First Word

More funny moments with our girl Brea from California Girl Chronicles . These clips are from both books in no particular order. TOM JONES? We left and headed downtown to an urban upscale bar where all the desperate housewives hung out. It was one of those places where the barstools had fabric-covered seats. Little LED lights hung from the ceiling over each of the chairs and tables. Denise waved at her boss. He was some middle-aged guy who looked like an engineer. He even wore a white shirt with a pocket protector. He was rugged and handsome with salt-and-pepper hair and kind brown eyes. He introduced himself as Tom. She was fucking a staid, middle-aged engineer (in the supply cabinet) whose name was Tom Jones. I am not kidding. Tom Jones! Do you know how hard it was not to laugh at his name. I had a flash of him as a slimy lounge singer who seduced all of the girls. INT. RED-VELVET LOUNGE – NIGHT Tom Jones wears a boring white shirt and trousers. He walks on stage, strips off his...

I have no idea other than curiously clicking on this how I got signed up for a Top Face account. Since when did a curious click give you an account on anything I don't know. Now I also don't know how to remove it either ... so there you go: I'm stuck! So since I appear stuck in Top Face hell, I will simply make fun of it and entertain you at the same time. Today's "interested" party sent me this photo, and let me describe it for you: A guy stooped over on his knees, hands clasped behind his neck, and head down in front of what is essentially a wide, open view of the ocean. It's also a black-and-white shot. What about this is sexy or appealing? Beautiful and artistic, yes. (One comment: If I were sitting on a beach of all places I would not be looking down but at the beautiful view.) Can I see a face, no. Does it look full of angst, despair, and dare I say, grief? Yes. Would anyone woman in her sane, right mind date this gentlemen? Um, well, no. That pictur...

I went to the movie We Bought a Zoo , and I was pleased discover this movie was another film that is about a writer turned zookeeper. Anything about a writer who takes an adventure is a great premise for me. Before I launch into the guts of my thoughts here, I want to say I thought this was a children's movie. It contains children, yes, but I would not call it a children's movie. It had adult themes about loss, love and family, but it was not like a viewing of Toy Story . At specific parts, I had some tears welling up in my eyes. I don't know that children will be moved in the same emotional way since they may not fully understand what is being expressed in those scenes. The good news, older children will appreciate the kids and animals. Matt Damon gives a nice performance as a dad left widowed after his wife is presumably taken by cancer (they never say, but it seems obvious). He and his children (a seven-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy) are still grieving and coping. ...

We are presented with dozens of concepts and ideas for children's book. In fact, I have been pitched more children's books ideas than adult fiction. I resisted doing a children's book for a number of reasons. 1. Cost of color print runs is expensive and makes it difficult to make a project profitable. 2. Most authors wanted to force a particular illustrator on the project. Most of those illustrations were subpar. (Hint: You think it's cute to use your kindergarteners to illustrate a book, and maybe it's a sweet idea, but it is still a bunch of five-year-olds' drawings you're suggesting for a professional book you hope will become a classic.) 3. Costs to hire a professional illustrator are very expensive. Again, the added cost makes it difficult to turn a profit on not only a labor-intensive and expensive project, but also a full-color book (as noted above). Those three issues alone kept 3L Publishing from jumping into this market. I didn't not w...

The discussion about the likable or unlikable character sparked some responses on Tumblr particularly in reference to Justine in the movie Melancholia (Justine suffered severe depression and as a result did some pretty unlikable things). I was considering the discussion that suggested that her depression and behavior should be understandable since she was sick. I guess the discussion (for me) needed to veer toward whether or not you can relate to a character enough to sympathize with him or her. In Justine's case, I could not relate to her enough to understand what I felt was "unlikable" behavior. When I was younger I had my own bout with depression (certainly not as severe as Justine's case) but even while I spent a number of days crawled up in bed, I didn't do things to hurt others or lash out in passive-aggressive ways (e.g., her sex on the golf-course moment). Hence, I could not relate to her. Watching her behavior was more like watching someone through a len...

Dear California Girl Chronicles Supporters, I want to thank so many of you who have been so gracious and supportive of my book in its early release. I am honored and thrilled to have so many Brea lovers. You are doing so many things to support my efforts: Girlfriends giving it as presents to other girlfriends; Facebook followers sending me pictures of the book in various poses; fans and friends of the book posting some 20 positive Amazon reviews; and so many others who have spoken to me or written me notes about Brea. You have embraced Brea as a good friend. This small and growing fan base is what will expand the book now and into the future. The TV show development is under way, and we truly expect some kind of deal in 2012. In the meantime, you all have touched my heart in so many ways. I thank each and every person who has reached out to help me. I am blessed to have so much love and support! With warm gratitude, Michelle

I bet those of you in publishing will raise your hand when I say this: the hardest job in publishing a book is the proofing . Proofing the final products is an all-hands-on-deck process. When you work with 3L Publishing , we involve our authors, editors and anyone else who can read the final product with a fresh set of eyes. I recently encountered difficulties with California Girl Chronicles . We found numerous mistakes after the book was printed. Fortunately, I am the publisher too, and I had the far-thinking wisdom not to do a huge print run on the first edition. I have learned from experience that no matter how hard we try, something always gets missed. In this case, it also gave me the opportunity to adjust some character development issues. The revised edition is full of new material, and I entirely rewrote it. If you read the first edition, and you want to read the newly added scenes (we'll call this the "director's cut") then send me an email at info@3LPublishi...

My favorite funny moments from book two of California Girl Chronicles, Brea’s Big Break:  REAL BODY PARTS “And you think you’re going to get somewhere with me like that?” I flatly asked. Johnny looked up, quit eating, and looked me right in the eyes. “Fuck no!” he retorted. “You’re hot and nice. I like you. And I like that you have real body parts,” he chuckled as he looked down to take another bite. I looked down at my body parts and nodded, “Yep! Real! No one would purposefully make their boobs this small,” I said with a laugh.  I CUT HER HAIR As Johnny talked about the business and his encounters on various movie sets, I started to like him. He was candid and enthusiastic about acting and his craft. He mentioned his last girlfriend was a major film star, but he would not divulge whom. He did say he met her when he played a small role in her film. He said she was down-to-earth but had this strange obsession with her hair. She wanted to become famous for her hair like Jennif...

All right since you all voted with your page views about the blue sweater picture, which was just a picture I posted to make a point, I am going to vote on one of my favorite pictures. I love this one. It's very dark and sinister, and it reminds me of True Blood . I don't think it really even looks like him in his "unvarnished" state, but it's my favorite shot regardless. I love the blue tint to it among many other things. So, there you go -- my personal favorite. P.S. I know many of you are going to throw tomatoes and other assorted vegetables at me for saying this: but I noticed on Tumblr, fans are clamoring for more current shots of Skarsgard out in public. Again, I can already feel the tomatoes pelting my head, but I am not encouraging more of his private moment shots be taken. The paparazzi are awful! Have you seen them dog celebrities? I personally think it's fantastic when a celebrity consciously sits down for a photo session to get new pictures taken...

It's a holiday and a Monday, so I thought today would be a great day to have a little fun on the blog. I wrote California Girl Chronicles to include humor. What I did not realize is that the humor would be one of the stand-out parts of the book (I kind of thought all that sex would eclipse the humor ... just saying). It turns out the humorous parts are being praised by both readers and critics. So, it's a holiday, and I feel some fun coming on. Here are some humorous moments from book one Brea and the City of Plastic . Hungrier than Horny I decided no way was Lance going to get the “pooty” unless he paid for a great meal. I also felt he should make an effort at some kind of real conversation perhaps over at least raspberry muffins and Folgers coffee at Denny’s coffee shop. Food is food – and I’m hungrier than I am horny.  Clean Teeth or McNuggets When we passed a McDonald’s, I had an urge to ask for a Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal. “Oh, a little honey and pressed-chicken st...

Merry Christmas to my First Word blog followers. You are a rapidly growing crowd. I thank you, appreciate and value your support!  Michelle

I have a treat for you right before Christmas. I revised book one for the second print run. I did an early focus group for the book, but after a broader "micro" release of the book, I received some feedback I liked and wanted to incorporate before the book goes national into the bookstores this spring. Now several producers are interested in making this book into a TV series. In fact, I am in serious talks with one production company, and their head decision-makers loved the first version; but you can always improve your work. I had the opportunity to do so. P.S. A little CGC trivia fun. Brea is pronounced: Bre-e. Where did I get the name? I call my daughter two nicknames, Bree and Lulu. In book two watch for Brea to say her sister's name ;). Now back to the changes ... I did four important revisions: Narrative : I took out the colloquial expressions and tamed it. Most readers understood that as a first-person narrative, I was staying in her voice. Some readers, w...

When you fall in love with a fictional character, they become your friend. I have been thinking about this since my character Brea in California Girl Chronicles now gets talked about like she's a real person. I had a "fan" start to argue with me about her the other day. I actually dropped the argument. It was silly. She's not an actual person, and I know what motivates her better than anyone else. When readers are this invested in a character then the author has done his or her job and created a well-developed character people love to love. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite fictional characters both on screen and on paper and why. Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie) -- you're perhaps puzzled about a choice from juvenile fiction. Laura was, of course, a real person but her prairie stories were mostly fictional accounts of her young life on the Great Plains as a pioneer girl. I fell in love with her when I was 10 years old. I ...

Okay, I am blown out of the water. You ought to see the number of hits Mr. Skarsgard's (aka Eric on True Blood) sweater picture is getting! I posted that as a lark and to discuss Tumblr blogging. I have to tell you, I don't think anyone is reading anything I said as much as they're gazing at the sweater!! I had no idea that sweater had its own fan base. Maybe the sweater needs a shrine all by itself. You all love the sweater. All hail the blue sweater is all I'm going to say. One final note: he does fill out the sweater rather well ;).

Continuing my discussion about building a following on Tumblr, I wanted to pick up on some pieces of advice I was given by other Tumblr bloggers. One very nice fellow said just to repost snippets from the Internet and grab photos. I'm not comfortable grabbing photos all over the place unless I took the photo then I don't mind. So, I wouldn't necessarily suggest that one as a piece of advice to follow. I even squirmed grabbing the blue-green sweater (see below) to illustrate my point about the sweater in the True Blood series. So my advice about photos is ask permission unless it's in the public domain. I know the Internet is the "Wild West" when it comes to copyright, but I guess I'm just not a gunslinger. The other piece of advice about posting small snippets is good to a point. Small snippets work best on social media like Facebook or Twitter. On a blog site like Tumblr you need to go deeper. Tumblr is what is called a "blogger-sphere" aimed ...

Season 3's infamous blue sweater! All right I am learning all sorts of interesting tidbits of information about what works on Tumblr. I will keep sharing with all of you as I go along. Then maybe you can avoid feeling the need to post naked pictures as the only sage words of advice offered from another article I read. No, don't keep going to my Tumblr page to look for advised birthday suit pictures as you will never find any. Sorry! So, yesterday I posted this wonderful picture of Mr. Skarsgard's infamous green sweater that made a long-running guest appearance throughout at least three different episodes in True Blood's season three. This bluish-green number went through the ringer as I recall. It ended up with some nice blood splatter by the time it completed its appearance. I was posting absolutely useless trivia about the sweater and the show's wardrobe choices. Guess what? My useless and inane chatter resulted in an absolute deluge of "heart" icons...

So, in this recent small spat of mean-spirited critiques on my book from people who are such pussies they can't leave a legit name on these attacks, I decided to take a closer look at California Girl Chronicles . First, I am almost out of the first print run, and I thought this would be a very good time to assess it. I received some valued comments from some readers I respect. I decided I agreed with these educated and respectful opinions that were not delivered to me in a thinly veiled hate message. I actually got very excited to make these revisions. I love the fact that this information came to me right as I was preparing to do the print run to provide the books for the Oscar parties. As a writer, I also encourage my authors to do focus groups. I also think you have to open your heart to make changes that would improve your work. I don't think I am the last word on what makes a great story or even a great book. I'm fishing through creativity like the most of you. One l...

Another bout of insomnia later ... and I decided to make a little list of things I do when Tinker Bell forgets the magic fairy dust and doesn't give me tickets to the Sleep Train. See if you can relate to my list. 1. Lay in bed and worry 2. Lay in bed and worry some more 3. Lay in bed and worry some more and get up and grab a drink of water 4. Lay in bed and worry some more then decide chocolate sounds good 5. Lay in bed and worry some more then get up and grab more water 6. Lay in bed and worry and remember who I forgot to buy Christmas presents for this year 7. Lay in bed and worry that I worry too much and how unhealthy that is for my mind 8. Lay in bed and worry that I'm attracting more worry to my life 9. Lay in bed and worry that I'm going to get fat from the chocolate I consumed at midnight 10. Lay in bed and worry and finally fall asleep from worry and exhaustion Tomorrow's topic: what I write about when I can't think of what to write about.

I am learning so much about how to work with Tumblr and create a following for Brea's Blog . I am still learning, and I suspect I have a long way to go. In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple of tips and my favorite bloggers/blogs. 1. I noticed you need to find common ground and interests with your Tumblr "mates" . I am a huge True Blood fan. I love other shows too, but the show has so many compelling characters that I find interesting to discuss with others. It is also based on Charlaine Harris' book series, which gives it even more fodder to discuss as opposed to just the TV show. So I started following some of the Tumblr blogs that focus more generally on the books and show than just an obsession with a single character on the show. Believe me when I say there are some serious (and I mean serious ) fan sites on Tumblr. I want to comment on that for a moment. Wow! The amount of time some of these fan sites devote to their favorite actor just blows me away. I...

I haven’t widely shared yet, but I am working on a new book titled  We’re All Dead . It’s a parody of the vampire and zombie craze. Here is the preface so you know what it’s about, and then the short excerpt. Remember, it’s a parody even if the preface sounds somewhat serious. Summary It’s the year 3010 and the great Apocalypse of Death is nearing the end. After 50 years of death, war and destruction, the zombies, vampires and humans are about to take their last stand. At stake – the survival of the human race. Zombies and vampires have brought the human race to the verge of extinction. Now only a small population of humans have survived, which has created a great famine for vampires. The head of the vampires Colonel Baptista has declared all zombies must be annihilated. His rival necromancer General Doc Wilhelm, though, has a secret weapon – one that is sure to kill all of the remaining humans, and therefore, eliminate the food source of the vampires and destroy their race as wel...

I wish I could remember all of the fantastic one liners and dialog I pick up on my favorite shows. I don't notice one liners in books so much. Maybe because I can't hear them said aloud. Well, the show that shines with a plethora of fantastic one-liners is True Blood . I know you all know it's one of my favorites, and the throw-away lines have a little something to do with it. So I thought for fun, and since it's Saturday, I would post a list of my top favorites. See if you like them too. Pam to Arlene's kids: “You make me so happy I never had any of you.” Eric: “Now come on, Pam, they're funny. They're like humans, but miniature -- teacup humans.” ( This is my favorite one-liner of all time on the show ). Eric: "Is there blood in my hair?" Lafayette: "I... I don't know. I can't see in this light." Eric: "How about now?" Lafayette: "Y... yeah t... there's a little bit of blood in there, yeah." ...

I love my Facebook friends! Feeling low and down and out for a number of reasons yesterday, I sought refuge among my "kin," who being loyal and caring "family" immediately rallied to my side. Here is what Nathan Gilbert sent me on Facebook, which I found hysterical. Enjoy! And keep it around if you're ever feeling particularly low one day: I feel an allegory coming on: When I was a kid I loved to go to the zoo. But every time I went to see the chimpanzees, they would start throwing their turds at me. I was like, "what the hell was that for?" I started to take it really personally. What had *I* done to deserve a poop-hucking from these animals? Then I realized that they did this to everyone, they were really bored, and, frankly, dookie chucking is just what chimps do. After that I ignored it and even kinda felt sorry for their empty lives. Anyway. Internet message boards are like that: all heat and no light. Except instead of heat it's ape crap. ...

I attended eWomen Reno networking last night. I had a complete blast with my girlfriends not just at the event but afterward when we all retired to the Peppermill lounge to chat and laugh. It got pretty funny, and I'm not going to specifically cite the culprits of this conversation. But after a drink, the mouths ran over. Pretty soon we began to explore the erotic nature of chocolate. As I sat with my partially consumed shot of Patron (yuck! I'm not drinking that anymore) and listened and participated in the "scrumptious" and dare I say decadent discussion of the various naughty ways one could use chocolate, I laughed until my side had a stitch. So I'll give you the highlight reel, which included uproarious explorations of what one could do with a chocolate-covered banana (your minds are going crazy now) or various chocolate dipping products one might imagine for various, how shall we say, erogenous zones. As the evening progressed, we also discussed my book (tw...

We all have our favorite characters we love to root for whether in fiction or on TV or film. So, I thought I would share my short list of my favorites and see if you agree. P.S., there is no particular order here. I couldn't say if I had a no. #1 or not. And for all of you writers out there, pay attention. Your favorite characters are so, because they are well-developed and given so much "life" that you suspend your disbelief and root for imaginary friends. The "imaginary" part is what makes the story telling process so unbelievably powerful -- that we would cry, laugh, scream and cheer them on (and they're not real people). Sookie Stackhouse (Charlaine Harris' version not Alan Ball's version on True Blood ) -- in the books Sookie is real, fierce, brave, outspoken, funny and independent. While the book Sookie would never give herself over to the idea that one should ask forgiveness after really doing nothing wrong (like Sookie did in the season 4 ...

As a book coach (yes, 3L Publishing provides coaching services), I am working with a client who is writing a romantic fantasy book. As I was coaching her, I noticed she ran right into a problem with her love interests. She had them immediately bonding and kissing within pages of their initial encounter. After having written my first contemporary romance books California Girl Chronicles , I had stumbled across this great piece on writing sexual tension. When I pointed out to my author there was 12 steps, she was surprised. She didn't know there was so much involved in creating sexual tension between characters. But haven't you ever wondered why you're on the edge of your seat, demanding your favorite love interests get on with it already? It's an emotionally manipulative process for sure, but nothing wrong with that. So with a big acknowledgment to where this material originates from, here is the "12 Steps to Intimacy" written by Nancy Odell and reposted as ...