Michelle Garren Flye's Blog, page 94

Post Irene Update

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!!!!

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.

The Sounds of Silence

Consider this during your next breathing moment. Have you ever noticed how many different sounds silence has? Or maybe I should say "qualities" instead of "sounds". In the past twenty-four hours I have witnessed several different silences.

Yesterday morning I walked out with my children chattering around me into a silent, somewhat overcast morning. I paused because the silence reminded me of something. After a moment of listening, I realized what it was. The silence of the world around me was the silence I've felt before. Right before a storm. It occurred to me that Irene isn't far away and is forecast to hit the North Carolina coast. Maybe that was the silence I was "hearing".

Of course, everyone along the Eastern Seaboard has their earthquake story. Mine is a little different, and it was my husband who actually gave me the words to express it. I felt the tremor in the earth and stood up because I was at that moment sitting under some shelves. I wasn't even certain what I'd felt was an earthquake because I live in eastern North Carolina. We just don't have earthquakes here. Maybe it was the construction site down the road or maybe one of my kids had dropped something. More likely, too, a large truck had passed by. But in the few seconds of silence that followed the tiny trembling of my cabinet doors, I noticed something. A very subtle feeling that something wasn't quite right.

This morning as I straightened the house, I noticed another type of silence. One of my children has returned to school already. Another one goes back later this week and my daughter's preschool doesn't start until after Labor Day, but already my house has assumed that cloak of silence that it gets when your children are away somewhere safe, doing something productive. This silence has a waiting contentment to it. It's a silence I always forget when my kids are home for the summer, but I welcome it back in the fall.

I apologize for the recent silence of my blog. Life gets in the way sometimes, but take a breathing moment today and listen to the silence.

Still reeling. I won!

How cool is that? I won third place in the Hyperink Romance Writing Contest with my story "Life After". It's the first time I've won a writing contest since I got second place when I entered a contest in third grade. That one was sponsored by the publishers of the youth bulletin they gave out in Sunday School. I remember I read the contest and wrote a story about a young girl in the United States and a young girl in Russia. Both reflected on the possibility of nuclear war and wondered what Jesus would do. (This was before WWJD? so I'm pretty sure somebody stole that idea from me—just kidding!)

If you'd like to read my story, it will appear in the Romance Writing Anthology e-book, coming soon from Hyperink Press. For now, you can check out an excerpt here: Hyperink Romance Writing Contest.

Still celebrating…over at Lyrical Press blog today!

Stop by and see me there, if you have a chance. Just click here: WINTER SOLSTICE: The stuff (my) dreams are made of…

Door Prize Winners!

Door Prize Winners for my WINTER SOLSTICE Book Release Party are Jenn, Bunny, Aimee, Amy, Richard and Candice. Thanks to all who entered. You should receive your e-gift certificates by tomorrow evening. If you have a preference of which e-book retailer you'd prefer (Lyrical, Amazon or Barnes & Noble), email me at michellegflye@gmail.com and I'll make sure you get that one!

A Little Taste of WINTER SOLSTICE

I'll be back later to announce the winners of my WINTER SOLSTICE door prizes, but what good is a book release party without a bit of the book? Here are a few of my favorite paragraphs from WINTER SOLSTICE:

John crossed the room and turned her to face him, touched her sweaty forehead gently, then reached back and released her hair from its knot. Perhaps his only intention was to help her relax, but as her hair fell around her shoulders, Becky realized with a jolt of self-consciousness that she enjoyed the intimacy of the gesture.

When she looked at him, he moved a little closer, his hand lingering at the nape of her neck.He drew his fingers through her hair, letting it slide through them, and she closed her eyes in pure sensuality, forgetting every tragedy she had witnessed in a simple desire to live in the moment.

Neither spoke as he bent his head to cover her mouth with his. She lost herself in his touch, aware of his arms around her, his lips first on hers, then on her neck. She slid her hands up his biceps, caressing as she did so, wanting to encourage his response. He smelled good–clean and male in a way she had never experienced. In some detached part of her brain, she thought maybe

it was the hospital soap.

She clung to him, thankful for the strength of his body as her own betrayed her weakness. Not until his hands slid beneath her scrub top did she come to her senses.

Third Review, Still Lots of Time to Register for Door Prizes!

Okay, finished my third review. You can read it here: The Other Life by Ellen Meister. I'm actually a little ashamed of myself for not posting a review on this one before now. I read it way back in February, right after it was released, but it took me some time to get around to recommending it.

I've still only got a handful of entries in my door prize giveaway. Love to hear from more of you, so leave me a comment if you want to register for my giveaway.

Six Entries, Two Reviews

Back again with another review done. Check it out: Sexiest Man Alive by Diana Holquist. Please note that my reviews tend to be pretty general. Trust me, other readers and even the authors of the books you review don't expect NYT Book Review style reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. They just want to know if you liked it!

Up to six entries in my door prize giveaway. Amy Eye got three entries because she reviews books, congratulated me on my new book AND she bought the book so she could tell me what the first syllable was! Although I hadn't intended to require a purchase to enter for a door prize, I was so pleased that she went the extra mile, I gave her an extra entry. I plan to give away at least six e-gift cards this evening, so keep the entries coming!