Michelle McLean's Blog, page 32

Summer Schedule

Hey all :) I'll be reverting to my summer schedule for the next couple months. So from now until Sept 1st I'll be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. And in Sept I'll go back to posting Monday - Friday. :) And of course I'll still be over at Operation Awesome on Thursdays :D

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far! :)

Occupational Hazards Part Deux

There are so many quirky little things that go along with being a writer. Here are a few I discovered this weekend:
Your neighbors aren't sure who you are and ask your husband who that lady is they occasionally see by the mailbox. He has to explain that you are an author so you don't get out much.Every aspect of your life takes a little trip through your head - like when you really need to talk to someone but can't right away so you have a complete conversation with them in your head before you actually talk to them (and sometimes you decide not to talk to them at all because the internal version didn't turn out so well)Your mother gives you cleaning tips, like "when you are walking around your house and you see something out of place, just pick it up and your house will stay clean." This is bad for two reasons - 1. your house is so messy your mother feels the need to give you cleaning tips and 2. You have to inform your mother that that tactic just won't work for you because you never actually leave your computer desk long enough to take a walk through your house. On the plus side, your mother has never laughed so hard in her life, so at least you made someone smile :DWhat are some occupational hazards you've run into as a writer? :)

Friday Funnies

ON AGING (a lot of these apply to being a writer as well :D )

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

Insanity is my only means of relaxation.

My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely.

Every time I think about exercise, I lie down til the thought goes away.

God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind, I will live forever.

I finally got my head together, and my body fell apart.

There cannot be a crisis this week; my schedule is already full.

The nice part of living in a small town is that when I don't know what I'm doing, someone else does.

As time goes on I think I know what I want until I walk from one end of the house to the other, and can't remember what I came after.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends.

Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I regain consciousness.

Seen it all, Done it all, Can't remember most of it.

Blog Chain - Creative Curses!

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This round's topic was chosen by the always awesome Kate. Her topic:

Curses, you've been cursed! You can write no longer. The story well has run dry, and you can't even remember how to type. Now what do you do? Where do you channel your creative energies? And to what lengths would you go to break the curse?
Honestly, I've sat staring at this topic for a while. I just don't know what I'd do. It's unfathomable lol

So, I thought back to before I wrote "for real". I've always done a few stories here and there but once I got out of high school until after my son was born, I don't think I wrote a word, anywhere. Well, some poetry. But nothing major. Instead, most of my creative endeavors were focused on cross stitching.

I loved cross stitching. And I was pretty good at it. I'd do the really big, complicated pieces. Like this one I made while I was pregnant with my son:



In fact, thinking about it now, I kind of miss doing it. I might have to get back into it :D I for sure need to do one for my daughter at the very least :D (I did start one for her, but then she came early and life got hectic...and then I started writing again) :D

So, yeah...I guess if I couldn't write, I'd cross stitch, I'd play my piano, I'd learn to play the violin I bought and never learned to use - I'd focus that creative energy somewhere. I'd probably go pretty far to break the curse as well, but not to the extent that my family was jeopardized in any way.

But really, I just can't imagine the story well running dry. And if it did, I'd probably still be sitting there, staring off into space, dwelling on all the other stories I've read. If I couldn't thin of new ones, I could still remember the old :)

What would you do if such a horrible curse befell you?

Stop by Margie's blog tomorrow to see what she would do :)

Books and Merchandising

On Friday over at Operation Awesome, Katrina put up an awesome post on merchandising and books. She talked about all the cool stuff you can get with some books (all the Harry Potter products, Arwen's necklace from LOTR, etc.).

I've bought a couple items from favorite books, among them:

The silver ring Jamie gives Claire in Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER



and a set of perfume from Jessica Verday's THE HOLLOW



I love stuff like this. It is so fun to have something real from a story you love. Even more fun when it's from one of your own stories. Like my gorgeous TREASURED LIES necklace :D (made by the awesomely talented Bonny Anderson - go check out her store HERE!)



And, the Team Zenn necklace I made for Elana Johnson's POSSESSION release giveaway (Team Jag has a "jag"ged lightning bolt pendant to go along with the "Vi"olet beads and silver butterflies.)



Having something tangible you can use to help market your book is both lucrative and just plain fun. Is this something you've ever thought of doing with your own books?

Ten Word Tuesday

The job of the artist is to deepen the mystery.~ Francis Bacon
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POSSESSION Winner!

My wonderful son, when asked to chose a number between 1 and 8, picked number.....6!!! Congrats to

Shari!!
Shoot me an email (addy on the sidebar --> ) with your address and I'll send out your very own copy of POSSESSION and your POSSESSION-themed necklace :D

Friday Funnies

(Friday Funny quotes taken from Adair Lara's You Know When You're a Writer When...)
You know you're a writer when...You force yourself to have dinner alone in a restaurant just so you can write about it.


You know you're a writer when...At parties, you check out the bookshelves the way other people snoop through medicine cabinets.


You know you're a writer when...You revise an email ten times before pressing Send, and then spend the next hour frantically calling the computer guy to ask how you can get it back for just one more teensy change.

Over on OA Today!

talking about book to movie adaptations. Come see me over there! :)

Celebrating in Style :)

I mentioned in a post recently that one of my traditions when I finish a book is to have my amazingly talented writer/jewelry maker friend Bonny Anderson make a necklace for me. So, I was very excited to do this when I finished my current book, Treasured Lies. In the book there is a locket that is an important element. I wanted something similar to the one I describe in the story. And Bonny created the PERFECT necklace for me :D I am so excited about my Treasured Lies necklace, I just had to share it with you all :D




If you are ever in the market for some beautiful jewelry, I highly recommend visiting Bonny's shop :) You can find her HERE.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post for a chance to win a copy of Elana Johnson's awesome Possession and a Possession-themed necklace :D