Michelle Garren Flye's Blog, page 88

Booked Up reviews Where the Heart Lies: 4 stars!

First off, my heartfelt thanks goes out to Booked Up reviewer Dolce Amore for being the first official reviewer of Where the Heart Lies. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s tough being the first to offer an opinion about something. It takes guts to say what you really feel.

I feel I can safely say Dolce is an honest reviewer. She gives her real opinions and I’ve been fortunate enough that she’s found something to like in all my books. About Where the Heart Lies, Dolce says, in part, “The book has its funny parts…And his (Liam’s) wonderful and romantic ones…” To read the full review, check out this link: Booked Up Reviews gives Where the Heart Lies 4 stars. While you’re there, check out my Giveaway on Booked Up, too. You could win a copy of Winter Solstice!

Finally, I just want to say happy anniversary to my husband, the man who brings all the romance into my life. To celebrate, I’ve been giving away Weeds and Flowers for free again on Amazon. I’m excited to say that more than fifty copies have been snapped up. You’ve still got a few more hours to get yours. Incidentally, Dolce gave Weeds and Flowers five stars, so it might be worth a look!

Romantic Heroes: Alpha or Beta?

Recently I asked some Facebook friends (quite a few of whom write romance) which kind of hero they prefer: Alpha or Beta? A lot of romance publishers are calling for Alpha heroes right now, a trend I’m not sure I totally agree with, but which I thought might make a fairly interesting blog post.

So, Alpha heroes. These are men of power and confidence. Usually arrogant and abrasive. Classically handsome, Chippendale-worthy, even. Businessmen make good alpha heroes. Military men, firemen, police officers, doctors and other “manly” (read in a deep voice) professions work well, too. Alpha heroes usually have secrets or a dark past, and they’ve always got a wall around their heart that the heroines must break down before they have a chance at a real relationship. The closest thing I’ve ever written to a pure alpha hero was Dan Mason in SECRETS OF THE LOTUS. And yeah, he followed the typical arc of abrasive billionaire playboy to tamed and devoted lover of Josie, my heroine. Dan was fun to write. I enjoyed trying to get inside the head of a man (albeit an imaginary one) and figure out what it would take to bring him to the point of loving one woman.

Beta heroes are fun, too, though. Funny, still good-looking although maybe not in the classic way (think Johnny Depp or even Adam Sandler), Beta heroes are men with hidden strength. And when they find a woman in need, they are more than willing to spend that strength on taking care of her. They’re not good at keeping secrets from the woman they love, even if they have a painful past. In WHERE THE HEART LIES, my hero Liam Addison is definitely a beta hero. He has a secret that tortures him, but he keeps it because he doesn’t want to hurt his heroine Alicia. I may have enjoyed writing Liam more than any other hero. A recovering alcoholic who’d made more than his share of mistakes in the past, Liam was deeply flawed and yet so loveable, I couldn’t blame Alicia for falling for him.

With all that said, I want to salute the real heroes in our real lives.

Real men are not romantic heroes, but let’s face it. If we found a real romantic hero (alpha or beta), we wouldn’t be very comfortable with him. The heroes and heroines of romance novels, regardless of their problems, are perfect people living in a perfect world. We’re real people with real problems who live in a world on the brink of blowing itself up most of the time. We battle our weight, worry about North Korea and terrorism and our kids, are too tired to even think about sex a lot of the time and our nine-to-five is often more like six-to-six-thirty. Or later. Men, all you really have to do to be our heroes is go to that job and hug our kids and let us lean on your shoulder every now and then. That’s a real hero, and he’s worth a thousand romantic heroes.

Where the Heart Lies: First Blurb!

So for the past few weeks, I’ve been querying review sites and author acquaintances, asking if they’ll take a look at an advance copy of WHERE THE HEART LIES for me. I’ve been lucky enough to have two or three positive responses, and I haven’t given up hope for more. Well, today, I got the first blurb back from an author friend, and it gave me a little lift. Stephanie Stiles, author of TAKE IT LIKE A MOM, which I read right after it came out and really loved (read it if you want to laugh!), sent me this blurb today:

Where the Heart Lies is an ambitious and engrossing tale, full of complexities of both character and plot. With her narrative skill and unforgiving wit, Flye had me alternately laughing and crying. Read this one on the beach, by the fire, in your bed… wherever. Just read it!

– Stephanie Stiles, author of Take It Like a Mom

I’d like to thank Stephanie for being the first. It’s never easy to be the first at anything, especially at offering praise. It takes courage, but honestly, I knew she had that after I read her book. It’s full of honesty and emotion, mixed in with some really funny stuff. Thank you, Stephanie, for being the first one to offer me those all important encouraging words!

Slacking off: Writing is hard work!

The New York Times published an article recently about the amount of productivity being required of authors in the digital age. At one time, the article said, a book a year was considered enough, and any more would glut the market. However, with the advances in e-publishing and the other demands on readers’ entertainment time, much more was required of authors to keep their audiences. James Patterson, it was pointed out in the article, produced a book a month with the help of co-authors. Another author interviewed said she writes 2,000 words a day, seven days a week.

The article sparked a tidal wave of discussions on writers’ websites and blogs. How can you maintain quality when so much quantity was required? Aren’t writers supposed to have a life? Writing is hard!

And the grousing continues. Yes, it is hard, and if you’re a good enough writer, when your publisher comes to you and says “I need you to produce a book a month,” you can just say no. Seriously. If you’re a good enough writer, then when your next book is ready, the publisher and your audience will be there. The critics will love you for not giving in to a system attempting to squeeze literary juice out of very sour turnips.

Look at J.K. Rowling. What if someone had gone to her and said, “Okay, you’re going to lose your audience if you don’t turn out the next six books in your series within the next year. I mean, if you put out a book a year, by the time you’re done, your audience will have grown out of Harry Potter.” What would her reaction have been? I can imagine.

I encourage writers to do what I plan to do. Write true. If that means writing a book a year, good. If it means you can turn out a book a month that you’re proud of, do that. But don’t fall into the trap of killing yourself to write trash. (Funny, that, coming from a writer of trashy romances, huh?) But seriously, writing is a journey when you do it right. Your characters take you on that journey and if you try to rush them, you’re going to get a badly written, sketchy travel plan.

I’m going to swipe a quote from the article from author Steve Berry, with whom I once discussed cheesecake while riding on an elevator in New York City. He said, “You don’t ever want to get into a situation where your worth is being judged by the amount of your productivity.” Write on, Steve! (But take a breathing moment every now and then…)

The line is drawn, so pick a side: How Amendment One has affected my November vote.

My beautiful state of North Carolina has passed one of the most prejudicial, hate-inspired, judgmental amendments to our state constitution with the so-called “Amendment One”. By doing so, my beloved state has become the only one in the United States to have both laws and an amendment banning gay marriage. Well, if we’re going to be prejudiced, we’re going to do it thoroughly.

I am one of the thirty-nine percent who voted against this amendment. I did not vote against it because I support gay marriage, although I do. I did not vote against it because I was concerned about the possible legal ramifications for other unmarried couples or because it will make it more difficult to attract businesses. I voted against it because I love this state. I loved it even when Jesse Helms was a senator here. I loved it when it helped vote Barack Obama into office. I have always loved North Carolina and I always will.

But I don’t want it marred by hate. That’s what has happened now, and it makes me sadder than I can say. By approving Amendment One, North Carolina voters are saying that it’s our way or the high way. Get out if you don’t like it. We’re a bunch of hillbillies with guns. We legislate morality here and you damn well better obey the law.

I know what some people will say. They’ll tell me to read my Bible. Okay, but maybe you better have a second look, too. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you should hate or judge someone for the lifestyle they choose. In fact, I think I remember from some of my Sunday School teachings the words “Thou shalt not judge” and “Love thy neighbor”. Don’t those words mean anything anymore? If they don’t, then defining marriage is not going to save our society.

North Carolina’s passage of Amendment One is a dangerous precedent. Barack Obama has now come out in support of gay marriage while his soon-to-be opponent Mitt Romney is firmly against it. This is what our political system has come to, then. The line has been drawn. No matter how much people talk about the economy and foreign affairs and who has the best curriculum vitae, it’s going to come down to whether or not you support the right of two people to make a lifelong commitment to each other even if they’re of the same sex.

I sigh when I write this because I know which side of that line I’ll come down on. I don’t support hate and prejudice, so in spite of the fact that I think Mitt Romney has some excellent qualities, I cannot afford to offer him my vote. I do not want to see my nation follow the same way my state has gone. I do not want to support anyone who might one day approve an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will further denigrate a sector of our population that already has more than enough hatred following it around. My conscience won’t let me.

So listen to your conscience and remember your Sunday School teachings from when you were a kid and everything was simpler. (I’m sure my parents will be relieved to know I still remember some of those teachings.) I believe those are the laws we need to remember.

Love your neighbor. Even when he does something you don’t agree with. Even when he isn’t a straight Christian. God never said to hate Muslims and gays, did he?


Don’t judge others. We all make our mistakes. Both God and the U.S. Constitution give us the freedom to do that, though.


And one more I just remembered. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” What else does this mean but to respect each other? Respect other people’s right to live their lives and you should be able to expect the same.

A Quick Update: Books and Short Stories

Two bits of news to share with you today. The first is that WHERE THE HEART LIES is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Would love to see my book get some sales before it’s even “on the shelf” so to speak. (Please remember it is an e-book, so don’t order it from Amazon if you don’t have a Kindle!) Check it out here: Where the Heart Lies Pre-Order for Kindle.

Second, and just as exciting, my short story “Agapi Mou” was accepted by Turquoise Morning Press for their Foreign Affairs anthology. I don’t have many details yet, but I’ll let you know when I do. I’m kind of excited about this one for several reasons. First, I will be earning royalties for it. Although I’ve been in anthologies before, I’ve never earned royalties for them, just honorariums or one-time payments. Second, it will most likely be print. Third, I’m really impressed by Turquoise Morning Press. They have a very professional business and put out some beautiful products in both print and e-book format. I’m thrilled to be associated with them.

So that’s it for now. I’m off to write and gloat over the final, completely formatted PDF of WHERE THE HEART LIES that I received from Carina Press last week. It’s just as gorgeous as you might imagine!

Immersing Myself in the Culture of My Creations

I’ve just finished up a new rough draft, and while I’m very happy about it, I’m also a little melancholy. You know that feeling you get when you finish reading a book and even though it finished well, you wish there was more? I’ve felt that way about a lot of books, most of which still inhabit my bookshelf somewhere. Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Sang (of course eventually there was more to this one!), Jane Austen’s Emma. The characters and stories of these books became like family to me while reading them, and I found it hard to let them go. That happens to me when I finish writing a story, too.

I think it’s partly because I immerse myself in the lives of my characters. For instance, this most recent book takes place on a scuppernong vineyard in Eastern North Carolina. Of course, I live in Eastern North Carolina, so that’s not much of a stretch. Plus, as part of my “research”, I’ve been drinking the wonderful scuppernong wines my state can boast of. However, to add a little complexity to my plot, I made the heroine part Greek. Of course, this precipitated a lot of reading about the Greek culture, Greek wines, Greek men (yes, that was necessary research!) and Greek cooking (lots of olives). I’ve always been fascinated by Greece, and now I’m totally in love with it. I even learned how to make pastichio, and even my kids enjoyed that!

So what’s next? I’m definitely going to miss my Greek research. I can’t imagine what could top pastichio, olives, and wine, but who knows where my next story will take me?

 

“Amendment One”: Why I agree with Jeff

This year, North Carolina’s voters get an opportunity they don’t often have. They have the opportunity to stand with our Founding Fathers on the basic principle of what the United States is all about: Equality. Amendment One, or the North Carolina Same-Sex Marriage Amendment, is on the ballot. The amendment defines “domestic legal union” as “marriage between one man and one woman”. In other words, a loving same-sex couple cannot be legally married in North Carolina if this amendment passes. I have every intention of voting against this amendment for the simple fact that it doesn’t make sense to sully our state constitution with an amendment based on limiting other people’s rights.

I didn’t know any of them personally, but I do not believe the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were homophobes. I believe when they said “all men are created equal”, they truly meant all human beings. I like to believe they were idealists who craved a utopia. I don’t think they wanted a nation where any law-abiding citizen’s rights were limited by our laws.

I struggled for a while about what to say about Amendment One, not because I didn’t know what I believe but because I didn’t know how to present it. Yesterday, a friend of mine posted a very passionate, well-written article about Amendment One on his Facebook page. His name is Jeff. With his permission, I am copying that plea to my blog in the hopes that it will reach more people.

I’ve hesitated to post this, but I must – it’s cathartic. I may be hidden from your newsfeed or I may be ‘unfriended’. I’m OK with that.

For two days I’ve watched a controversy on Facebook in my own neighborhood. An offer from a young man to provide ‘Vote Against Amendment One’ signs to anyone who wanted one went the route I suspected it would. That using our neighborhood’s Facebook page to promote a political agenda was not appropriate.

Aside from offering signs myself, I refrained from the debate. It’s too personal. Which is why the those who believe it’s a political or religious issue are wrong. And you have never been more wrong about anything. While Amendment One poses to limit rights in a number of areas I’ll speak to the one that I am an expert on – my own.

I was angry and frustrated to see the dispute in my own immediate environment, but the feeling that I felt the most was hurt. That discussion amongst neighbors was not about signs, political beliefs, or religious beliefs; it was about me. Part of Amendment One is about me. It suggests that I am inferior. It suggests that my feelings towards another human being are inferior. I’m reminded of this every single day. Every. Single. Day. It terrifies me that one person’s beliefs about themselves and how they live their lives has the ability to cast a vote against how I live my life. I have never had that ability, that power, in any vote that I’ve participated and I would never want to.

But it terrifies me even more to think that the unquestionable right you have to be by your spouse’s bedside in a time of need is a right that could be taken away from me or my partner. Many of you go to sleep at night with the comfort that this is something you will never have to face. I go to sleep every night terrified that the government actually has the ability to take that away from me. And they’ve asked you to cast your vote on this. Think about that power.

This isn’t about Democrats vs. Republicans, Right vs. Left, or Conservatives vs. Liberals. This is about people being respected for the human beings that they are. For living your beliefs the way you want to and allowing others to live their lives the way they are entitled.

Educate yourself. Consider others. And remember me when you cast your vote. My name is Jeff. I’m your friend, I’m your neighbor, I’m your colleague. And I have a face. There are so many faces behind Amendment One. The faces of those affected by it. If you are for Amendment One, please ask yourself how it affects you. Ask yourself how it affects your beliefs – no one is taking away your views, your beliefs; but Amendment One takes away the very thing that makes us compassionate beings.

Because Amendment One affects me negatively – I’ve been forced to cast a vote AGAINST it. Please don’t make that effort be in vain. I’m happy to be part of this world, and I’d like nothing more than to be accepted in it. Please stop and think, and take the power you’ve been given seriously. No one is asking you to cast a vote against Amendment One, but I beg you to simply not vote at all if you are for it.

Validation: WHERE THE HEART LIES to be an Audiobook!

Just a quick update with some fantastic news I justgot a little while ago. Audible.com has selected WHERE THE HEART LIES to be one of its audiobooks. I’m very, very excited about this, as my novels have only ever been in ebook form. The thought that I will be able to hear an actual actor read my story is sort of awesome. Besides, it’ll be proof that somebody else actually did read it!

I’ve written before about my personal quest for validation and how I believe all authors who seek publication probably feel the same way. Well, I picture my quest as hills and valleys and a lot of plains in between. Most of my writing career is spent on those plains, plugging away. Every now and then, I get a rejection and it plunges me into a valley, but then I struggle out and continue on, slogging across the plain of creativity.

And then I get a little bit of validation. An acceptance. An award. A positive review. Hell, somebody buying a book. Then I get catapulted to a peak where I can sit for a few minutes and look around at what I’ve accomplished before returning to the plain and continuing on my way.

The view’s nice up here.

Magic. Again.

There's this movie I can't stop watching. I love it.

I've talked before about magic on this blog. If you haven't seen "We Bought A Zoo", you should. It's a lovely story if you look past the obvious Hollywoodizing of the already bittersweet story of Benjamin Mee and his family. (And no, Hollywoodizing probably isn't a real word, but you know what I mean by it, so it probably should be.)

Okay, put aside the fact that Matt Damon is cute and fun and perfect for the role. Don't pay any attention to the adorable Maggie Elizabeth Jones who plays his seven-year-old daughter. Ignore the natural beauty that permeates the entire film and the comic relief of the zoo staff. What really made this movie magic? The love story.

I know you think I'm prejudiced, being a romance writer and all. I'm sort of addicted to the love stuff. But I know what I'm talking about here. This movie is magical because of the made up love story between Benjamin Mee played by Matt Damon and his zookeeper Kelly Foster played by Scarlett Johannson. Though not a central part of the storyline, the love story is sweet, sappy and totally magic.

How can I be sure? Well, after I saw the movie in the theater with my kids, I was in the little bathroom holding the stall door for my four-year-old daughter and a little old lady walked in, wiping her eyes. I smiled understandingly. I had just wiped my eyes, too.

She seized my arm. "Do you think he married her?" she said.

Startled, I shrugged. "I-I don't know." I didn't want to tell her that I doubted Kelly Foster ever existed. In fact, I was pretty sure a large portion of the story had been altered (Hollywoodized) to play on our sympathies and desire for romance. It didn't matter to me because it was a good story and that's what I went to the movie for (well, that and the chance to look at Matt Damon).

She released my arm and turned away, obviously disgruntled with my lack of enthusiasm. "Well, I think he liked her." To her, these characters were real. They'd taken on a life of their own, and she had no intention of researching Dartmoor Zoological Park to find out if the story told in the movie was true. For her, it was real, and that was better than true.

Magic.