Category Archives: Thoughts

Sometimes Magic Happens

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“It has never been easier to publish that book you always said you’d write. The hard part is finding an audience for it.” –Molly Gaudry, The Lit Pub, interviewed in Luna Park Review

It’s a fascinating interview and I encourage you to read it, but those two sentences stood out to me as an essential truth. The last statement gets to the heart of every published writer’s struggle, but especially those of us who are decidedly unfamous. I mean, if you’re a good writer, you can be published. But just because you’re published doesn’t mean you’re going to sell your book. (Trust me.) So how do we overcome it?

An obvious answer would be to look at today’s most successful authors and trace their careers backward. What happened when J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book came out? How did Stephen King market Carrie? I saw a movie trailer for Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook the other day and I wondered, what sets these stories apart? What helps them reach our hearts and somehow set them apart from the rest? Nicholas Sparks himself said in a speech at a writers conference I attended that “Quality rises to the top.” That sentence stuck in my mind. Yes, I thought, and I write quality stories, so it’ll happen for me…someday.

So surely if you look at how the most successful novels of the day were marketed, you’ll be able to figure the trick, right? Trace it to the root and you’ll know the secret, the only ad campaign you’ll ever need. But it’s really not that easy. And I can only think of one reason why.

Sometimes magic happens. Sometimes a story captures our imaginations in such a way that we can’t just let go of it. We have to share it. We have to tell other people about it. It happened that way for me the first time I saw Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. I made my poor husband take me to see that movie no less than three times in the theater, and this was at a point in our lives when we didn’t have a whole lot of money to go to movies. And no, the magic didn’t just come from Johnny Depp in a sexy pirate suit (although that didn’t hurt). It was the whole story and feel of the movie. Like it could take me into another world and change me into something more special. I couldn’t stop talking about it, and it turned out I wasn’t the only one.

That’s magic.

J.K. Rowling wrote seven books absolutely filled with that magic. Stephen King, Alice Hoffman, Nicholas Sparks, Stephenie Meyer have all conjured it. Quality may eventually rise to the top, but magic is what sends it shooting, foaming over the rim of the glass. So how do I get it?

I’ve only come up with one answer. Keep plugging away. Keep writing, and write what I love to write. One of these days, maybe somebody will read one of my books and find themselves so lost in it they can’t stop talking about it. Maybe they’ll tell their friends and maybe across the nation, somebody else will do the same. Maybe a lot of somebodies will find it in themselves to take that leap of faith and pick up one of my books, become lost in my world for a while.

One last note. Next month’s HONEOWP charity is the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Because I want to.

A Depressing Task

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You know how irritating it is to visit somebody’s blog and click on a link and bam! you’re taken to some advertising site that has nothing to do with what you were looking for? You have encountered a broken link. I hate that. So this morning, for the first time this week, I had a few minutes and decided to check my links. I started with “My Stories”.

How embarrassed was I to find that quite a few of my stories which were available online when I started this blog a year and a half ago are no longer there. Worse still, the online literary magazines that originally published them are not there. As a former editor of a now-defunct literary magazine, this is depressing. As a writer who fought her way into several of these magazines, it’s discouraging. So many of my favorite writers I met online and learned so much from reading their online flash fiction and short stories. Ellen Meister, who I’ve mentioned on here before. If you’ve read The Other Life, Ellen’s latest, you might really enjoy this one: A Crack in the Foundation. And Steven Gullion aka Steve Gullion aka Steven Douglas Gullion. If you want to read some wonderful fiction, Google one of those aliases. Steve has a gift for wrapping tragedy with absurdity or vice versa. Try this one: BiC.

Just recently, one of my flash fiction stories, The Steps My Lover Built, was included in Flash Fiction Chronicles’s list of short stories available online for short story month. On that same list, you can find work from several excellent online literary magazines, including some I was lucky enough to be published in (SmokeLong Quarterly, Hobart, Word Riot) and some I was never quite got into (Monkeybicycle, elimae, wigleaf). Thankfully, all these online litmags are still available for your perusal. If you’d like to see some excellent fiction, possibly even from tomorrow’s New York Times Bestseller Lists, take a breathing moment and check out the list.

Oh, and if I haven’t mentioned it, I’m number 34.

A discouraging (but exhilarating!) day in the world of one writer (me!)

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It has been just such a day in the world of Michelle Garren Flye’s literary ambitions. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “silence is deafening.” I can’t hear a damn thing when it comes to my writing.

Most days I soar on wings of expectation. SECRETS OF THE LOTUS is my first novel. I know it’s good. Who cares if it’s only sold a few copies and the three AMAZON reviews, while favorable, are easily recognizable as people I know (and I love all three of you!)? It’s a tough market. I’ll break through. Maybe with my next one, WINTER SOLSTICE, slated to be published by Lyrical Press, Inc. in August 2011.

If not that one, surely ALWAYS FAITHFUL (working title) will do it. I’ve already sent this one out to agents. The story of this one is significantly meatier (meaning there’s more to it, more to sink your teeth into) than either SECRETS or SOLSTICE. You might even go so far as to call this one Chick Lit instead of just Romance. And what have I heard from the agents I’ve queried?

……………….. (crickets chirping) ……………………..

And yet, in spite of all this, I can’t help but hope. I believe in my books. I believe in my writing. I believe I’m writing what I’m meant to write (sex scenes and all!).

To top it all off, I’m reading a perfectly marvelous book. MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND by Helen Simonson. Now, I know I’ve been known to plug authors I know on here (although never undeservedly). I don’t know Ms. Simonson, but I’m adding her to my favorite writers, a list which includes Alice Hoffman and Barbara Kingsolver, among others. Understand that these are not just writers I like or even love. These are writers who write the way I will always strive to, though I have no real anticipation of getting there. Surprisingly — maybe — most of the authors on this list are female. And I don’t know any of them.

I’m not really sure why reading such excellent writing from somebody else should give me such hope. Turns out MAJOR PETTIGREW’S is Simonson’s first novel. Shouldn’t I be jealous that she achieved so much with her first novel when mine has sold just a handful of copies?

Nah. I think I can compare this joy of reading something truly wonderful somehow to the Major’s rediscovery of how to “enjoy listening” (page 103). The Major claims his ears became numb listening to students read in a monotone. I become somewhat the same reading books that are “good” (like my own). Good is fine, good is great, but it’s not inspirational unless we strive to achieve more. My thanks to Helen Simonson for reintroducing me to the joy of reading, waking my numb reader’s ears and giving me hope.

The Roads Not Taken

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Today as I traced my familiar path through my neighborhood on the way home from the store, I noticed something. A side road. It struck me that though I’ve lived in this neighborhood for going on two years now, I’ve never gone down that particular side road.

How odd.

On impulse I turned down the road and drove slowly through this spur of my neighborhood I’d never explored (call it a breathing moment). Not much to see, really, except some pretty houses and lovely azaleas, much the same as the main road. A few people picking up storm debris, again something I can find right next door to my own house. Still, it was a road I’d never taken, and it actually looped right back around to the main road after a pleasant meander.

I don’t really think I’ve discovered anything new about Robert Frost, but it did occur to me that there are probably lots of life side roads that we never bother exploring. Most of us probably picture our road through life much as we picture our route to the grocery store. Main roads only, ignoring the side roads. I know I pictured my career path that way. Write a book, edit the book, obtain an agent, get a publishing contract. But lo! What roadblock was that in my way? No agents interested. A side road beckoned, and I found Lyrical Press there.

Was the path I chose something like the side road I took this morning? Maybe. Lots of the same scenery, and it led me back to the main road eventually.

A Quest Realized

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A few weeks ago I blogged about my quest for validation. I’ve thought a lot about validation since then. I don’t want it just in my writing. I want it in all aspects of my life. Whether I get it or not depends on a lot of factors, but I won’t stop aspiring to it.

With that in mind, one of my quests has started to bear fruit. Literally. Have a look:

Tomato Validation

You see, I started this tomato plant last fall. I grew it from a seed. I actually grew two, but one died. This one has grown and grown over the course of the past few months until it has taken over our back window and the view. While it provides a nice shade from the southern sun, we had begun to doubt it would ever produce any tomatoes. I kept watering it. When it did bloom this spring, we still doubted there would be any actual fruit. Still, I continued to water it. Once it produced a number of tiny green tomatoes, my husband doubted they would ever actually ripen. My doubts gone, I continued to water and waa-laa! The first one ripened yesterday.

I’ll take my victories (and my validation) where I can get them!

My Quest for Validation

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On a writing site I frequent a debate has sparked about the validation I feel every writer seeks. Someone asked why do you write and I responded with the word “validation.”

Okay, not every writer wants validation for their work from outside sources. Somebody pointed out Emily Dickinson as an example of a writer who never sought outside validation for her work. Many writers write in a journal they never expect anyone to see. But certainly every writer who puts their writings out there for public consumption is looking for some form of validation.

So who are we seeking validation from? Readers certainly. Editors and publishers definitely. Ourselves? Well, I feel pretty sure if we put our work out there, the self-validation has already been taken care of. I know I have a lot of confidence that I’m a good writer. I also believe I’m a pretty good editor. So I don’t need self-validation, and that’s why I send my work out to be published.

Do I want my work to sell? Yes. I want to make money off my writing, preferably a lot of money. But as you know from my HONEOWP initiative, I don’t really want the money, at least not right now. What I want is to be able to say that a lot of people are reading what I write, and are willing to pay to do it. That’s the ultimate form of validation for a writer, in my opinion.

Does this mean I want to be conformist? Not necessarily. It’s true that what I write is fun, entertaining, and that’s all I want to do at the moment. But I think every artist of every type should seek to stretch the boundaries, to make people see things a little differently. Of course, this is sometimes hard to do. As has been pointed out quite often in the writing community, if you want validation from a reader, you have to get it from an editor/publisher source first. If you’re not writing something an editor/publisher is willing to take a chance on, you’re stuck in the self-publishing world, and while some people are able to make that work, it’s a long, hard road.

But then again, what isn’t in this business? Day after day we writers put ourselves out there in the written word, hoping to get some feedback, whether it be positive or negative, praying we’ve written something that will touch someone in some way. If we’re lucky, we find out we did. If we’re really lucky, we are able to get our words out to a lot of people and we get the ultimate validation, whether it be a lot of money, a bestseller, an article in a large print journal, a short story in Best American Short Stories, or a winning entry in a writing contest.

Good luck to all my fellow writers in their quest for validation, and if you’re a reader, take a minute to give your favorite author a pat on the back. Believe me when I say, even if he or she is a very successful author, they’d love to hear from you.

Valentine Gifts

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Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ve got a couple of surprises and what better day for them? First, if you look at the top you’ll notice a new tab for “Short Romance”. A few weeks ago, I decided to try something new with my romance writing. I’ve never written a romance short story before, and I’ve only read a few good ones. I wanted to see if I could do it. Well, I did, and I even got some help from a writing buddy with the editing (thanks, AJ!)–and a little validation, too, since he enjoyed it. I couldn’t figure out what to do with the story, though, and then I figured I might just offer it up here. At 6,000 words, “Life After” is a fraction of the length of Secrets of the Lotus or even Winter Solstice, but it’s a pretty cool story, and I hope you enjoy it.

So on to my second surprise. I’ve been very fortunate with Secrets of the Lotus in that I have gotten some good reviews and one really nice blurb from Ellen Meister, a writer I both respect and admire (and whose third novel The Other Life comes out at the end of this week and has bestseller written all over it!). But much as I appreciate these comments from writing experts, they pale in comparison to what I feel when a friend or loved one tells me they read my book and enjoyed it. So for Valentine’s Day, I asked people I know who liked my book to send me a blurb about it. Here’s what some of them had to say:

“Without a doubt, Secrets of the Lotus is the best romance novel I have ever read. It is, in fact, the only one I’ve read. But that doesn’t matter. It’s a fantastic book, with engaging characters I quickly found myself caring about. The plot is solid and engrossing, set in a great city with artfully painted scenes. There is an undercurrent of tension between the protagonist and her leading man; I dont know how many times I found myself thinking, “when are they going to get it over with already!?”. Oh no, am I a romance fan now?” — Chris, my husband

“Michelle, I have read your book, I loved it and I think others would love it also if they would take the time out from this busy world and read it. Of course I might be a little bit partial to my little girl. After all I had to wait for you to grow up and write before I got to read your first novel. Now I am looking forward to reading another. l love you.” — Carl, my dad

“Secrets of the Lotus was a great read! I very quickly got caught up in the story of Josie and Dan. I enjoyed the intrigue surrounding the kidnapping, and found I couldn’t put the book down. I was glad there was a happy ending and that Josie’s dreams came true. I await Michelle Flye’s next novel with great anticipation!” — Phyllis, my mother-in-law

“What a wonderful pleasure it was to read “Secrets of the Lotus”. Grab a glass of wine, and start reading this lovely romance, you will be swept away. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, and the fact that it was set in NY ~ the greatest city of all time!” — A.M. Celotto, my friend

If you’ve read Secrets of the Lotus and have something (nice) to say about it, send me a comment! I’d love to put it up on my blog! In the meantime, have a wonderful day of love and friendship.

Snow. Eastern Carolina style.

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Snow hit Eastern North Carolina this morning. I woke to a winter wonderland but by ten o’clock it was obvious the snow wouldn’t be sticking around for long. I enjoyed the short drive over non-icy roads to get one son to school, however. Tree branches laden and lawns crusted with snow on all sides with a gray snowy sky above gave me the feeling I had stepped back into Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” or maybe I was going “Over the River and Through the Woods”. The hum of my minivan’s engine replaced the jingle of the sleigh bells, however.

I’ve had a productive week, thank goodness. I like those. I’m working on a special Valentine for you for Monday, in addition to my “friends and family” blog post. I also got started on my newest editing project. I’m working with Cutting Block Press on the final edits for Tattered Souls 2. This one’s going to be a good one, so go ahead and make plans to buy it! I’m always happy to work with Cutting Block Press on any project, mainly because they don’t cut corners and they put out a high quality product. If I still wrote horror I’d be hitting them up to publish something of mine, but instead they let me keep my hand in the horror field by doing some editing for them.

I’m also getting back into the submitting business. I’ve sort of taken a break from it recently, but a couple of interesting markets have come to my attention, and since I had some stuff wasting away in my files, I’ve pulled them out and started going over them to get them ready. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on the results!

Finally, I got two great bits of mail today. First, Ellen Meister sent me a signed bookplate to put in my soon-to-arrive and highly anticipated copy of The Other Life, which will be out on February 17! Second, I got a nice note from Habitat for Humanity thanking me for my $25 donation. At first I thought, But really, it was only $25. Then I realized every little bit counts for charities like the ones I’m trying to draw attention to with my HONEOWP initiative, and even if I only donate $25 every month to a charity, that’s more than the nothing I have always donated before. That thought made me feel good for a minute or two. Maybe I will accomplish something positive before the year is out.

Weekly Review

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It’s a quiet Saturday morning, what better time to take a breathing moment and look back at my week?

First and foremost, I received my royalty statement. Only sold one copy of my book last month, but that’s okay. I’ll still be donating $25 to Habitat for Humanity, and Steve Lowe signed on to donate his royalties to charity this month, so my HONEOWP initiative is moving forward. I would love, love, love to donate much more than the minimum to Survival International at the end of this month, though, so please consider (1) buying my book, (2) recommending my book to others, (3) spreading the word about this initiative! Talk about it on Facebook or your blog. The more people willing to talk about it, the more people will become aware of the charities being donated to.

Second, I tried an experiment over the last couple of weeks. I wrote a short romance story. Well, it’s short for me, anyway. About 6,000 words. I think it’s pretty good, but I’m waiting for word from my first reader, whose opinion I trust. In the meantime, I’m returning to editing ALWAYS FAITHFUL, trying to figure out what to do with it after I’m done. I’ve had an offer from a couple of friends to read and comment, so once I’m done with my pre-edits, I’ll probably turn to them for help.

Finally, since February is the month for love, I’ve decided to dedicate my posts this month to things I love. Which means at the end of every post, I’m going to list five things I love. This time, I’m going to list five cars I love. Literally love.

1. Corvettes. Any model year except the 90s.
2. Dodge Viper.
3. Camaros! Love the new ones almost as much as the old ones.
4. Lotus. (Obviously.)
5. The Pontiac Firebird Burt Reynolds drove in Smokey and the Bandit. Just that one, and don’t tell anybody.

What a great idea!

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I’ve been out of it since Monday, guys, so sorry I haven’t updated. Multiple sick kids on multiple days and fighting a cold myself did not make for good blogging time. Maybe I can get back to normal next week!

My thanks to Ellen Meister for her great interview on Monday! I’m planning to wrap up my segment on naming characters this coming Monday with some of my own inconclusive conclusions and a last word or two from some of my guests this month. If you’re a writer and have some ideas, throw us a comment. We’d love to hear from you.

One great thing that happened this week was getting a comment referred to me by a blog I’d never visited. Ash Joie Lee’s blog is devoted to a “Meet ‘n Greet” for writers. Check it out here: Ash Joie Lee. A friend, McKenna (whose blog you’ll find in my Links of Interest to the left), mentioned my blog in a comment on Ash Joie Lee’s site, so I had to check it out. What a wonderful site it is, too! Devoted to helping other new writers get the word out about their work.

Since I spend a great deal of time on promotion, including a number of hours on this very blog, I recognize the value of this resource. I commend the owner of the blog and I thank McKenna for leading me to it! Cheers to you both.