Over the past year, many of you have been very supportive and encouraging, not just about life in general but about my writing too. I’ve dropped links in here from time to time and some of you were kind enough to read my articles on various topics.

Well, all your clicking for me paid off, since I was just named a winner in the Associated Content PMA awards for the Best of AC Text Submission for 2007. It won me a cool $1000 bucks!

The winning article was one I wrote for free about my experiences being a fiction writer and trying to get published. It’s called:

Confessions of a Writer: The Ugly Truth about Being a Writer

If you’re a writer who is as of yet unpublished, this article is a must read!

You can also read my “Acceptance Speech” for the award.

I got two cool little ‘badges’ as icons on my profile page now too! whoo hoo!

I just thought since I’ve been so sick recently and sharing negative news about my health that I’d take a break and share some uplifting and positive news about myself for a change!

I’m tickled to win the award! Thank you to all of you who read me and comment to me regularly. A writer is nothing, absolutely nothing without readers, and you guys are the very best!

Love and stuff,
Michy

Links will open in a new window to read!

PS: Update on health – I’m feeling MUCH better. I’ll update on my blog tomorrow about what’s going on with my health. Thanks to all who helped with prayers, thoughts and healing. (HUGS)

Love you all!

(check it out!)
Oh, and look what else I got yesterday too!

Over the past year, many of you have been very supportive and encouraging, not just about life in general but about my writing too. I’ve dropped links in here from time to time and some of you were kind enough to read my articles on various topics.

Well, all your clicking for me paid off, since I was just named a winner in the Associated Content PMA awards for the Best of AC Text Submission for 2007. It won me a cool $1000 bucks!

The winning article was one I wrote for free about my experiences being a fiction writer and trying to get published. It’s called:

Confessions of a Writer: The Ugly Truth about Being a Writer

If you’re a writer who is as of yet unpublished, this article is a must read!

You can also read my “Acceptance Speech” for the award.

I got two cool little ‘badges’ as icons on my profile page now too! whoo hoo!

I just thought since I’ve been so sick recently and sharing negative news about my health that I’d take a break and share some uplifting and positive news about myself for a change!

I’m tickled to win the award! Thank you to all of you who read me and comment to me regularly. A writer is nothing, absolutely nothing without readers, and you guys are the very best!

Love and stuff,
Michy

Links will open in a new window to read!

PS: Update on health – I’m feeling MUCH better. I’ll update on my blog tomorrow about what’s going on with my health. Thanks to all who helped with prayers, thoughts and healing. (HUGS)

Love you all!

Okay, in the last blog we talked about how leading dialog tags will always have a comma after them, then the quote/spoken part, with full punctuation just like they were not inside quotes.

For example:

He said, “Blah.”
She exclaimed, “Blah!”
George asked, “Blah?”

After the tag but before the quote, you will always separate the dialog tag from the dialog itself.

Now, what happens when the dialog is at the end of the quote instead of before it is a bit different.

For end of speaking dialog tags, there are two different ways to handle this, and there’s really no rule that makes sense to remember this except to just remember it, I’m afraid.

When the speaking occurs before a tag, the punctuation will either be a comma (in place of a period) or an exclamation point or question mark.

Here’s how the same sentences above would look if the speaking tag came at the end instead of the beginning:

“Blah,” he said.
“Blah!” she exclaimed.
“Blah?” George asked.

Let’s look at the first one:

“Blah,” he said.

Okay, without the speaking tag, this would be written: “Blah.”

With the dialog tag, we remove the period and replace it with a comma, add the dialog tag at the end, and then end the entire sentence with a period. The entire sentence ends with a period because that is the normal punctuation for a non-spoken, non-question, non-exclamation sentence.

Now, the next two examples are a bit trickier, and this is where I constantly see errors. When a punctuation is required other than a period for the speaking portion, the part in the quotes, you have to use that punctuation at the end of the spoken part, not at the end of the entire sentence.

“Blah!”
“Blah?”

If you were to write these two sentences without dialog tags, the above is how they would appear.

When adding the dialog tag to these two punctuation types, you do NOT replace them with a comma, but rather leave them alone.

WRONG: “Blah,” she exclaimed!
WRONG: “Blah,” she asked?

See, ONLY the speaking part is the exclamation or the questions, not the entire sentence, so it’s important to keep the punctuation marks that denote HOW something is said with the part that is actually spoken, as mentioned in the other blog, punctuate within the quotes just like a regularly sentence would be if outside of quotes.

However, just because the punctuation is the same inside the quotes doesn’t mean the sentence itself has come to an end. Remember, when you are punctuating dialog, you have to have the end of speaking sentence punctuated (with a comma for a period, or an exclamation point or question mark), but then you also have to end the entire sentence with punctuation too, almost always a period.

One last note, when you use an exclamation point of a question mark inside the quotes of dialog, it is important that the dialog tag following it NOT start with a capital letter:

WRONG: “Blah!” She said.

RIGHT: “Blah!” she said.

The rule is simple on this: capital letters are used for the first letter of a sentence, proper names, acronyms, or for title case in a title or heading. They are not to be used in the middle of a sentence, even after dialog that uses an end of sentence punctuation inside the quotes.

The problem with this is if you are using a word processor, like MS Word or Word Perfect, you will likely have the program set to auto-correct, and unfortunately, these programs are not smart enough to realize the sentence has not ended. Be careful to watch your word processor and make sure it is not automatically capitalizing your dialog tag after the dialog when it should not be capitalized.

We’ll talk more about common problems with formatting and grammar that your word processor automatically changes for you in another blog, including commonly misspelled words that your auto-correct spell check changes on you too.

Hope this clears up dialog tags… any questions?

Love and stuff,
Michy

Keep writing!

Okay, around the last week of each month, I’m going to try to remember to come here and post some topic ideas for what you should be writing about at that time or in the month ahead to maximum the exposure for a timely topic but to not get it out too soon so it gets buried under other submissions and lost.

We have a few holidays coming up or special events that you want to write about this week to have them out in time to maximum page views for this year. Remember as you write them, try not to put the ‘year’ in them, but rather just the holiday or season so that you have an evergreen article that you can re-promote next year. Instead of Valentine’s Day Party Ideas for 2008, just do Valentine’s Day Party Ideas.

Today is Thursday. If you want to get a Valentine’s article in before Valentine’s Day for upfront payment, today or tomorrow is really your last, best chance to to do it, or else it’s going to be published too late to get indexed in search engines to reach your maximum audience. Truth is, as long as they are taking to publish accepted offered content, you might even risk not getting it published before the 14th.

My recommendation, and you choose what to do yourself, is if you are doing Valentine’s that are not C4Cs right now, put them in for upfront payment today or tomorrow, but it they do not have offers on them accepted by Wednesday afternoon, go back in and resubmit it for page views only. The traffic lost will make up for the offer, and avoid the potential wait for a rejection.

Don’t neglect other articles that could really pull views during Valentine’s that aren’t directly Valentine’s Day related. For example, dating ideas, romance, intimacy, romantic dining ideas, romantic or intimate gift ideas, and believe it or not, even articles on cheating, infidelity, and other relationship type article all are going to get a bit of a surge of page views over the Valentine’s Day holiday. People in love will look for advice, and people who have been burned and are alone, will seek solace, revenge, or information.

Sports… well, not my cup of tea, but if you are into sports or writing about sports, it’s now or never for the big event! Probably want to put that one in for page views only.

Right now, we are at the end of January, and the only real major month of winter that’s left is February, so it’s a good time to put the cap on winter stories and get your spring ideas out of the closet and decide what topics you want to do that might be seasonally spring related. Spring cleaning, Lawn and Garden, Spring flowers, Allergies (treatments, natural treatments, medication reviews, personal experiences), preparing pets for warmer weather – flea and tick prevention, etc. pest prevention for house and yard – natural alternatives? sugar ants are a problem in the south and the west you know… can you think of other spring related ideas people might want to search for on the internet? Compare and contrast lawn equipment giving pros and cons and using brand names. Spring fashions… think of others!

We also have St. Patrick’s Day coming up soon. I wrote an article called How to Hide a Hangover, and that article had a big influx of page views around the notoriously known green beer and drinking parties!

We have spring break activities coming up in March. The first couple of weeks of February are a good time to do articles about Spring Break activities, locations, party ideas, safety tips, and more.

Travel is a good Spring thing too – day trips, weekend getaways when the weather first starts turning warmer. Review bed and breakfasts or scenic road trip routes people can take for mini-vacations that are inexpensive.

Lastly, home improvement How-To articles are good for spring. Unwrap the pipes, start watering the lawn, build that new deck, fix the garage door, clear out the gutters, and fix those loose shutters – spring is the perfect time for redecorating and sprucing up outdoors while the weather is getting warm but not yet scorching hot.

Anyway, that’s where things are now – Valentine’s day and romance articles ASAP, Super Bowl like today or yesterday..LOL…Spring things, St. Patrick’s Day, and Spring break, and home improvement how-to articles.

Then, of course, you can have your other hot topics such as celebrity and highly searched keyphrases.

I hope these impromptu ideas help someone come up with some direction for articles to write over the next month. At the end of February, I’ll update with some more!

Did I miss anything?

Love and stuff,
Michy

Don’t Drink the Punch: An Adventure in Tantra
by Kamala Devi

* Paperback: 303 Pages
* Publisher: Zendow Press
* ISBN-10: 1879097990
* ISBN-13: 978-1879097995

Let’s face it, who is not at least mildly intrigued by the word: Tantra?

I saw the book, was intrigued by the title and that word Tantra in the subtitle, and truly did not know what to expect when I picked this book up to read it. The cover managed to capture my attention, even though it’s not a genre I would typically read.

Several pages into the book, I knew I would not be disappointed! I was hooked from the first chapter and couldn’t stop reading it until I finished it, even fighting sleep to stay up late into the night to read the rest of the story.

Don’t Drink the Punch is well written, but in a style that is rather unexpected–first person, present tense! There are very few authors who have the capacity and talent to write in present tense, first person, and draw the reader into the story. Typically, we read in third person and/or past tense, more like reading a ‘movie’ that we play out the scenes in our own minds. First person present tense requires precisely written scenes that keep the reader captivated as though they are inside the story, as it is happening, part of it.

Don’t Drink the Punch achieves this requirement and then some! I found as I read Kamala Devi does this expertly, by making the reader feel completely connected and involved in the story, and I could identify with the main character on a personal level, and he is a MAN (I’m not!)

The story begins with the lead male character, Sal, in the Bangkok International Airport, where he spots a redheaded woman who captures his attention, so much so that he had to follow her and initiate conversation. Little does he know that this innocent conversation would lead him down a path with the beautiful and free-spirited redhead, Sara, through the streets and back-alley sex commerce of Bangkok, to the ancient cemeteries of India, with several stops in between.

Readers experience first hand Sal’s experiences from body massages (where the masseuse uses their entire body to massage, not just their hands), dealing drugs, life threatening illness, participating in a sex cult and questioning every belief he’s ever held dear to him, to experiencing the emotion of painful decision to choose between true love and sanity, and eventually to experiencing and understanding loss, remorse and guilt. Readers will learn in the end whether or not Sal learns from these experiences, how they change him-for better or for worse-and the fate of his love for Sara.

With steamy, erotic and sensual scenes interspersed with romance and affection, friendship and understanding, and plenty of adventure to keep it all exciting, it’s no wonder I had trouble putting down this book.

Hidden in the pages of a fantastic fiction story readers also find historic information about specific locations and inside information to the inner workings of certain religious and spiritual beliefs in different parts of the world, without any judgment or attempts to preach or sway anyone’s opinions.

It was a real page turner and a beautifully written story about love, passion, Tantra, obsession… and ultimately about personal fulfillment and finding one’s own true path in this world, and not blindly following someone else down a path not their own. Steamy and sensual but also light and humorous, I found it both sad and uplifting at the same time, something that takes a talented writer to accomplish effectively, and Kamala Devi does not disappoint.

I have already recommended this book to several friends to read, because it is just that good. Highly recommended.

Click to visit Ms. Devi’s website.

Click to order your copy from Amazon.com today!

I mentioned in a recent blog post that there are good publishers and there are bad publishers, and that I would be talking about the difference. In fact, there’s a lot to look at here, so I’m going to be breaking this down into parts and multiple posts.

Today, I want to talk about the first thing *I* look at when looking for a publisher to which I might submit.

This is part three in the series on publishers!

————————————-

CONTRACTS Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t Drink the Punch: An Adventure in Tantra
by Kamala Devi

* Paperback: 303 Pages
* Publisher: Zendow Press
* ISBN-10: 1879097990
* ISBN-13: 978-1879097995

Let’s face it, who is not at least mildly intrigued by the word: Tantra?

I saw the book, was intrigued by the title and that word Tantra in the subtitle, and truly did not know what to expect when I picked this book up to read it. The cover managed to capture my attention, even though it’s not a genre I would typically read.

Several pages into the book, I knew I would not be disappointed! I was hooked from the first chapter and couldn’t stop reading it until I finished it, even fighting sleep to stay up late into the night to read the rest of the story.

Don’t Drink the Punch is well written, but in a style that is rather unexpected–first person, present tense! There are very few authors who have the capacity and talent to write in present tense, first person, and draw the reader into the story. Typically, we read in third person and/or past tense, more like reading a ‘movie’ that we play out the scenes in our own minds. First person present tense requires precisely written scenes that keep the reader captivated as though they are inside the story, as it is happening, part of it.

Don’t Drink the Punch achieves this requirement and then some! I found as I read Kamala Devi does this expertly, by making the reader feel completely connected and involved in the story, and I could identify with the main character on a personal level, and he is a MAN (I’m not!)

The story begins with the lead male character, Sal, in the Bangkok International Airport, where he spots a redheaded woman who captures his attention, so much so that he had to follow her and initiate conversation. Little does he know that this innocent conversation would lead him down a path with the beautiful and free-spirited redhead, Sara, through the streets and back-alley sex commerce of Bangkok, to the ancient cemeteries of India, with several stops in between.

Readers experience first hand Sal’s experiences from body massages (where the masseuse uses their entire body to massage, not just their hands), dealing drugs, life threatening illness, participating in a sex cult and questioning every belief he’s ever held dear to him, to experiencing the emotion of painful decision to choose between true love and sanity, and eventually to experiencing and understanding loss, remorse and guilt. Readers will learn in the end whether or not Sal learns from these experiences, how they change him-for better or for worse-and the fate of his love for Sara.

With steamy, erotic and sensual scenes interspersed with romance and affection, friendship and understanding, and plenty of adventure to keep it all exciting, it’s no wonder I had trouble putting down this book.

Hidden in the pages of a fantastic fiction story readers also find historic information about specific locations and inside information to the inner workings of certain religious and spiritual beliefs in different parts of the world, without any judgment or attempts to preach or sway anyone’s opinions.

It was a real page turner and a beautifully written story about love, passion, Tantra, obsession… and ultimately about personal fulfillment and finding one’s own true path in this world, and not blindly following someone else down a path not their own. Steamy and sensual but also light and humorous, I found it both sad and uplifting at the same time, something that takes a talented writer to accomplish effectively, and Kamala Devi does not disappoint.

I have already recommended this book to several friends to read, because it is just that good. Highly recommended.

Click to visit Ms. Devi’s website.

Click to order your copy from Amazon.com today!

You have a blog, don’t you? Of course, you have a blog, right?

Do you need a blog?

Yeah, you do.

Why?

Well, blogs are great for promoting yourself in a non-commercial way, gaining a readership, following and to drive traffic to other sites, such as your Associated Content profile or articles.

If you are an AC Content Producer, and you have a blog outside of AC, send me your link to your blog and I’ll include you on my blogroll over there to the left!

Exposure is everything for promotion and getting those all important page views, and the more links you have out to your writing, the better.

If you are an AC CP I hope you have a blog of some sort where you post links and teasers to your articles or at the very least have a widget or RSS feed of your AC content on your blog.

Having links on your own blog for your articles and your profile helps increase your Page Rank (PR) for your profile in the Google search engine. The higher your PR is, presumably the higher your articles/profile will be listed when someone searches for information using the keywords to your article’s content.

This is not to say you should spam links though. That can end up hurting you over all by turning people off to your content or your links, it can get you banned from certain sites, and if you use link farming sites and buy your links or spam your links, Google may penalize your content or even – get this now – delist your article from the search engine completely!

Considering on the upper end that a good 90% of your traffic probably comes from Google, that is a VERY bad thing to happen if you’re looking for page views.

So if you don’t have a blog, or you have one and are looking to increase your readership so you can promote better, then I have three articles for you to read about growing and developing your blog:

How to Create a Popular Blogs, Part I
How to Have a Successful Blog, Part II

BIO:

Michelle L Devon began writing at a very young age, and by jr. high, she was writing for the school paper, had won several poetry and prose contests, and had completed her first novella by age 13.

Life managed to get in the way, and amidst cries from her family that, ‘writing is a hobby, not a career,’ Ms. Devon put her writing dreams on hold and pursued an education and then a professional career.

Michelle attended high school in a small West Texas town in the Permian Basin, and then went on to pursue a college degree in psychology, with a minor in sociology.

Her career centered around social services, advocacy and criminal justice for victims of violent crime in the non-profit sector, before she finally moved to the corporate world as a contract negotiator for a mult-billion dollar company.

Realizing that the corporate world wasn’t where her heart longed to be, and not wanting to return to advocacy or the criminal justice field, Ms. Devon realized her purpose and her dream all along was to be a writer. Through everything in her life, Michelle wrote. Writing was the one constant in her life.

So she quit her job negotiating million dollar contracts, with nothing to fall back on but her passion to write, and left the corporate world for good.

Today, Michelle L Devon works from home, where she lives and loves with her unique and special family, along with a houseful of furry four legged friends, including Rex the Funny Bunny.

“Writing is more than a job,” she says, “It’s a lifelong dream and a passion. Who could ask for more than to wake every morning and do the one thing you love the most and get paid for it too?”

Ms. Devon’s quote: “I am a writer! It’s not what I do; it’s who I am.”

Check out the author’s website at: www.MichelleLDevon.com

Michelle L Devon Interview

Q: What three words do you think describe you as a human being?

A: Passionate, obsessive, unique

Q: How do you think others would describe you?

A: I honestly have no clue. However, I have been told repeatedly that I do not see myself the way other people see me.

Q: Please tell us what you are most passionate about outside of writing.

A: Probably my children… yet, as they grow older, I find my focus is drawn even closer to my writing.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, introduce us to them.

A: Oh, gosh yes. At one time, I had over 22 cats (kittens we rescued). Let me tell you, that won’t happen again! Right now, I have two cats – Squeaker (my cat), Harley (my son’s cat). My favorite pet though, is my rabbit, better known as Rex the Funny Bunny!

Q: What is your most precious memory?

A: Looking into his eyes, and for the first time, feeling safe, and seeing forever…

Q: What is your most embarrassing memory?

A: There are way too many of them to actually list them in any priority order. I have had a… well, strange life indeed.

Q: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing with your life?

A: I probably would have been a lawyer. I was going to school for that, but then I came to my senses. I actually dropped it all to pursue writing full time. Prior to that, I was in criminal justice advocacy, so if I weren’t a writer, I’d probably have been a lawyer at some point.

Q: In two paragraphs or less write your obituary.

A: She lived, she loved… she left a legacy.

Q: Can you describe the time you realized you were indeed a “real” writer?

A: I’ll be honest. There are days even though writing and editing are all I do for a living anymore, and it’s all I’ve done for nearly four years full-time now, when I still do not feel like a ‘real’ writer. I get scared when people call me one, because it’s almost like there’s some mysterious bar set for me now.

Q: What is going on with your writing these days?

A: I have fourteen novels in progress in various stages of completion: two crime and suspense, one science fiction, three mainstream, a fantasy, a romance, a children’s books, and those I can’t really classify yet. I just finished a mainstream novel, that I’m setting aside for awhile before I begin the ‘real writing’ on it (read: editing, editing, editing). In my head, I have so many concepts for novels, I wonder if I’ll ever get them all written, but I’m giving it my best!

I also write articles for online sites, magazines, and newsletters, with a few newspaper articles in print too. I am a power blogger, and love to blog on various topics, and have written several ebooks on various subjects.

Q: What are your future goals for your writing?

A: I’m currently seeking a good agent and I hope one day to land a contract with one of the big publishers, and I plan to one day make the best sellers list, somewhere. Short of that, my only real goals are just to write as much as I can, publish as much as I can sell, and just bask in the wonder that writing and living my dream brings me.

Q: Can you describe a typical writing day for you?

A: I wake in the morning, or afternoon, or at pretty much any time I choose. I pile my hair up on top of my head, slip on my robe and slippers, and fight the furry kitty traffic jam on the way to the coffee pot. I shuffle into the living room, curl up in the recliner, pull my laptop table over to me, and turn it on. I spend the next 8-12 hours writing, answering emails, writing, writing, and writing. I love my job!

Q: Why do you write?

A: Because I’m compelled. I must write. I cannot not write. I am a writer. It’s not what I do; it’s who I am!

Q: What writer most inspires you? Why?

A: Robert Fulghum. I read his books, loved his humor and philosophy, and his casual but intense writing style and thought to myself, “If I can write just half as good as he does, if I can inspire someone even half as much as his words inspired me, then I will have fulfilled my purpose in this life.”

Q: How do you define your writing?

A: That would be almost like defining what love means to me. I try my hardest not to define my writing. Why limit myself?

Q: In one sentence—what do you want people to say about your writing in fifty years?

A: I have no idea what they will say, but I hope that in fifty years, at least one person will remember my name, and say that something I wrote touched them, moved them, made them think or feel something.

Q: Can you tell us where to find more information on you? Website? Blog?

A: My editing company’s website can be found here: www.AccentuateServices.com

I have a Myspace just for fun at: www.myspace.com/accentuate_me

And my author’s website at: www.MichelleLDevon.com

Q: Is there a place where readers can reach you?

A: The best way to reach me is through my websites or through Myspace. I personally answer all emails. It sometimes takes me a day or two to get to them, but I always respond… eventually.

Q: Can you list all your book titles so people can look for them?

A:
Books under Michelle L Devon:
In a Perfect World, A Series on Lost Love & Redemption (Koboca)

The Path, A Series on Redemption & Sensual Awakening (Vanilla Heart)

How To Create an Effective employee Handbook (Atlantic)

Coming Summer 2008: FIRESTARTER

Books under Michy Anderson:

The Ex Factor: Tales to Warm the Bitter Heart (Koboca)

Others under other pen names not listed here!

Q: For new readers—what can they expect when they read your book(s)?

A: Variety… right now, the only books I have in print are non-fiction, with two of those being creative non-fiction, prose and essay type writing. FIRESTARTER will be a fantasy novel, and IDENTIFY will be a crime and suspense novel. I suppose the one thing readers should come to expect from me is to learn not to expect anything specific. I write where, when and how my muse dictates.

Q: Take as much space as necessary to speak to our readers—what would you like them to know about you and your writing?

A: Michelle L Devon is an author, a poet, a writer, a novelist… all are different things.

What brings all of these together is: I am a professional dreamer.

I wake every day and do what I love to do the most, and I get paid for it. That’s not a bad gig. I live in the dessert of the Permian Basin, in the Great State of Texas, were I was born and raised, though you wouldn’t know it to talk to me. I live here with my unique and amazing family, and I can truly say I’m happier now than I have ever been.

Writing, for me, is not just a job—it’s a lifelong passion, an obsession, a compulsion. I live my dream every day of my life, in so many ways. If no one ever read a word I wrote again, I would still write. However, a writer without someone to read them is a very sad thing. Love me, hate me, agree with me or not, but read me.

This completes me.

BIO:

Michelle L Devon began writing at a very young age, and by jr. high, she was writing for the school paper, had won several poetry and prose contests, and had completed her first novella by age 13.

Life managed to get in the way, and amidst cries from her family that, ‘writing is a hobby, not a career,’ Ms. Devon put her writing dreams on hold and pursued an education and then a professional career.

Michelle attended high school in a small West Texas town in the Permian Basin, and then went on to pursue a college degree in psychology, with a minor in sociology.

Her career centered around social services, advocacy and criminal justice for victims of violent crime in the non-profit sector, before she finally moved to the corporate world as a contract negotiator for a mult-billion dollar company.

Realizing that the corporate world wasn’t where her heart longed to be, and not wanting to return to advocacy or the criminal justice field, Ms. Devon realized her purpose and her dream all along was to be a writer. Through everything in her life, Michelle wrote. Writing was the one constant in her life.

So she quit her job negotiating million dollar contracts, with nothing to fall back on but her passion to write, and left the corporate world for good.

Today, Michelle L Devon works from home, where she lives and loves with her unique and special family, along with a houseful of furry four legged friends, including Rex the Funny Bunny.

“Writing is more than a job,” she says, “It’s a lifelong dream and a passion. Who could ask for more than to wake every morning and do the one thing you love the most and get paid for it too?”

Ms. Devon’s quote: “I am a writer! It’s not what I do; it’s who I am.”

Check out the author’s website at: www.MichelleLDevon.com

Michelle L Devon Interview

Q: What three words do you think describe you as a human being?

A: Passionate, obsessive, unique

Q: How do you think others would describe you?

A: I honestly have no clue. However, I have been told repeatedly that I do not see myself the way other people see me.

Q: Please tell us what you are most passionate about outside of writing.

A: Probably my children… yet, as they grow older, I find my focus is drawn even closer to my writing.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, introduce us to them.

A: Oh, gosh yes. At one time, I had over 22 cats (kittens we rescued). Let me tell you, that won’t happen again! Right now, I have two cats – Squeaker (my cat), Harley (my son’s cat). My favorite pet though, is my rabbit, better known as Rex the Funny Bunny!

Q: What is your most precious memory?

A: Looking into his eyes, and for the first time, feeling safe, and seeing forever…

Q: What is your most embarrassing memory?

A: There are way too many of them to actually list them in any priority order. I have had a… well, strange life indeed.

Q: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing with your life?

A: I probably would have been a lawyer. I was going to school for that, but then I came to my senses. I actually dropped it all to pursue writing full time. Prior to that, I was in criminal justice advocacy, so if I weren’t a writer, I’d probably have been a lawyer at some point.

Q: In two paragraphs or less write your obituary.

A: She lived, she loved… she left a legacy.

Q: Can you describe the time you realized you were indeed a “real” writer?

A: I’ll be honest. There are days even though writing and editing are all I do for a living anymore, and it’s all I’ve done for nearly four years full-time now, when I still do not feel like a ‘real’ writer. I get scared when people call me one, because it’s almost like there’s some mysterious bar set for me now.

Q: What is going on with your writing these days?

A: I have fourteen novels in progress in various stages of completion: two crime and suspense, one science fiction, three mainstream, a fantasy, a romance, a children’s books, and those I can’t really classify yet. I just finished a mainstream novel, that I’m setting aside for awhile before I begin the ‘real writing’ on it (read: editing, editing, editing). In my head, I have so many concepts for novels, I wonder if I’ll ever get them all written, but I’m giving it my best!

I also write articles for online sites, magazines, and newsletters, with a few newspaper articles in print too. I am a power blogger, and love to blog on various topics, and have written several ebooks on various subjects.

Q: What are your future goals for your writing?

A: I’m currently seeking a good agent and I hope one day to land a contract with one of the big publishers, and I plan to one day make the best sellers list, somewhere. Short of that, my only real goals are just to write as much as I can, publish as much as I can sell, and just bask in the wonder that writing and living my dream brings me.

Q: Can you describe a typical writing day for you?

A: I wake in the morning, or afternoon, or at pretty much any time I choose. I pile my hair up on top of my head, slip on my robe and slippers, and fight the furry kitty traffic jam on the way to the coffee pot. I shuffle into the living room, curl up in the recliner, pull my laptop table over to me, and turn it on. I spend the next 8-12 hours writing, answering emails, writing, writing, and writing. I love my job!

Q: Why do you write?

A: Because I’m compelled. I must write. I cannot not write. I am a writer. It’s not what I do; it’s who I am!

Q: What writer most inspires you? Why?

A: Robert Fulghum. I read his books, loved his humor and philosophy, and his casual but intense writing style and thought to myself, “If I can write just half as good as he does, if I can inspire someone even half as much as his words inspired me, then I will have fulfilled my purpose in this life.”

Q: How do you define your writing?

A: That would be almost like defining what love means to me. I try my hardest not to define my writing. Why limit myself?

Q: In one sentence—what do you want people to say about your writing in fifty years?

A: I have no idea what they will say, but I hope that in fifty years, at least one person will remember my name, and say that something I wrote touched them, moved them, made them think or feel something.

Q: Can you tell us where to find more information on you? Website? Blog?

A: My editing company’s website can be found here: www.AccentuateServices.com

I have a Myspace just for fun at: www.myspace.com/accentuate_me

And my author’s website at: www.MichelleLDevon.com

Q: Is there a place where readers can reach you?

A: The best way to reach me is through my websites or through Myspace. I personally answer all emails. It sometimes takes me a day or two to get to them, but I always respond… eventually.

Q: Can you list all your book titles so people can look for them?

A:
Books under Michelle L Devon:
In a Perfect World, A Series on Lost Love & Redemption (Koboca)

The Path, A Series on Redemption & Sensual Awakening (Vanilla Heart)

How To Create an Effective employee Handbook (Atlantic)

Coming Summer 2008: FIRESTARTER

Books under Michy Anderson:

The Ex Factor: Tales to Warm the Bitter Heart (Koboca)

Others under other pen names not listed here!

Q: For new readers—what can they expect when they read your book(s)?

A: Variety… right now, the only books I have in print are non-fiction, with two of those being creative non-fiction, prose and essay type writing. FIRESTARTER will be a fantasy novel, and IDENTIFY will be a crime and suspense novel. I suppose the one thing readers should come to expect from me is to learn not to expect anything specific. I write where, when and how my muse dictates.

Q: Take as much space as necessary to speak to our readers—what would you like them to know about you and your writing?

A: Michelle L Devon is an author, a poet, a writer, a novelist… all are different things.

What brings all of these together is: I am a professional dreamer.

I wake every day and do what I love to do the most, and I get paid for it. That’s not a bad gig. I live in the dessert of the Permian Basin, in the Great State of Texas, were I was born and raised, though you wouldn’t know it to talk to me. I live here with my unique and amazing family, and I can truly say I’m happier now than I have ever been.

Writing, for me, is not just a job—it’s a lifelong passion, an obsession, a compulsion. I live my dream every day of my life, in so many ways. If no one ever read a word I wrote again, I would still write. However, a writer without someone to read them is a very sad thing. Love me, hate me, agree with me or not, but read me.

This completes me.