Author: Michelle

Posted on

Book Reviews From People I Know Too Well

Now that people I love, people I see everyday, and people I randomly run into at holiday parties are reading my book, they all tell me what they think of it. The reactions have been positive and, dare I say, enthusiastic. It is still amusing to me to have people I know talk to me about characters that used to only live in my head. Some of these conversations are funny, because I know the people so well and I can read between the lines.

A little fun for Friday and some words to make you smile.

Dear Readers, I give you Book Reviews From People I Know Entirely Too Well. Enjoy.

From Mr. Rochester (my dear husband): The beginning was a little slow. I know you were doing some world building, but there were too many emotions and feelings.

Please note: Mr. R is an engineer with a heart of ice and any mention of feelings, tender or otherwise, is entirely too much for him. If Petra and the gang just got into fights in the saloon all the time, he would probably enjoy the book much better. I told him he would like Marina’s book more because the fighting to feelings ratio was higher. He is of the opinion that men only shed actual tears while watching Rudy. Any other emotional display is unacceptable. Good thing I have feelings for him.

From my Mother-in-Law: You write good descriptions. You don’t go on and on forever about the mountains and I’m thankful for that.

Please note: This comment from the woman who once went on a cruise to Alaska. When asked what she thought of it, her reply was, “The only thing to see was mountains and trees. It was boring.” I think she missed the point of going to Alaska.

From my Mom: It was really good. I really liked it.

Please Note: Even if it was rubbish (it’s not, I promise) she has to say that. She gave birth to me.

My Adoring Aunt: You’re the most beautiful writer in the entire world.

Please Note: This was after only reading the dedication and the acknowledgments. I have to admit; I love that lady to pieces.

Happy Friday everyone!

Posted on

Convergence

I was prepared for much of the publishing process. My experience with nonfiction and the research I conducted beforehand helped. There was one thing, though, which neither of these things prepared me for.

Being a writer is a strange thing. Ask any writer and they will tell you we do not live alone in our heads. I live with a miasma of people, their histories and foibles inside my head. They have conversations with each other (which I scramble to jot down in the strangest of places on the note cards I carry), they reveal things to me about themselves, and they act out the dramas which they find themselves enmeshed in.

All inside my head. While I am trying to do other things.

It sounds crazy.

Other writers are nodding their heads, in complete understanding.

People who are not writers often ask, “Aren’t they characters you made up? What do you mean they tell you things and you can’t make them do whatever you want? They aren’t real.”

In my head they are real. It is like having my brain full of imaginary friends.

Then, I did something all writers want to do to the people in their heads. I wrote them down, published them in a book, and now people are reading about the people who live in my head.

The strangest thing has happened to me since then, a convergence.

People are coming up to me and talking to me about my imaginary friends as if they were real. I realize this is a compliment, that they have connected with the characters in a way that makes them real, makes the reader care. It is both hilarious and exhilarating to discuss the motivations of the people I have made up and live in the world I created with other people. I did not expect these conversations and I am enamored of them.

After spending so much time with the characters of Turning Creek, I care for them. They make me laugh. They make me cry. They make me hope for something better in their lives. I want them all to find their purpose and live their life in a way which displays justice, mercy, and love. It breaks my heart to know not all of them will succeed. Most will, but only after much struggle.

Every day, someone else discovers Petra and the gang and it makes me smile to know my characters have taken up residence in someone else’s brain. For a little while, at least.

Want to meet Petra? Lightning in the Dark is available in various formats for your reading pleasure.

 

Posted on

Mythology Mondays: Dionysus

Every Monday, I highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into the Turning Creek series. The first book, Lightning in the Dark, is out now. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the series originated.

Today’s post is up later than normal. Mea culpa.

I want to talk about Dionysus.

If you are like me, the first image that comes to mind when you think about this Greek god is the song from Fantasia where everything starts out nice, but then the wine comes out and they all get drunk. Looking back, it is an odd choice for a children’s musical.

dionysus

 

Dionysus, known also as Bacchus in later traditions, is the god of the harvest, of wine, of the earth, and fertility. His image runs the gamut from an overweight fun, loving god, to a long haired effeminate youth with an over large phallus. Like many of the gods, his story varies by region. He is most commonly thought to be the son of Zeus and the Theban princess, Semele. He was the only god on Mount Olympus whose parents were not both divine.

Unfortuntely for Semele, Zeus loved her dearly and this did not make Hera, his wife happy. Through trickery, she  got Semele to request to see Zeus’s true face. Being mortal, she could not gaze upon the visage of a god without dying. Before she perished, Zeus removed her unborn son and but him in his own side until he was ready to be born. After he was born (the details on just how he came to be born are sketchy), Hermes carried the infant Dionysus to the nymphs of Nyse. He lived in a cave by the sea for nine years.

“So the God of the Vine was born of fire and nursed by rain, the hard burning heat that ripens the grapes and the water that keeps the plants alive.” – Edith Hamilton

When he comes of age, Dionysus spends years wandering the earth trying to convince different cities and regions that he was a god and thus should be worshiped. Dionysus had a serious pride and image issue, like pretty much every other Greek god.

His method for proving his divinity was usually a two or three step process. He would first demand to be worshiped. When the town refused, he would show them then gifts of the vine aka teach them how to grow grapes and make wine. If this was not enough, he would cause the women of the town to go insane and rip men to shreds. This was the beginning of the origin of the maenads and the Bacchantic women. He sounds like a really fun guy to have at parties.

As history progressed, Dionysus’s role in worship and in the myths morphed into something more than just about grapes and wine. He became a god of fertility, a god of nature, and a god of order and peace. It seems that Dionysus the myth matured and found order in the natural cycles of nature and earth.

In the Turning Creek series, Dionysus appears as the owner of the local saloon, Daniel Vine.

 

Posted on

Mythology Mondays: Hephaestus

Every Monday, I highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into the Turning Creek series. The first book, Lightning in the Dark, is out now. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the series originated.

Today, we are talking about Hephaestus, the god of the forge, fire, masonry, metalworking, sculpture, and craftsmanship. In some myths, he is the son of Zeus and Hera. In others, he is the son of Hera alone.

Hephaestus, though a powerful man, was born sickly and ugly. In anger over his appearance, Hera threw him off Mount Olympus when he was born. He lived in a grotto for nine years, cared for by sea divinities. He learned to work the forge and he plotted revenge.

To regain his place among the gods of Olympus and to retaliate against Hera, Hephaestus crafted a golden throne for his mother. When she sat in it, overwhelmed by the gift, invisible fetters encircled her and she was immobilized. Dionysus, with motivations of his own, went down from Mount Olympus, got Hephaestus drunk, and convinced him to let his mother go. Hephaestus did as asked and Dionysus was rewarded with a place in the heavens with the gods.

Hephaestus crafted all manner of weapons and furnishings for the gods of Olympus. He made and wielded the ax which split Zeus’s forehead to birth Athena. He also crafted golden handmaidens who assisted him in the forge. As an aside, knowing what I know about Greek myths, I have to wonder exactly what kind of “assisting” they were doing.

In the myths, Hephaestus has two wives. Aphrodite was his first wife. She was an unfaithful companion to the god of fire and pined for her true love, Ares. Hephaestus takes revenge on her infidelity by creating chains which bound Aphrodite and her lover to the bed. Once ensnared, Hephaestus called all the gods to come and mock them. He divorced Aphrodite and married Algaia, one of the three Graces. Algaia is said to have borne him many children.

In my series, Hephaestus is Henry Foster, the blacksmith of Turning Creek. He is a quiet, hardworking man who is one of the few people the harpies count as a close friend.

 

Posted on

Lightning in the Dark is Out

My book is making its debut, and while it is not wearing a white dress, it does have a darn fine cover. Here is a peek at the print cover which is even more beautiful than the ebook version:

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000039_00071]

 

Lightning in the Dark, set in Colorado Territory in 1858, is filled with harpies, cattle herding, drinking, kissing, cheese, battles against evil, and general shenanigans. I know you are all dying to read it so here are the buy links:

print: Amazon, CreateSpace
ebook: Amazon, Google Play, Kobo, iTunes, Nook, All Romance

All the vendors should be live by the end of the week.

I am unsure what to even write this morning. I swing wildly from being excited to having a panic attack. I am scared no one will read it. I am scared that everyone will.

I started writing this series because harpies were fascinating and I wanted to redeem them. I wanted to write a book I would love to read, a historical fantasy with some romance. I set the series in one of my favorite places, Colorado, because my soul belongs in the mountains. While parts of the process were painful, development edits, other parts were fantastic, seeing the cover for the first time.

I love writing this series. The draft of the second one is already to my editor and I have started the third. There will be four full length books and two novellas before I am done with Turning Creek. It is going to be a fabulous ride.

Posted on

Mythology Mondays: Iris

Welcome to Mythology Mondays!

Every Monday, I highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into the Turning Creek series. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the series originated.

Today, the day before Lightning in the Dark is officially on sale, I want to highlight the myth of Iris, on which the lovely postmistress of Turning Creek is based.

Iris was the daughter of the sea god, Thaumas, and the cloud nymph, Electra. Iris shared parentage with the harpies. Iris was the personification of the rainbow. She had golden wings and carried two items: a caduceus or winged staff and a ewer of water from the River Styx. She used the water to put those who perjured themselves to sleep.

Iris was the messenger of the gods and could travel swiftly to any place in the world, above the land, under the sea, and to the underworld. In some myths, Iris was the handmaiden and messenger to Hera herself.

Iris had a twin, Arke, who had iridescent wings. Arke became the messenger to the Titans, the enemies of the gods of Olympus. As punishment for this betrayal, Arke’s wings were taken from her by Zeus and given to Achilles.

Iris was married to Zephyrus, the god of the west wind who was also the lover of Celaeno, the harpy. No one does infidelity and other shenanigans like the Greek gods. The son of Iris and Zephyrus was Pothos, the god of sexual longing.

In my series, Iris is the postmistress of a small town. She is the sage, prophet, and friend of the harpies of her generation. Iris sees it as her duty to keep her harpies grounded and help them to be better versions of themselves. She loves old books, letters, and people.

Want to read more about the characters in Turning Creek? Lightning in the Dark, the first book of the series, comes out December 2nd.

It will be available at (links will be live December 2, 2014):

ebook: Amazon, Google Books, Nook, Kobo, All Romance

Print: Amazon, CreateSpace

Posted on

Mythology Mondays: Harpies

Welcome to the first post in a new series: Mythology Mondays.

The world of Turning Creek is populated with Remnants, descendants of the Greek myths, who have spent the years since the Fall of Olympus blending into mortal society and seeking a life of peace. When I started writing this series, I had some vague ideas about Greek myths, but getting to know the harpies has meant getting to know a ton of other myths as well.

Every Monday, I will highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into my series. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the Turning Creek series originated.

Today, I want to talk about the monsters that started it all: the harpies.

One of the most famous descriptions comes from Dante’s Inferno, which most of us had to read in school and some of us actually enjoyed.

Here the repellent harpies make their nests,
Who drove the Trojans from the Strophades
With dire announcements of the coming woe.
They have broad wings, with razor sharp talons and a human neck and face,
Clawed feet and swollen, feathered bellies; they caw
Their lamentations in the eerie trees

 

The English word harpy comes from the Latin word harpeia and the Greek word harpayia which means “that which snatches” or “swift robbers.” They are famous for many things, including snatching the daughters of Pandareus and delivering them to the Furies and for snatching food from the table of blind Phineus. The harpies were said to be Zeus’s agents of punishment who would torture people on their way to Tartarus and steal things at his command. In some tales, they are called the “hounds of Zeus.”

The number and descriptions of the harpies varies depending on the author of the myth. The number of harpies range from one to three and they are called by a variety of names with different spellings, again, depending on the author. In the earlier myths, the harpies are nothing but the personified destructive power of storm winds. Later they are winged, fair-haired women. Their appearance continued to evolve into that of the foul, bird-like creatures we think of today. They were always seen as violent, destructive, and cruel.

There are four names most often mentioned in relation to the harpies: Aello (storm swift), Celaeno (the dark one) who is sometimes referred to as Podarge (fleet foot), and Ocypete (swift wing).

They lived on the islands of Strophades, also called the Islands of Turning. It was on these islands that they tortured Phineas until the Argonauts came to his rescue. Before Boreades could kill them, the goddess Iris, winged rainbow messenger of the gods and sister to the harpies, interceded on their behalf. At her request, the harpies were spared, but confined to the islands.

The horses of Achilles, Xanthus and Balius, were the result of a union between Celaeno/Podarge and her lover, Zephyron, the West Wind. Zephyron was married to Iris, her sister. Scandalous!

I chose the harpies as my main characters because I wanted to redeem them. I wanted to know what would happen if a violent creature was forced to live in the world with people and how they would reconcile their own nature with that of the world around them.

Come back next Monday when we talk about Iris, messenger of the gods and defender of the harpies.

Interested in the Turning Creek series? Lightning in the Dark comes out December 2nd. Available from Amazon, B&N, Google, Kobo, and iBooks. Sign up for my newsletter and never miss a new release.

Posted on

A Collection of Words

I am a collector of words.

I always have been. I cannot imagine collecting anything else. From a young age, I hoarded books the way other kids hoarded barbies and dolls. The words in books changed my view of the world. They buried themselves in my soul and wove their way into my life. They changed who I was and helped me become who I am in this moment.

At some point, I started collecting other words. Snippets of things I read, things people would say, or words I found amusing. (Fisticuffs is truly a delightful word.) I would jot these words on paper, in notebooks, or on the stack of index cards I began to carry as an adult. I love a well-turned phrase. I collect them. The act of writing them down somehow burns them into my brain. Later, I can take them out, roll them on my tongue, and revisit the emotion in them.

Perhaps, it is a natural progression of collecting words in books, to collecting words on paper, to finally collecting one’s own words. I started writing words from my own imaginings.

The words I wrote when I was younger were touching in their naivete, but I see the seed of the adult I would be in them. I kept writing over the years, most writers have some kind of compulsion which pushes them to write, and I am no different. I wrote stories, poems, and, eventually, nonfiction as my schooling and profession required. Now, I am free to again write fiction and collecting these words has been joyous toil.

I am a collector of words. I read them. I relish them. I feel them. I create them.

Go out and discover some words today, someone else’s or your own, and be a collector of something fabulous.

Posted on

Cover Reveal: Lightning in the Dark

I am over the moon excited to share with you the cover for Lightning in the Dark, the first book in the Turning Creek series, which will be out in December. The cover artist is Alexandre fom Design Book Cover, who is amazing. There are no words for how well I think the cover conveys the tone of the story. See below the cover to read about the first installment in this new historical fantasy series set in Colorado in 1858.Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000040_00005]

 

Lightning in the Dark

Descended from the mythical harpies, Petra Celaeno is content living a solitary life in the Colorado Territory until she meets dairy farmer, James Lloyd. As her relationship with James grows, Petra fights against her harpy instincts and questions the traditions of her ancestors.

James Lloyd came to Colorado looking for a fresh start, but he can not shake his obsession with a favorite myth from childhood. Something sinister is lurking beneath the earth of the Rockies and it is calling to James.

Life in the small town of Turning Creek is about to change. A terrible prophecy will be fulfilled and Petra will have to choose between protecting her home and saving the man she has come to love.

The Turning Creek Series:
Turning Creek is like countless other small mountain towns, nestled in a valley deep in Colorado Territory, except for one thing. Many of its residents are Remnants, descendants of the Greek myths. Like the mortals they live alongside, they want a peaceful place to call home. Unfortunately, it never stays peaceful for long in Turning Creek.

If you want to know when Lightning in the Dark in available, sign up for my newsletter. I will only email about new releases. If you give me your mailing address, I will send you something fun.

Posted on

On Marriage, Sexuality, and Sassenachs

*Minor Spoiler alert for both the show and the book*

I was in high school when I finally read something that stole my heart and soul enough to supplant Little Women as my favorite book. I was never without a book in my hand, and that is still true, so giving a book the title of favorite has significant meaning. I bestow the title with reverence.

That book which replaced Alcott was, and still is, Outlander. You may have heard of of this book recently because Starz has created a very successful show from the book.

I have been swooning over this book for the better portion of my life. No matter how many times I reread the books or listen to the audio books, my heart and soul are mesmerized.

It is not just the romance which is striking, though that is part of it, which makes Outlander the powerhouse it is to so many readers. Starz has done an absolutely phenomenal job transferring the book to the screen with integrity to both the story and the characters. Their social marketing campaign has been fabulous too. More on that another time.

For now, I want to tell you why this book, and now the show, are important and why, after all these years, it is still the book I recommend the most. Even if you have never read the books, the show is well worth your time. The history, costuming, and characters are fantastic.

Reason 1: Men in Kilts

Let’s just get this out in the open early. Kilts are sexy as hell and when you have an entire cast of men running around in them, I do not give a fig what they are doing while kilted. Can you just show off those knees a little more? Thanks. I’ll be in my bunk.

Reason 2: Dialog

Gabaldon has her characters going from serious to witty in less time than Jamie can throw Claire’s skirts over her head. The dialog is honest, true, poignant, and laugh out loud funny. The writers of the show have highlighted some of the best lines from the book and put in many more to showcase some of the characters (Angus and Rupert, you dogs. I love you).

Reason 3: Real Marriage

Marriage is messy, sexual, heart-wrenching, beautiful, and work. Jamie and Claire, once they figure out how much they do love each other, love hard, but that does not mean their marriage is easy. As a reader, and now as a viewer, we are privy to watching how a real marriage works. It is rare that I see a marriage which reflects my own healthy relationship with my husband on a screen. The only other example I could think of this week was Wash and Zoe from Firefly.

Jamie and Claire argue with flair and heat and in the beginning, they argue a lot. They yell at each other and occasionally throw things, but they always make up. They are a team. Jamie tells Claire in the beginning, “It’s the two of us now.” It is them against the world and they never forget where their loyalties lie even when they do not agree.

Ever since the hype of The Wedding episode started, I have been thinking about healthy sexuality in marriage and what a good example Jamie and Claire are of this. As an aside, the episode was a shining example of the Female Gaze and it hit all the right places, for everyone. Here is a controversial truth: Married people have good sex lives. Our culture has people fooled into thinking that the only people having frequent, good sex are single people in their twenties. I am sorry to say this is simply not true and it is amazing to have this portrayed so vividly before us, both in print and on screen.

Jamie and Claire give and take in a way that is realistic and beautiful. Growing with them as they figure each other out in the bedroom and watching the awkwardness of the first few encounters is priceless. We can all relate to the awkward moments because we all have a few of our own to share.

As the series progresses, we travel with them as they deal with separation, loss, tragedy, and war after war. We are able to watch them as they continue to work together as a married couple to navigate the world. It is a treasure to see and I am grateful to have been a witness on their journey so far. Through it all, they are a team who communicates and loves the way a healthy married couple should.

Reason 4: Claire is not a trope.

I have grown incredibly tired of watching otherwise great shows in which every single woman in the cast is either a bitch, a damsel in distress, a manipulator, or a slut (or hoor as the highlanders say). There are many popular shows on right now, even some written by women, who do not have one redeeming female character. Gabaldon created a female lead who is flawed, but not a trope. Best of all, Claire is a sexual being who is celebrated instead of punished for it.

Don’t get me wrong. Claire has her moments of idiocy and she has trouble keeping her twentieth century opinions to herself, but she is rarely a simple bitch. She is a compelling character you forgive and love and the men around her respect her, even if they do so begrudgingly. They are not that enlightened after all. It is the 1700s.

Claire has a healthy sexual relationship with both her husbands and she is never portrayed badly for enjoying this aspect of her married life. It is refreshing to see a woman allowed to be sexual without being labeled a hoor. Women are sexual beings too and we should not be punished for something that is natural.

Reason 5: JAAMF

James Alexander Malcolm McKenzie Fraser. I have been pondering marriage and why Jamie is so appealing. I can only come up with one reason: he is the perfect man. A mix of innocence, but with a hearty dose of knowing exactly who and what he is. His vows mean something to him on a visceral level. Jamie pledges to Claire, “You have my name and my family, my clan, and if necessary, the protection of my body as well.” Repeatedly, Jamie makes good on his promise, compromising himself to ensure the protection of his wife and others he considers his.

This is the kernel of his character which draws people in.

Jamie is a servant leader. He rarely asks to lead, but when it is his duty he does so without reservation and with the needs of others always fixed firmly in mind. He gives every ounce of himself to his purpose. Other men recognize this and willingly place themselves in his hands.

On top of all the uprightness of character, Jamie is so obviously, even in the beginning, quite over the moon for Claire that you fall for him hard and fast. As the years pass and their relationship endures, he still loves her with a fierceness that any lassie would be blessed to call her own.