About Michele

Stuff you might want to know about Michele

While I love talking about my work, I feel uncomfortable talking about myself. And I have absolutely no idea why. Is it a writer thing? Do others feel that way?

Well, let's get on with it.

I was born and raised in Sacramento California far too long ago (no, I won't tell you how long). Okay, technically it was Rancho Cordova, a suburb of Sacramento, but close enough. My father worked at Aerojet (everyone's father worked at Aerojet back then, or Mather Air Force Base. Does that date me?) and my mother stayed at home and took care of me and my brother and a bunch of other people's kids. Oddly enough, I loved going to school and my favorite classes in high school were Algebra and English. But as much as I liked English, I didn't start writing until maybe seven years ago.

My first attempt at writing something other than an essay or a homework assignment was after I watched a particular episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. Okay, I LOVED that show, I'm weird, I know. Anyway, I didn't like the way one of the episodes ended and I thought I could do better. So… I wrote a new ending. Until that point, I had no idea other people wrote Fan Fiction for shows like Xena. I didn't even know what Fan Fiction was. Wow! Once I started searching, I found tons of sites devoted to Xena Fan Fic. I had no idea there were so many. So, for the heck of it, I submitted my piece and wonder of wonders, they LIKED it! I was a writer! People wanted my stuff! Then I wrote another, longer piece and they liked that one too! And people who were starting new Xena Fan Fic sites emailed me and asked if they could post my stories on their sites too. OMG! I was such a wonderful writer that people were emailing me to ask for my work! All I had to do was keep writing other stuff (I knew I couldn't sell Fan Fiction) and I'd be rich! Rich, I tell you! Rich!

Then reality hit. I wrote a couple other stories and they all got rejected. Form rejections no less, and not very good ones. That was when I began to realize how much I didn't know about writing and if I wanted to be successful, I'd better start learning. At that time I knew nothing about RWA or any of the other writing organizations available. I met another fantasy writer when I was searching for information about medieval weapons, etc (I was working on a medieval based fantasy at the time). We formed a long distance writing friendship and he helped me learn a lot. But I hungered to talk to other writers (he was the only one I knew at the time). Eventually, I took some online writing classes and met other writers that way and then I found RWA.

Now, I don't write Romance. I tried, but I can't do it. Romance is MUCH harder to write than it looks. I applaud all the wonderful Romance writers out there. I write Mystery, Fantasy (my first love) and Science Fiction. However, the only writing group in my area that I really liked was an RWA chapter, Sacramento Valley Rose. They are a great group of ladies and even though I don't write Romance, I've learned tons from being in the group.

The first novel I wrote was the Medieval Fantasy, which I thought was wonderful at the time, but now I know was very amateurish (and it came in at 220,000 words!). However, it was a great learning experience. My second novel, a Science Fiction / Mystery, was much better and I marketed that one, trying to find an agent. I got lots of interest, but in the end I shelved that one too. It had too much mystery for a mystery novel and not enough science for a science fiction novel. I'm currently working on a straight Mystery, which I think is very good.

I've also written some non-fiction stuff and a bunch of short stories, some of which have been published in various anthologies. For more info, see my books page with current and upcoming anthologies.

I love writing. I can't imagine doing anything else. Eventually, my goal is to quit my daytime job and write full time. I work only to pay the bills, writing is my life.