples are never going to be torn apart, no matter what. Well, sometimes they get divorced or accidentally fall in love with somebody else for a while, but only if they think the other one is dead while they’ve really only been kidnapped. Or maybe they did die but were brought back to life for nefarious purposes by an evil genius. Either way, love will conquer all in the end.

But what makes these couples so indestructible? How do they have such powers for forgiveness and love that they can overcome finding someone else in their spouse’s bed after they’ve fought their way out of a dungeon to get home? I’ve come up with a (sort of) formula for this, just in case anybody out there would like to attempt to replicate this heaven on earth in real life.

First, they must both be incredibly attractive, but probably in different ways. For instance, the woman is a debutante or a professional while the man is sort of a diamond in the rough. A nice scruffy beard is a plus, but just a permanent five o’clock shadow will do. And while the woman is absolutely clueless (at least at first) as to the effect she has on the man, the man should definitely believe he is God’s gift to women. (If there are any guys out there reading this, this attitude most definitely does not work in real life. Trust me, you won’t be able to pull it off like an outwardly alpha/hidden beta male can.)

Second, the man must be an alpha male, but with a tender side that the woman uncovers by accident. He’s often brusque and rude, especially in her presence, but if given the opportunity, he will save little children and kittens (accidentally in her presence).

Third, our couple must experience an element of danger. Life-threatening (mostly for her) danger is best, and if it can be brought about by him, all the better.

Finally, the woman must be so attracted to the man, she will never, ever give up on him. Even when he’s rude and endangers her life, she will turn a blind eye and a deaf ear. After all, she knows there is more to this guy. She’s witnessed his bravery when small children and kittens are at stake. And besides, the five o’clock shadow is too sexy to leave.

On second thought, I don’t think I would recommend reproducing these characteristics in real life. However, if you’d care to live in a fantasy for a while, try reading a romance or two. Like these:

Excerpt from SECRETS OF THE LOTUS:
Josie let him take her hand. “No, I guess not. How do you know for sure when somebody can’t hurt you anymore?”

Dan’s thumb moved gently over the backs of her fingers in an absent but comforting gesture. “I suppose it’s when you no longer feel like they have the ability to reach into your chest and grab hold of your heart.”

“I’m not sure I ever felt that way about Eric.”

“You’re lucky.” He was still looking at her hand.

“Then you have?” She was surprised, she had to admit. She hadn’t thought he ever let women get that close to him.

Dan dropped her hand abruptly. “Only once. We should go before I get a parking ticket.”

Startled, Josie watched as he pulled on a sweatshirt and headed to the door.

“Coming?”

“Sure, yeah.” She picked up her bag. “Sorry.” She followed him, wondering which of his many conquests had elicited such intensity of feeling from him and if that woman fully appreciated
what she’d left behind.

Excerpt from WINTER SOLSTICE:
“Has anyone ever told you you’re very sexy when you’re feeling guilty?” John asked.

Becky looked up to find him smiling. With a rush of violence, she wanted to hit him. In fact, she did raise her hand to strike him, but he forestalled that by stepping forward, one arm sliding around her waist, the other hand behind her head, pulling her to him, his lips first gentle on hers, then more demanding. As she relaxed in his arms, he drew her even closer, the hand behind her head sliding down to the nape of her neck in the lightest of caresses.

It was the first time they’d kissed in nearly two weeks. It felt incredible to be in his arms again. She realized how much she had missed being with him and reveled in the heat between them, wanting more, but knowing this embrace would have to end.

He released her with obvious reluctance, tapering off the one long passionate kiss to several slow and deliberate kisses, finally stopping completely.

Post Irene Update

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I’ve been trying to organize my thoughts since we got our power back after Hurricane Irene. It’s harder than it sounds. I can’t honestly say I’ve ever been through an experience quite like Irene. Early, early on Saturday morning I woke and lay awake hearing the wind and various thumps from outside. I knew those thumps were trees coming down. I’ve heard that final, horrifying sound of a tree dying before. These were different, though. These thumps were near and far and I had no real idea when one might crash through the roof of my house. When the power went out at 4:45 a.m., I pretty much gave up sleeping and just listened and prayed.

The gray-washed light of Saturday morning brought no real relief. The water in the creek was higher than I’ve ever seen it. I alternated watching it and waiting for it to come over our retaining wall and keeping a close eye on the swaying hundred foot tall pines in our front yard. I don’t know exactly how long the eye wall of Irene hovered a mere forty miles away from my home, but I do know the winds and rain continued until well past dinner time on Saturday. I finally realized it was over when I heard a bird cheeping outside. Peering out the window I saw him sitting on the railing beside my steps, fluttering his wings and chirping indignantly at the sky. I couldn’t help but smile because his feelings exactly echoed mine.

On Sunday we realized how lucky we were. Trees were down all around us. Trees blocked roads, smashed houses and littered yards. Homes were flooded not far away. Nobody had power. Generators and chainsaws provided a white noise for five days after. You can still hear the chainsaws and wood chippers, but almost everyone has power again thanks to the utility companies who worked tirelessly to restore it. I’ve had power and cable for going on three days and have logged on to update my blog at least six times. I couldn’t find the words.

You see, I thought I was salty. I thought I had been through a hurricane before. I thought I was a tough Eastern North Carolinian (I’ve lived here for six years now) who could weather the storm. But I’ve never seen a storm like Irene. And she was mild compared to some. Locals still talk about Fran and we all know what Katrina did. My heart goes out to the people on the Gulf Coast who are now dealing with Tropical Storm Lee. Heavy rain could fall there for 36 hours and thousands are already without power. Even as I say a little prayer for those affected by Lee and those worse affected than me by Irene, I’m keeping a close eye on Katia. Too soon to tell if she’s coming our way, but I have no desire whatsoever to go through another hurricane.

And now that I’ve found the words to express my dismay about tropical storms, it’s time for my HONEOWP update. September is Hunger Action Month, so I’m donating my royalties to my local food bank. Even when natural disasters are few and far between, there are plenty of hungry people out there. Consider making a donation to your local food bank this month. And if you want me to donate more royalties to my food bank, buy my books!

Still waiting to hear about August’s royalties to know what my final donation to Oceana will be, but I have decided to include my $200 prize money for my story “Life After”, which won third place in Hyperink’s Romance Anthology Contest. If you’d like to purchase the anthology and read my story, you can find it on Amazon (Kindle format) here: The Best of All Sins: Stories of Love and Heartbreak or on Hyperink’s website (pdf format). If you read it, please consider writing a review on Amazon!

Stay safe everybody, and take a breathing moment when you can.

WINTER SOLSTICE earns Five Hearts!!!!

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Second review for WINTER SOLSTICE just came out on Romance Book Scene. They gave it five hearts! I’m thrilled. My thanks go out to the very intelligent reviewers over at Romance Book Scene. 🙂 You can read the entire review here: WINTER SOLSTICE GETS FIVE HEARTS. Or here’s a little tidbit: “Well written contemporary story for those who like drama type love stories.”

Just a note to those who review books. I have been struggling recently, wondering if I ought to hang it up for a bit (not seriously, but you know, we all wonder that sometimes). Maybe I don’t have enough to write about. Maybe what I write is too trite for anybody to care about. My friend McKenna of To Write Well calls these thoughts “negative scripts”, and she’s right. They get under your skin, and you just have to find your own way to deal with them. This review from Romance Book Scene gave me the desire to do that. I’ve been fortunate not to have anyone give me an awful review yet, but I hope when I do get one (and I most likely will if people keep reading my books), I will have enough philosophy to realize that if they reviewed it, they had to read it. And if they read it, I did my job. So thank you to reviewers. You give us the motivation to write.

This One’s for the Kids: Start of a New Year, Make it a Good One.

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My oldest son starts school this week, and I’m worried. The older he gets the more I worry, funnily enough. I remember sixth grade as a miserable year. My best friend had betrayed me the year before, and her betrayal stung me so deeply, I couldn’t help but be scarred by it. Although we’d been friends since fourth grade, she decided I wasn’t cool because my family wasn’t rich and I wore a lot of hand-me-downs. So she made friends with another little girl and they spent fifth grade alternately ignoring me and talking about me.

It still stings.

I saw my son going through some of that last year. He doesn’t have the same problems I did. He’s smart and good-looking and a little quiet until you get to know him, though, and evidently that’s enough. He lost some friends last year, rediscovered some old ones and made some new ones. It was painful for me to watch remembering what I went through.

So I want to address this one to the kids. This is your chance to discover the world doesn’t revolve around you. Those ties you made with a friend might be easy for you to sever, but that doesn’t mean the other person won’t feel it. And those words which are so easy to utter will hurt someone who cares about you. This is your chance to decide you are going to make the world better in whatever way you can. Maybe that quiet kid isn’t as reclusive as you thought. Maybe she’s shy but smart and fun. Maybe that overweight kid you torture because he’s slow has a great sense of humor. Maybe the smart kid with his nose in a book loves to help and would be willing to show you how to do that tough math problem on your homework.

Don’t think that because you’re young you don’t have any power. Your world is what you make it. You can start now erasing prejudice and cruelty from it.

NOTE: WINTER SOLSTICE is tomorrow!

Save the Trees. Or, Bestsellers Only, All Others Go in the Back Way

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I’ve been reading a lot about how the publishing world is changing, and, wonder of wonders, decided to share my thoughts on the subject. I mean, why not?

I practically lived in bookstores when I was growing up. Two in particular. The first was a used bookstore right down the road from the public library named The Book Nook. I loved to browse the shelves of old books and breathe in the tiny particulates of decaying paperbacks. You could trade books at The Book Nook, but I bought most of mine. I had a hard time parting with my books. I’m pretty sure I bought my first teen romance there. I know I bought my first hardback book there. I still have it and probably always will. Black Beauty and Other Horse Stories. It cost $15 and took me almost a month to save up for. And it’s one of my most prized possessions, although, sadly, The Book Nook has long since closed its doors.

The other bookstore introduced me to my love of science fiction and fantasy. I was a little older when Highland Books opened up. It was a little further away, not quite an easy walk for me, so I either had to beg my mother to take me there (and she usually did since she was as much a bookworm as I am), or wait until she had an errand to run nearby. Fortunately for me, when I was a young girl, my mother got a job at the dry cleaners nearby and I often walked from there. In Highland Books I fell in love with Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. I remember how excited I got whenever a new Pern book came out, and I still have most of those dilapidated paperbacks, too. Right next to L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books, which I also purchased from Highland Books.

With all that said, you can tell my love of books runs deep. I have a degree in library science, for heaven’s sake. So the idea that I would abandon my dream of having a book published with my name on its silky cover is absurd, right? The very idea that I would be content to have my books published electronically! That I would accept that the changes in the publishing world are not necessarily going to fit in with where I want my career to go…well, it’s not even to be thought of, correct?

Not so. I’m seeing writing on the walls of every bookstore I go into. That writing says plainly, “We stock bestsellers. All others need not apply.” And who can blame them? Bookstores sell books, and bestsellers sell. How long before publishers go the same route? How long before bestsellers are the only books they are willing to put out in hard copy and the rest of us are relegated to e-publishing? I think it’s closer than we’d like to believe.

I don’t think bookstores are going anywhere. I anticipate a change, however, and those who don’t adapt to it will be smooshed under the weight of the biggies. I foresee a bookstore with fewer shelves of books. Maybe some local interest, a few history and plenty of stacks of New York Times Bestsellers. Interspersed in these shelves, which are really more for background than for sale, will be cushy couches and chairs and maybe even a few beanbags. I foresee people with their eyes glued to their Nooks and Kindles and smart phones (and all the other e-readers), browsing the exclusive electronic content available only in the store. Perhaps a whole magazine or newspaper or the first three chapters of a featured book.

Am I selling out by allowing my books to be electronically published first? Or am I embracing an inevitable future that, much as it might pain me, is probably inexorable? Well, at least I can say I’m saving trees.

Why I can wear a bikini or how writing is exactly like stripping

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I’m on vacation, hence the lack of updates to my blog. However, I thought I’d tie the two together so my blog gets updated at least once this week. And since my mind is occupied by sun and swim and sea, I’m writing about wearing a bikini.

You see, I got tired of my matronly one-piece. Every year I think “This is the year I’ll get toned and firm and be able to wear a bikini.” Well, it has yet to happen. This year, I decided the hell with it. I don’t like one-piece swimsuits. They’re a pain to struggle in and out of when you go to the bathroom, they make me look like an old lady, and let’s face it, if I wait until my body is perfect…well, after three pregnancies, you can imagine how long that’s going to take.

So I bought a bikini. A very, very modest bikini, but it still bares more of my body than I’m usually comfortable with. I put it on and I went out on the beach. I went to the pool. I even walked up to a beachside restaurant. All of this with a bare midriff.

And I wasn’t uncomfortable at all!

What’s happened to me? I haven’t worn a bikini since college and for a long time there, I couldn’t imagine showing any skin that jiggled at all. So why now? I certainly don’t look like I did in college.

I’ve decided my writing has a lot to do with it. I’ve put a lot of myself into my books. Each scene I write in my novels is like stripping a bit of clothing off, and by the time I’ve finished a novel, I feel pretty damn exposed. I must have a lot of layers, though, because I’ve now finished four novels and I’m pretty sure I’ve got more in me.

We’ll call my writing the dance of 7,000 veils.

Countdown to Winter Solstice: 25 days.

Happy Father’s Day and a Bonus

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I’ve mentioned my dad on here before. He read my book. My father’s not exactly a romance kind of guy, but he read my book and told me he liked it. That means a lot to me. (Love you, Daddy!) Actually, a surprising number of dads have read SECRETS OF THE LOTUS and liked it. My friend A.J. has two gorgeous kids and told me liked SECRETS. My friend Jennifer’s dad won one of the Kindles I gave away and he let me know he enjoyed my book, too. My own husband, one of the absolute best dads I know, who has never ever read a romance before, gave me a glowing review of SECRETS.

I won’t actually say you should give the dad in your life a copy of SECRETS OF THE LOTUS or any other romance for father’s day, but hey, it’s good to know there are a few men out there who appreciate a good romance, huh?

Happy father’s day, Dads!

Now for the bonus. I finished another manuscript. Yep, just started shopping THE SIXTH FOLD (formerly ALWAYS FAITHFUL) around and now I’ve finished DUCKS IN A ROW. Well, first draft, anyway. It’s in no way ready for anyone else to even look at, but the whole story is there. And if I can finish copy editing it, I might even be able to pitch it at the Romance Writers Association Annual Meeting!

What a bonus — for me, anyway!

A HONEOWP Happy Birthday to Michael J. Fox!

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I actually had another, more personal reason that I won’t get into, for donating this month’s royalties to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. I didn’t know its courageous founder turns fifty today! Just saw an article on Yahoo! that let me in on that.

I’m not sure there were any preteen girls in the eighties who weren’t half in love with Michael J. Fox. Of course, we were all the way in love with Tom Cruise, too. But Fox was the one we’d have wanted to bring home for Mom to meet. Can’t you just imagine him as a teenage boy sitting at the kitchen counter eating cookies and drinking milk, wowing parents with his college plans? He’d probably walk out the door with the keys to your dad’s car and explicit instructions to have fun and not worry about getting you home in time for curfew.

Of course, preteen girls grow up. I’ve moved on, have a husband and family of my own now…and am only a little bit in love with Johnny Depp. But a part of my heart will always belong to Michael J. Fox. Happy birthday, Michael!