Michelle McCraw's Blog, page 5

And so it begins (again)…

Did you know that November is National Novel Writing Month? Although it’s been a thing since 1999, I didn’t learn about it until 2015. I’d been thinking about writing a book, y’know, how one does, thinking and thinking about it but never *actually* doing it. It was one of those “someday” goals I’d had since I was a kid and by the time I was…well, we’ll say, old enough to know that life is short…with a real job and a real family who needed to, y’know, eat and be housed, I’d almost talked myself out of it. But when I learned about NaNoWriMo, which is what the cool kids call it (look it up, it’s a real thing), I decided to give it a try.

So I started writing on November 1, 2015. I had this fuzzy romance plot in my head about a single-mom baker who lived in my community of suburban Dayton, Ohio. It had a dastardly ex, a hunky love interest, a funeral (WTF, 2015 Michelle?) and a couple of scene-stealing kids. And a dog, of course. Did I reach my goal of writing 50,000 words that month? No. Was the book any good at all? Again, no. Will you ever read that book? Hell, no.

But by then, I was addicted. To writing – nothing nefarious! Even though that book lives in a dusty corner of my hard drive, never again to be opened, the next November, I started another book. I wrote 50,000 words. And, at least three rewrites, a new title, and buckets of angsty tears later, I published that book as Work with Me. In fact, most of my novels have started out as NaNo projects. I love the challenge and the community.

So this November, I’ve gone back into the writing cave to write Book 6 in my Synergy series, which will be Natalie and Jamila’s story. Its working title is Tempt Me. Check out my Instagram for regular(ish?) updates. And I hope to put it in your hands next May. Wish me luck!

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Writing Progress, Oct 9, 2022

I *just* hit send on the email to my lovely agent. Frenemy (working title Frenemies and Lovers) is in her inbox. She’ll probably have some feedback for me, and then she’ll either start submitting to publishers, or we’ll decide it’s a better project for self-publishing. Stay tuned!

So that means it’s time for a new project. I’ll pick back up my Synergy series of workplace rom-coms with Natalie’s story. It’s a brother’s-best-friend, bisexual romance, and I can’t wait to get started. I have a little more planning to do, and I’ll work on this as my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers’ Month) project in November. 

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ISO Book Recs, Reader Poll Results, and Writing Progress

What to read next?

Home improvement projects are great…when they’re finished. In the lead-up to replacing the upstairs carpet, I had to move a lot of things, including my paperback TBR. Y’all, it is HUGE. So I resolved to make a dent in it. Here’s a selection (yes, there’s more!). If you have a recommendation for what I should read first, hit reply and tell me (please?) so I’m not overwhelmed by choices. I’ll give you a full report in an upcoming post.

Books are Beyond Any Experience by Anne E. Terpstra, Forrest for the Trees by Kilby Blades, Dream On by Angie Hockman, Fat Chance, Carlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado, It Had to Be You by Georgia Clark, A Touch of Moonlight by Yaffa S. Santos, Thunderstruck by Anna Hague, and The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

Reader Poll Results

Last month, I surveyed my newsletter readers to see who they’d like to read about in my next project. Thanks so much to those who voted!

Results were pretty much split between Jamila Jallow (yay for fierce boss women!) and Harris Weston (and fierce boss men? Or maybe y’all are into silver foxes?). I was NOT expecting so much support for former CEO Weston, who got his comeuppance for some dastardly behavior in Boss Me.

While I think Jamila is my next heroine, I see you, fans of a silver-fox villain on a redemption arc. I’ll be pondering an HEA for him…

Writing Progress, September 16, 2022Goddess is now published in the Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights anthology as “Three Rules to Becoming a Goddess.” Frenemy (working title) is now out with my beta readers!

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights is LIVE!

I am SO EXCITED, y’all!

♥ GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IS LIVE ♥

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: A Charity Anthology

A charity romance & poetry anthology with stories, poetry & prose from over 35 authors.

Participating Authors include: 

Shannon O’Connor – M Leigh Morhaime – Rose Bak – C.A. King – Lesley Hoover – Ellie Isaacson – Margot Swan – Katherine Moore – Katrina Marie – JJ Grice – Karen Nappa – Michelle MacQueen – Ann Maree Craven – KL Donn – Adrian J. Smith – Beatrice White – Jacqueline Elisabeth – Brigitte Ann Thomas – Denise Wells – Rachel Abugov – Amanda Cuff – Cecelia Conway – Renee Dyer – Autumn Wilds – Michelle McCraw – Bryony Rosehurst – Nöi Lélek – J.R. Rogue – Jessica Minyard – Deveree Extein – Alexis B Mendez – Aubree Valentine – London Kingsley & Margo Bond Collins – R J Gray – K Leigh – Sarah Stein – Stella Donato – Sophia Peony

***All proceeds from the sale of Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights will be donated to AbortionFunds.Org which works with members to remove financial and logistical barriers to abortion access by centering people who have abortions and organizing at the intersections of racial, economic, and reproductive justice.***

Buy now or read in Kindle Unlimited

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Writing Progress, August 15, 2022

Even I’m impressed with this month’s progress! I finished up my Goddess project, which I’ve officially titled “Three Rules to Becoming a Goddess,” and it’s my contribution to the Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights anthology that benefits reproductive rights organizations. It’s a prequel of sorts to my Frenemy project.

And I FINALLY finished the first draft of Frenemy (still a working title). I’m working on revisions now and am currently sitting at 73,000 words. I generally draft lean and add words during revisions. I’m hoping to send it off to my beta readers in early September, but that might be a stretch considering I’m traveling again next weekend. (Be sure to see my post on Bookstore Romance Day!)

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Bookstore Romance Day – August 20, 2022

Hey, everyone! I’m celebrating Bookstore Romance Day with Fables Books in Goshen, Indiana. I’ll be there Saturday, August 20, for a panel with the amazing authors Anna Hague and Anne Terpstra starting at 11am. We’ll be talking all things ROMANCE.

If you can’t make it to Indiana, you can join other Bookstore Romance Day events near you or online.

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Trying new things…

Before I get into the meat of this, I’m going to do a shameless plug for reviews. 😉

Have you read Forget Me?

If you’ve read my latest, would you mind taking a minute to write a quick review on Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and/or your favorite book retailer site? Although I love reading long reviews, all it takes is a short one like this:

A very brief review from Goodreads

See? It takes 5 minutes, and it helps others find books they like to read (or avoid those they won’t).

And now for the new thing… Summer Sizzlers

As a new author, I’m still figuring stuff out. That means trying a lot of new things to see what works. The new thing I’m trying has helped me make lots of new friends, too. I’ve bundled Work with Me into a FREE anthology with other steamy contemporary romance series-starters. You may have already read Work with Me, but there are a TON of other books in here you might enjoy. Hint: Volume 1 includes my friend Carla Luna’s book, Blue Hawaiian, which you should DEFINITELY grab for FREE! Volume 2 contains Work with Me.

The post Trying new things… first appeared on Michelle McCraw, Contemporary romance author.

Writing progress, July 15, 2022

Getting back in the habit, y’all. For this Capricorn, writing is a task just like any other. And when I break my habit and get too used to drinking americanos while I watch the ocean waves slip by? The struggle is real. But with the help of my fabulous writing buddy, Melanie, I’m back on track, and I have about 55,000 words in my work in progress. That’s about 65% of a book! It’s going to need TONS of revisions, but at this point, words on the page is my goal. And I’m slowly getting them down!

Writing progress as of July 15, 55,000 words on project Frenemy

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A rant…with book recs

It’s not often that I get ranty in public (though my brain is one big ol’ rant these days – looking at you, SCOTUS), but I have THOUGHTS about – you guessed, it – books. And the patriarchy, naturally.

Long ago, when I’d moved on from horse books to my parents’ shelf of The Classics, leatherbound and clearly just for show on the shelf – Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Gulliver’s Travels, A Tale of Two Cities, and more – I discovered Pride and Prejudice. It scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. I devoured Jane Austen’s sadly tiny backlist, including Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion, but there was one I just couldn’t get into: Emma.

Who, young-me wondered, could like Emma? She was bossy and, let’s face it, bitchy. She gaslighted her friend, and she led on Mr. Elton, who seemed like a nice guy, nothing like P&P’s Mr. Collins. And she was a bitch to poor Jane Fairfax, who seemed much more like a Jane Austen heroine than Emma herself. I put down the book.

A few years later, after another handful of rereads of Pride and Prejudice, I picked up Emma again. This time, I saw the nuance in Austen’s portrayal of Emma. She winked at me (almost two hundred years in her future) and said, Look, I know Emma’s not perfect. She needs to grow. Watch how she does it.

I was a fan. I’ve reread Emma almost as often as Pride and Prejudice, and I’ve loved its various film adaptations (special shoutout to the 2009 miniseries and my personal favorite, Clueless). And I think I figured out what changed. Spoiler alert: it was me.

Speaking of spoilers, when I read Olivia Dade’s All the Feels, the second book in her Spoiler Alert celebrity romance series, her dedication spoke to me: “To all the little girls who learned to stay quiet and not take up space in the world. May you find your inner harpies and demand your due, at long last.”

Yes, I was one of those little girls, raised Catholic and Southern, who did what she was told. Quietly. I got good grades, I behaved myself, I slouched in the back row of the class photo so I wouldn’t be as tall as the boys. How would a young girl like that identify with Emma, who brashly took the head of household role from her father? Who spoke to the much older Mr. Knightley as an equal? Who demanded her due from others in her social circle?

Many, many years later, I read Angelina M. Lopez’s Lush Money. I saw others’ criticisms that the billionaire heroine was too bitchy, too bold. It gave me pause when I saw her take and manipulate and control. But I recognized that as my internalized patriarchy trying to have its say. I shoved it back down where it belonged – sadly, I’ll never get rid of it completely – and later read After Hours on Milagro Street. Another heroine who knew what she wanted, another set of complainers saying, “But did she have to be such a bitch?”, another 5-star rating from me. By the way, you should read Angelina’s post on unlikeable heroines. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Last week, I listened to the You’re Wrong About podcast episode about Martha Stewart. Like many, I remembered Martha Stewart as a villain, someone who tried to make me add domestic shit onto my already overflowing plate, and who got her just deserts by going to prison for insider trading. Man, was that podcast eye-opening. Martha was a scrapper – still is – who leveraged her talents and pursued her interests. I’m paraphrasing here, but Sarah Archer noted that Martha just did what she enjoyed and had help for the rest – a lot like a man.

Mind. Blown.

Dammit, patriarchy, get out of my head.

Back to books. Recently, I released the latest in my workplace rom-com series, Forget Me. I knew Mimi was prickly as I wrote her. She’s part of my journey to explore and eradicate my internalized patriarchy. I wrote her as a wounded, flawed person who sometimes takes out her troubles on others – though not nearly as often as she does it to herself. Who has her own inner voice telling her she’s not good enough. Who lashes out. Who apologizes. Who finally discovers her own worth. Who finds her voice.

I made Mimi like a lot of alpha male heroes being written today. Driven. Focused. Not interested in making nice unless it advances her agenda.

To make it interesting, I paired her with Mateo, the softest golden retriever/cinnamon roll ever. Who shows a more feminine side. He cooks. He helps his aunt and his cousin. He adopts a kitten.

And I expected – and received – some reviews like this: “Mimi gets one star, Mateo gets five.”

I’m no Jane Austen. Maybe I was clumsy in showing Mimi’s growth. Maybe I didn’t get everything I intended onto the page. That’s on me.

But as you read a prickly heroine and she makes you uncomfortable, maybe consider your relationship with your own internalized patriarchy.

I’m going to keep writing flawed heroines. Sometimes they’ll be a palatable kind of flawed, and sometimes you’re going to want to slap them. I promise, they’ll always grow. Maybe they’ll never be the sweet, quiet women you want them to be, but by the end of the book, they’ll be rock-solid in the recognition of their worth and their rights as human beings.

I hope you will, too.

Me, I’m still growing.

Writing progress, June 20, 2022

I’m so excited, y’all! Forget Me is ready to publish on Friday! My ARC team is starting to post their reviews, and I’m so thrilled to see their supportive words for my prickly heroine, Mimi!

You can see a new entry at the bottom: Filling the Well. I went on a 2-week vacation (what even is that?) and had a GREAT time wandering around Spain and a few other places in Europe. I came back rested (well, except for the jet lag) and inspired, and I hope to bring that fresh energy to my writing. The well is FULL!

Now I’m slowly getting back into my current project, shown below as Frenemy. It’s partially set in Barcelona, and I’m sifting through my travel memories and photos for that inspiration.