Michelle McLean's Blog, page 18
June 13, 2012
Always Wanted to be a Writer
I found this in my files today:
I wrote this in 5th grade when I was 10 years old for the Young Author's Book Fair :D
Opening paragraphs:
My heart started pounding as the waves crashed against the side of the boat. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt cold sea water rush over my sneakers. I picked up a bucket and started bailing water out of the canoe. I looked back and saw the soldier's canoe coming up behind me. I wondered why soldiers would be chasing me, a 15 year old boy. I hadn't committed a crime, I had just run away from the island orphanage.
Suddenly a huge ice beast rose up in front of me. The soldiers were still in back of me. I tried to stop the boat but the oars broke. I crashed into the beast!
~~~
Hehe ahhh that brings back memories :D
I wrote this in 5th grade when I was 10 years old for the Young Author's Book Fair :D
Opening paragraphs:
My heart started pounding as the waves crashed against the side of the boat. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt cold sea water rush over my sneakers. I picked up a bucket and started bailing water out of the canoe. I looked back and saw the soldier's canoe coming up behind me. I wondered why soldiers would be chasing me, a 15 year old boy. I hadn't committed a crime, I had just run away from the island orphanage.
Suddenly a huge ice beast rose up in front of me. The soldiers were still in back of me. I tried to stop the boat but the oars broke. I crashed into the beast!
~~~
Hehe ahhh that brings back memories :D
Name Changer
Okay - I saw this article today over on Smart Bitches Trashy Books and honestly I don't even know what to say. In a nut shell, there are some self-pubbed and indie authors using the names of very successful authors (plus one initial) as their pen name in order to up their sales. In this instance, Nora A. Roberts and James A. Patterson.
I just don't get this. I mean I get why they are doing it. But...I dunno.
When I was considering using a pen name, the very first thing I did was start googling. I wanted to use my maiden name, Michelle Marquis. But that name was already being used by another author as her pen name. So I kept looking even though I probably would have been totally justified in using that name as it is actually MY name.
I tried Michelle Morrell (my first and middle names). There is an artist by that name who has a website that pops up. Not an author so it probably would have been fine. However, I wanted a name that I could purchase the domain for and that one was taken.
I kept going with possibilities until I found one that worked. And then I decided to stick with my own name anyway :D
The real Nora Roberts is understandably peeved. Yet the people behind this strategy don't think there is anything wrong with doing what they are doing.
Thoughts?
I just don't get this. I mean I get why they are doing it. But...I dunno.
When I was considering using a pen name, the very first thing I did was start googling. I wanted to use my maiden name, Michelle Marquis. But that name was already being used by another author as her pen name. So I kept looking even though I probably would have been totally justified in using that name as it is actually MY name.
I tried Michelle Morrell (my first and middle names). There is an artist by that name who has a website that pops up. Not an author so it probably would have been fine. However, I wanted a name that I could purchase the domain for and that one was taken.
I kept going with possibilities until I found one that worked. And then I decided to stick with my own name anyway :D
The real Nora Roberts is understandably peeved. Yet the people behind this strategy don't think there is anything wrong with doing what they are doing.
Thoughts?
June 8, 2012
June 5, 2012
Savvy and Surrender
First of all, I'm over at Savvy Authors today talking about how to write a hook line or logline, so come on by and visit!
Secondly - the fabulous Elana Johnson's SURRENDER is officially out TODAY!!! Happy Book Birthday!!! She's got a fun tour going on and tons of chances to win Surrender and other prizes so stop by her blog for all the deets on everything.
Oh, and go buy her book!! (Amazon / B&N) SURRENDER continues the awesomeness that is POSSESSION. You do NOT want to miss either of these books, or the companion novellas, so go check them out!!
Secondly - the fabulous Elana Johnson's SURRENDER is officially out TODAY!!! Happy Book Birthday!!! She's got a fun tour going on and tons of chances to win Surrender and other prizes so stop by her blog for all the deets on everything.
Oh, and go buy her book!! (Amazon / B&N) SURRENDER continues the awesomeness that is POSSESSION. You do NOT want to miss either of these books, or the companion novellas, so go check them out!!
June 1, 2012
Friday Funnies
Holy Moly, we haven't had Friday Funnies in two weeks! The horror!! K, here you go :D
May 29, 2012
A Stage Mama's Epiphany on Technique and Execution
Since I see just about everything in my life in terms of writing, it's no surprise that I can turn a stage-mama moment into a lesson on the craft :)
My 6 yr old had her first gymnastics competition this past Friday. Well, it was an exhibition - she's in the pre-competitive team program that is designed to give the girls a taste of what being on the actual team and doing competitions will be like. If they like it and make it through the program, they move up to the competitive team. Well, my daughter LOVES it. And she's good at it.
She's not the best. She hasn't been around as long (just started about 7 months ago) so she isn't as experienced as some of the girls who are older or came from the advanced class. But she's pretty dang good. And while one or two of the other (older and more experienced) girls do the actual routines better, my daughter NAILS it with her form. (Stick with me...I promise I'm not going to go all psycho-proud-mama on you...too much :D )
She might flub a move here or there, the other girls might complete the routine without as many mistakes, but my daughter's execution of the routines is really beautiful. Her form and technique are clean, solid, totally crisp, muscles taut, toes pointed - really, just fun to watch, even if there are mistakes the other girls may not have made.
And it made me think of books and getting published (because seriously, most things in my life do lol).
I know I'm not the only one to pick up a published book and think "if this got published, why can't my book?" Or maybe you finish reading an absolutely amazing book and just feel like you want to hang up your pen because you'll never write something as awesome as that.
I feel like that a lot. Especially when I'm struggling with a particularly stubborn project that feels like I'll never get it done (to my satisfaction that is) :) I finished reading a book just last night that sort of gave the "oy, my current wip will never be this good" vibe.
And then I got to thinking. If I break it down by elements, the story I'd read really wasn't any better than the story I'm writing right now. I think my story just as interesting, just as compelling. But the form, the technique, with which the published book was executed is better than mine at the moment.
I think sometimes, when I run into issues with my books, I tend to focus on the storyline. I try to think of new elements I can add, new characters or new situations. And then I over-complicate things, bog them down with unnecessary additions. When I might just need to focus on executing the elements I already have better. I don't need to make the plot more complicated or throw in a dozen new twists. I just need to weave better, transition smoother, flow better - hone my technique and make the story I have really shine.
So in the spirit of that, I'm off to polish up a manuscript :)
How are you all doing with your projects? Do you ever have "I'm gonna hang up my pen" moments? What gets you past them?
My 6 yr old had her first gymnastics competition this past Friday. Well, it was an exhibition - she's in the pre-competitive team program that is designed to give the girls a taste of what being on the actual team and doing competitions will be like. If they like it and make it through the program, they move up to the competitive team. Well, my daughter LOVES it. And she's good at it.
She's not the best. She hasn't been around as long (just started about 7 months ago) so she isn't as experienced as some of the girls who are older or came from the advanced class. But she's pretty dang good. And while one or two of the other (older and more experienced) girls do the actual routines better, my daughter NAILS it with her form. (Stick with me...I promise I'm not going to go all psycho-proud-mama on you...too much :D )
She might flub a move here or there, the other girls might complete the routine without as many mistakes, but my daughter's execution of the routines is really beautiful. Her form and technique are clean, solid, totally crisp, muscles taut, toes pointed - really, just fun to watch, even if there are mistakes the other girls may not have made.
And it made me think of books and getting published (because seriously, most things in my life do lol).
I know I'm not the only one to pick up a published book and think "if this got published, why can't my book?" Or maybe you finish reading an absolutely amazing book and just feel like you want to hang up your pen because you'll never write something as awesome as that.
I feel like that a lot. Especially when I'm struggling with a particularly stubborn project that feels like I'll never get it done (to my satisfaction that is) :) I finished reading a book just last night that sort of gave the "oy, my current wip will never be this good" vibe.
And then I got to thinking. If I break it down by elements, the story I'd read really wasn't any better than the story I'm writing right now. I think my story just as interesting, just as compelling. But the form, the technique, with which the published book was executed is better than mine at the moment.
I think sometimes, when I run into issues with my books, I tend to focus on the storyline. I try to think of new elements I can add, new characters or new situations. And then I over-complicate things, bog them down with unnecessary additions. When I might just need to focus on executing the elements I already have better. I don't need to make the plot more complicated or throw in a dozen new twists. I just need to weave better, transition smoother, flow better - hone my technique and make the story I have really shine.
So in the spirit of that, I'm off to polish up a manuscript :)
How are you all doing with your projects? Do you ever have "I'm gonna hang up my pen" moments? What gets you past them?
May 23, 2012
Doing a Little Experiment
I'm trying to combine my website and blog (as I rarely use my website and all the info can be found here anyway). So, I've attempted to link them so my domain name - authormichellemclean.com - pulls up this blog site. Hopefully this will be working shortly and won't mess up anyone who uses the blogspot url to get to my blog. I have no idea how that all works....I'm slightly (okay more than slightly) technically challenged :D
UPDATE: Okay, so this is working now, but only if you type www.authormichellemclean.com. I told it to redirect it if you don't enter the www but we'll see if that works or not :D
UPDATE: Okay, so this is working now, but only if you type www.authormichellemclean.com. I told it to redirect it if you don't enter the www but we'll see if that works or not :D
May 22, 2012
Stupid Heroines
I was reading a book this weekend that got me thinking about heroines and the sometimes stupid things they do. This book is part of a series, and I'd really enjoyed the first book. And the second book was pretty good. The heroine is a little ditzy, clutzy, always getting herself into off-the-wall situations by doing sort of stupid things - but at the same time, you can understand why she's doing what she's doing.
At the end of the second book was quite a long excerpt for the third book. I started reading it. Until I realized that the setup for what the heroine was about to get herself into was too ridiculously stupid for even a fictional character. I mean the whole mystery/storyline, etc was fine. But the way the heroine went about getting involved was just too unbelievable for me.
In the first two books, situations sort of happened that the heroine had no control over and yes she made poor choices, but at the same time, you can understand why she was making those choices. But in book 3, her boyfriend ends up getting demoted at work because of something stupid (but understandable) that she does. He rightly and understandably tells her to keep her nose out of his work life (he's a cop).
To make it up to him, so he'll have to forgive her, she decides to help him solve his case. And this apparently kicks off a book's length of high-jinx adventures.
I stopped reading the second she decided to "help him." It is completely unbelievable to me. I don't care how ditzy you are or how badly you want to help, I can't imagine a rational person, 10 seconds after finding out that her dumb actions almost get a man she supposedly cares for fired, and 8 seconds after being told in no uncertain terms that she needed to keep away from his cases, deciding that the best course of action would be to jump right in there and start meddling again.
I'll probably still read later books in the series, but there comes a point that I just can't deal with a character's stupidity. I'm all for giving characters flaws, and this character is pretty flawed and it normally works great. But you've got to make it believable. And for me, in this instance, her actions were unbelievable and stupid enough that I lost all desire to read the book.
I had one other instance of this happening. I picked up a book everyone was raving about, but the main character was so irritatingly whiny I couldn't stomach spending more than 3 chapters with her. Maybe she got better later on in the book - but I couldn't deal with sticking around with her longer to find out.
I think there is a fine line between charmingly flawed and just downright irritating. Hopefully the characters I create don't cross it :)
Have you ever come across an instance like this? Has a character ever turned you off so badly you walked away from the book, even (or esp) if it was part of a series you otherwise liked?
At the end of the second book was quite a long excerpt for the third book. I started reading it. Until I realized that the setup for what the heroine was about to get herself into was too ridiculously stupid for even a fictional character. I mean the whole mystery/storyline, etc was fine. But the way the heroine went about getting involved was just too unbelievable for me.
In the first two books, situations sort of happened that the heroine had no control over and yes she made poor choices, but at the same time, you can understand why she was making those choices. But in book 3, her boyfriend ends up getting demoted at work because of something stupid (but understandable) that she does. He rightly and understandably tells her to keep her nose out of his work life (he's a cop).
To make it up to him, so he'll have to forgive her, she decides to help him solve his case. And this apparently kicks off a book's length of high-jinx adventures.
I stopped reading the second she decided to "help him." It is completely unbelievable to me. I don't care how ditzy you are or how badly you want to help, I can't imagine a rational person, 10 seconds after finding out that her dumb actions almost get a man she supposedly cares for fired, and 8 seconds after being told in no uncertain terms that she needed to keep away from his cases, deciding that the best course of action would be to jump right in there and start meddling again.
I'll probably still read later books in the series, but there comes a point that I just can't deal with a character's stupidity. I'm all for giving characters flaws, and this character is pretty flawed and it normally works great. But you've got to make it believable. And for me, in this instance, her actions were unbelievable and stupid enough that I lost all desire to read the book.
I had one other instance of this happening. I picked up a book everyone was raving about, but the main character was so irritatingly whiny I couldn't stomach spending more than 3 chapters with her. Maybe she got better later on in the book - but I couldn't deal with sticking around with her longer to find out.
I think there is a fine line between charmingly flawed and just downright irritating. Hopefully the characters I create don't cross it :)
Have you ever come across an instance like this? Has a character ever turned you off so badly you walked away from the book, even (or esp) if it was part of a series you otherwise liked?
May 18, 2012
Random Acts of Kindness GIVEAWAY Winner!
And the winner, chosen by the ever-handy Draw-the-name-from-a-hat method is....
Eldra!!!
Congrats!! You should already have your brand new copy of The Emotion Thesaurus in your inbox and I'll be contacting you about the gift card.
Thanks everyone!
Eldra!!!
Congrats!! You should already have your brand new copy of The Emotion Thesaurus in your inbox and I'll be contacting you about the gift card.
Thanks everyone!
May 16, 2012
Random Acts of Kindness GIVEAWAY w/ The Bookshelf Muse
I think today is a good day to give something away, don't you? :D
Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are doing something wonderful to celebrate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus (which, btw, I've had the pleasure of receiving and am THRILLED to have it on my shelf - check it out!!).
They have started an amazing fest of Random Acts of Kindness. You can go to their blog and enter for chances to win incredible prizes. We've got a little giveaway going on at OA as well.
And, I thought I'd do a little something fun here as well. You know, you always hear that writing is a solitary act...but I don't know if that's necessarily true. So so so many people have helped me along my journey. From the wonderful Jeannie Ruesch who was the first author to really take me under her wing when I was first starting out, to my amazing group of friends and critique partners, to my non-writer friends and family who are always there with their support and encouragement.
When I very first started trying to write "for real", I was mostly on my own. I hadn't met any other writers yet, my husband was traveling a lot for work, and we were living in a new area where I didn't know many people. I got a lot of work done, but A) it was bad lol and B) it was lonely.
This whole writing journey is so much easier with a support group behind me. I don't know what I'd do without my amazing circle of awesomeness :)
So! As my Random Act of Kindness, I think I'll giveaway a $15 gift card to the online book retailer of your choice - AND a pdf or ebook copy of Becca and Angela's Emotion Thesaurus :)
Just leave a comment below with your email addy so I contact you if you win. I'll announce the winner on Friday. :)
Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are doing something wonderful to celebrate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus (which, btw, I've had the pleasure of receiving and am THRILLED to have it on my shelf - check it out!!).
They have started an amazing fest of Random Acts of Kindness. You can go to their blog and enter for chances to win incredible prizes. We've got a little giveaway going on at OA as well.
And, I thought I'd do a little something fun here as well. You know, you always hear that writing is a solitary act...but I don't know if that's necessarily true. So so so many people have helped me along my journey. From the wonderful Jeannie Ruesch who was the first author to really take me under her wing when I was first starting out, to my amazing group of friends and critique partners, to my non-writer friends and family who are always there with their support and encouragement.
When I very first started trying to write "for real", I was mostly on my own. I hadn't met any other writers yet, my husband was traveling a lot for work, and we were living in a new area where I didn't know many people. I got a lot of work done, but A) it was bad lol and B) it was lonely.
This whole writing journey is so much easier with a support group behind me. I don't know what I'd do without my amazing circle of awesomeness :)
So! As my Random Act of Kindness, I think I'll giveaway a $15 gift card to the online book retailer of your choice - AND a pdf or ebook copy of Becca and Angela's Emotion Thesaurus :)
Just leave a comment below with your email addy so I contact you if you win. I'll announce the winner on Friday. :)
