Category Writing Tidbits

So today, Fate Family is up on Amazon, and it’s already jumped up into the 20k range on sales. I’d like to see it go higher–I know it can go higher–but I have to get the word out that it’s available–so here you go: it’s available! This one isn’t like my other novellas… though the people who helped me edit it, all four of them said it was my voice, that they could clearly hear my voice in it, and they all were left with a feel-good moment about humanity. Hey, now that’s a good thing for a novella to do.

Derek Odom proofread the story for me, and this is one that, admittedly, a man like him probably wouldn’t have picked up on his own, but he admitted to me that the ending had him grinning from ear to ear...

They’re at it again… read more here:

http://accentuatewriters.com/viewthread.php?tid=5190#pid199062

And here:

http://www.facebook.com/michelleldevon/posts/10151449220990226

And my blog post earlier this year about it here: http://michelleldevon.com/2012/03/28/must-read-warning-for-everyone-who-writes-poetry/

Please don’t fall victim to this scamming site. Read the email they sent me today by downloading the PDF copy of it here.

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So far, I’ve finished about half of my book tour with Walker Author Tours. I’ve been having a lot of fun. Today, Cindy Gunnin posted a review of Celeste that made my day. I also got an interview posted by Mary Beth Magee, which is really quite… I don’t know. It made me feel… well, like she was talking about someone else. I guess I don’t really see myself the way others see me. I know I’m a survivor. I know I fight and struggle and keep on going, but I just don’t see myself in the same light as this interview made me feel. I read it and thought, “Man, I’d like to meet that person.”

Isn’t it strange how we do that to ourselves? I dunno… being an author, I’ve long known that people would talk about me (and my stories) who didn’t know me. I accepted that it wouldn’t all be roses, and it hasn’t been. I’ve been slammed–both as an author and as a person–and for some reason, that’s always easier to take than when they say the nice things. I really suck at taking a compliment, but I’ve gotten better than in my past. In my past, I would argue with people who said nice things about me. Now, I simply accept it and smile and gratiously (I hope) accept the compliment.

I learned a while back that I can also say, “I’m very glad you think so…” and be telling the truth! Ha! But it is true. I AM glad someone thinks so, even if I cannot always feel the same.

Please stop by both those links and leave comments for the bloggers. They are awesome for doing what they do for authors with little to no compensation for themselves. They deserve comment love, at the very least.

I’ve also put up a very short excerpt of ABDUCTED on Lilah Harding’s blog here. I am really looking forward to releasing this one...

Author Michelle Devon will participate in a three-week book blog tour presented by Walker Author Tours for her new novella, Celeste.

Folsom, USA – Walker Author Tours continues to bring authors to the attention of readers everywhere via virtual book tours. Now they present a three-week-long online book blog tour for Michelle Devon’s suspenseful novella, Celeste. This book tour includes stops at various book blogs all over the internet where readers will find reviews, author interviews, and blog posts by the author. Virtual book tours are a convenient and entertaining way to discover the latest books and learn about authors.

Ahhhhh!

So the other day I had to go to the doctor. Yeah, I know, nothing new for me, right? Well, while I was there, we went through the regular questions… every time I go to the doc, no matter which specialist I’m going to see, they always do the same basic measurements and ask the same basic questions: weight, height, temperature, heart rate and pulse ox–then the questions: Are you in any pain today? Rate your level of pain from 1-10, with one being the least and 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever felt. Where is your pain? What medication are you taking? Why are you here today? And lastly, have you fallen any time within the past year.

Unfortunately, I have to answer yes to that. I’ve actually fallen three times in the past year, one time badly enough to require going in for x-rays–fortunately, nothing was broken. So I tell her I’ve fallen, and she says okay, and then she finishes stuff in the computer, asks a few more questions, leaves the room and we wait for 17 minutes alone. Then, the doctor comes in and we were talking to the doctor, and now, about 20 minutes after the nurse left, she comes back in and says she has to put a yellow ‘fall risk’ bracelet on me.

Now, wait a minute… 1) I’m in a wheelchair...

All weekend long, my novella, CELESTE, by Michelle Devon, is free! Amazon.com has listed it for free for the entire weekend, and I’m very excited to see I’ve already reached a couple of their best sellers lists. For example, I made it to #4 in best selling short fiction and #11 in thrillers/suspense. I made it to #304 overall too, but that’s not quite high enough and I’m already dropping this morning!

If you enjoy shorter reads, this one about 55 pages long, that will keep you guessing until the end, then please consider picking up my novella today! Share the links to it with your friends and have them pick up a copy too, and if you feel so compelled, I would love an honest review of my work too.

Thanks for everyone who helped me get to this point! Ya’ll rock!

Love and stuff,
Michy

See the PS for an explanation of this image. For now, just think about it while reading.

When I was a kid, I was a daydreamer. I could sit and stare out a window and make up a story while everything else in the world went on in real life around me. I could get lost in the fantasy that was as real to me as anything going on outside the fantasy. The people I created were real to me. It was the same with books I read too. The characters were friends, people I liked or hated, enemies I feared. When at school during the day, I thought of them. I wondered at what they were doing when I was stuck in class with nothing to do. I was a good student, but a bored one. I loved school in general, but hated it too, for very different reasons.

ROMANCE REALITY

Anyway, my mother used to tell me that I would...

There they are, all in one place, if you want to buy them. I really would love to recommend CELESTE, and THREE, because they are great novellas. The others are little shorts you might enjoy that I wrote about seven or eight years ago… if you get a chance, grab your copy, please!

I’ll be back with a great blog soon… right now, we’re getting ready to send Elements of Life off to the printer, so it’s busy, busy editing time!

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I don’t usually do this on my personal blog, but I am so pleased with her services and I know many of my author friends are doing indie publishing or self publishing shorts or novellas and they need to look professional, so really, this is a public author service announcement!

You know that one of the biggest complaints about the indie publishing revolution right now is that people aren’t doing it professionally: Authors are slapping up stories without getting them professionally edited, professionally formatted and without professional book covers on them. When publishers pay folks to do these things, and often have a team of editors and artists on your book cover and interior, why would you possibly think you could compete with the publishers if you don’t do the same professional work–or even better?

This cover is up for an...

Well, I noticed it the other day, but didn’t say anything publicly besides a passing comment on my Facebook, but it’s time to say something publicly about it for those who don’t know. One of the things we authors who try our hardest to do things right have been complaining about with the digital ebook revolution going on around us is that anyone and everyone can put up a book or a short story on Amazon.com, with no policing for quality, no gatekeepers anymore, so there’s no vetting, no editing, no formatting required. That means those who take the time to do it right are lost in the ocean and lumped in together with those who don’t, giving a bad name to all indie publishing authors.

But there’s something we can do about it now. And it’s worth it.

Below every Kindle book, if you scroll down, down, down, you’ll see a place that says: Feedback. It looks like this:

Do you see that part that says: “Would you lik...