Michelle Garren Flye's Blog, page 85
July 23, 2012
Happy 1-week birthday, WHERE THE HEART LIES!
My baby is a week old and I’m celebrating with two “birthday cards”. 
The first is from my friend Ellen Meister. If you’ve read much of my blog at all, you’ve seen Ellen’s name on here. I love all three of her current books, and can’t wait to read her next one, FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER, which will be out next year. A while back, I asked Ellen if she’d be willing to write a blurb for WHERE THE HEART LIES, and, in spite of being busy with her own writing, Ellen agreed to do it. Yesterday, she sent me a wonderful email with the following blurb:
“What a journey! Where the Heart Lies is a romance with heart, heat, and a big ambitious story covering miles of emotional terrain. You’ll be swept away.”
– Ellen Meister, author of The Other Life
Thank you, Ellen!
And if that wasn’t enough, I found another review this morning! The Book Girl gave Where the Heart Lies 5/5 points and said:
“This book is sneaky. I was enjoying the book, but not loving it, and the next thing I knew I couldn’t put it down. … WHERE THE HEART LIES is a great love story.”
If you haven’t picked up your copy of Where the Heart Lies yet, remember, it’s 99 cents only during July! So don’t miss your chance to save $5.
July 21, 2012
Writer Beware: Don’t Quit Your Day Job
My first romance novel (first novel, actually) was published two years ago. I was absolutely certain by this point I’d have a best seller and be raking in the dough.
Guess what? I’m not.
We writers tend to believe in our own brilliance. If we don’t, who will, right? It’s important to keep believing in yourself. It’s also important to be realistic. Today’s writing world is tough. It’s competitive, and it’s crowded. Everybody has a story to tell, and chances are, the literate ones are writing it down. And there are a number of schemers out there ready to take advantage of that.
I recently heard about a man who had a successful business. He also wrote a book and got it accepted by a publisher. Banking on his success in the writing world, the man planned to quit his day job and write full time. When I heard about this, I looked up the publisher. Turns out they charge writers for the publication of their books, for the editing, for the cover design.
In other words, it’s a scam. Yes, they’ll publish your book, but it’s a vanity publisher. Maybe your books will sell when published through a vanity publisher. We all know the success story The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. But that was in the early days of self-publishing. Before everyone started publishing their stories themselves.
I am often asked for advice for writers starting out. I want to be encouraging. I never, ever want to take away anyone’s belief that their story is going to be the next rising star on the literary front. I still maintain a tiny flame of that hope myself. Every time I finish a project or have something accepted for publication, I fan that flame a little bit, keeping it alive. I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m a stay-at-home mom who has no intention of quitting her job as a stay-at-home mom, even if “it” actually happens for me. I’ll continue to steal my moments of creativity when I can, in between working my 24-hour “day” job.
But for those writers starting out out there who have day jobs, I have to say my best advice is don’t quit ‘em. Self-publishing is a real and rapidly becoming more acceptable way of telling your story, but search for the right way to do it. Don’t buy thousands of copies of your book yourself and hope they’ll sell. Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t. A better avenue is to e-publish. It costs less (sometimes just time), and your book can be made more widely available.
An even better avenue to explore first is to do some research. Submit your manuscript to legitimate small publishers who won’t charge you for editing or publishing or “marketing”. They are out there and they are looking for the next rising star in the publishing world. Maybe it’s you.
But please don’t fall for the scams and schemes. Those people will talk a good game and then they’ll take your money and squash your dream right under their feet as they walk away. And they’ll piss me off in the process.
July 19, 2012
Confessions of a Contemporary Romance Author
Imagine being a contemporary romance author in today’s market. Of course, some of you don’t have to because you’re right there with me. Maybe you’ve gotten some of the same comments on your work that I have. I have been told that the sex in Where the Heart Lies is “practically nonexistent” and that the story “verges on women’s fiction”. I have two completely different reactions to these comments.
To the first, I react with disbelief. Okay, that sex scene that I labored on for an entire day isn’t actually in there? The one I actually blushed at when my husband read it? In fact, the first time I heard that particular comment, I took it literally. Holy cow, could it be the publisher had left out five pages of my manuscript? But no, they’re there. Evidently what I think of as pretty risque is actually kind of commonplace by today’s standards. No, I don’t write erotica, ladies and gentlemen. I don’t write about sex, but sometimes a sex scene is needed to move the story along. (Plus, I always felt a little gypped if I read a romance without a “good part”, and I don’t want to gyp my readers.)
The second comment I took as a compliment, although I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant that way. Absolutely I write women’s fiction. I am a woman and I want to write about issues that concern women. I don’t believe all women want to read about is sex. (My apologies to the excellent erotica writers out there. What you write is an art form and has an audience when done well. I’ve read it. I don’t write it.) So what the hell is wrong with writing women’s fiction? Answer: nothing. If I write it well, it will attract the readers…right?
Once upon a time, the answer to that would probably have been yes. I’m not so sure these days. When you can walk in a bookstore and the first book you see is 50 Shades of Grey, well, you have to admit the times have changed. Women have undertaken a whole new revolution in what they want to read. Although I object to the use of the term “mommy porn”, I understand where it comes from. The current general acceptance of erotica is pushing romance authors to new extremes as far as their sex scenes go. A sex scene that once would have steamed up an editor’s glasses is now considered pretty tame stuff. And where one sex scene once would have been enough, it is now (ahem) inadequate.
What it comes down to is this. Publishers, editors and agents—pretty much everybody who is involved in making books—watch the market and what sells. Writers write. Some of us write what will sell by accident. Some of us write what will sell on purpose. And some of us write what’s in us to write and send it out to find its way with hope in our hearts. No matter what, without readers, well, we’re just exhibitionists that aren’t being watched.
July 18, 2012
The “ow” Moment
As I’ve said on here repeatedly, I respect reviewers. I truly do. It takes guts to be a reviewer, especially a good one. So when I read a review of my book and they don’t see it just the way I did when I wrote it, I fight down the urge to tell them they read it wrong. Remember that scene in The Princess Bride (my favorite movie of all time)? When Grandpa Peter Falk is reading the story to grandson Fred Savage and he gets to the part where Westley dies, the grandson says, “You read that wrong!” Well, that’s the scene that plays in my head the first time I read a review.
Then I stop and think. Maybe they didn’t read it wrong. Maybe I wrote it wrong. Or maybe, just maybe I wrote it wrong for that particular reader. That’s what I call the “ow” moment. The moment when I really realize, “You just can’t please everyone.”
And so, continuing in my tradition of reporting all intelligent reviews, I have to admit, I got one yesterday that didn’t totally agree with me. However, because I felt the reviewer had really thoroughly read my book and given it a fair chance, I thanked the reviewer, and I’m reporting the review here. Here’s the most positive quote I could pull out of the review:
I had some really high hopes and expectations for this book, and while there were some parts I definitely enjoyed, I hate to say that overall, this one really didn’t work that well for me. –The Book Pushers, D+
I may have to stop reading reviews eventually. I know I’m getting too caught up in them when I take that “+” as a real positive. 
On the brighter side, Book Reviews & More by Kathy (who did like my book) is offering a copy of WHERE THE HEART LIES as part of the Winning Wednesday contest. Find out how to enter to win here: Winning Wednesday. And I’m leaving the entries open for another hour or so on my Amazon gift card giveaway. You can enter that here: Where the Heart Lies: In Hillsborough, N.C.
And that about sums it up. If you have read Where the Heart Lies and wouldn’t mind rating it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, I would be eternally grateful. I have been blown away by the response to this book (positive and negative), and I look forward to seeing where it goes.
July 17, 2012
Where would YOU fall in love? Check it out for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.
My blog post is up at Carina Press. Check it out here: Where the Heart Lies: In Hillsborough, N.C. I’m blogging about why I chose Hillsborough as the setting for WHERE THE HEART LIES, and I’m asking people where they would fall in love if they could. Leave me a comment over there for your chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.
Thanks for everything…and join me again today!
First off, a note of thanks to everyone who helped me promote Where the Heart Lies on its birthday yesterday. I found dozens of Tweets and loads of Facebook posts from friends and readers. Plus, several people read my book! I really, really appreciate that help in getting the momentum going. Thanks to you guys, check out the most popular book on Carina Press’s website:
Number one Most Popular Title on Carina Press!
That’s just too awesome for words! Thanks to all of you, to the reviewers who stirred up interest, to the Tweeters and Facebookers and Bloggers. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the momentum continues.
On to other business. Not only did my book come out in ebook format yesterday, I barely even mentioned the fabulous audiobook available at Audible.com. You can listen to a sample of it on Audible. It’s narrated by the fabulously talented Kate Udall, who, I swear, reads it with such expression, she actually sounds like the voice in my head when I wrote it. And she even looks like Alicia!
Finally, I’d like to invite all of you to join me again today. I’m blogging about the setting (Hillsborough, N.C.) of WHERE THE HEART LIES on the Carina Press blog this afternoon. I’ll be giving away a $10 Amazon e-gift card to one lucky commenter, so stop by and give me your opinion!
July 16, 2012
Guess whose name came out of the hat?
My good friend Jennifer, who has been a lot of moral support for my career and was actually the very first person to enter this contest! Congrats, Jenn, and I’ll be in touch about your NOOK!
7 Minutes to the drawing for a new NOOK!
Still time to enter! Blog or Tweet or Facebook or Pin about WHERE THE HEART LIES!
Celebrate with me: Still time to enter to win a NOOK!
Where the Heart Lies on NOOK Simple Touch
Release day is going well. I have several entries for my NOOK Simple Touch giveaway, taking place at 5 p.m. today (or as close as I can make it), but there’s still time to enter. Just post about WHERE THE HEART LIES somewhere on the web: blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter. Then email me at michellegflye@gmail.com to let me know! I’ll throw your name in the hat for every bit of marketing you do for me.
A little trivia about WHERE THE HEART LIES: My inspiration for Alicia’s red hair and perfect figure came from my daughter’s Disney Arial doll!
And a tiny excerpt:
She looked amazing in a long black skirt and white silk blouse with her brassy red hair falling over her shoulders. For a moment he had trouble breathing. He’d considered bringing flowers, but he’d known what Penny’s opinion of that would be, and more importantly he hadn’t wanted to do anything that would make Alicia uncomfortable. Confronted by her beauty, however, his fingers felt empty, as if he needed something to offer just for the opportunity to look at her. Was this how Aphrodite’s worshippers had felt as they left their worldly goods at the feet of her statue in ancient Greece?
Where the Heart Lies on NOOK Simple Touch
Where the Heart Lies on NOOK Simple Touch
