Becoming Magic by Michelle Garren
Please welcome Michelle Garren author of Becoming Magic
Michelle Garren Flye will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Becoming Magic
by Michelle Garren Flye
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GENRE: contemporary romance
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INTERVIEW:
- What or who inspired you to start writing?
I always figure this would be my mother. I wrote a lot as a kid. Not journals like everyone always tells you to, but short stories. She’s the first one who ever said, “You could be an author when you grow up.” At seven, I wasn’t even sure what an author was, but it sounded cool, so I decided right then that I would be one.
- What expertise did you bring to your writing?
I’m not sure I have any real expertise. I’m a librarian and a journalist by training, a writer by heart. When I want expertise on something, I call on someone else or I research. I have a magician friend who helps me maintain authenticity in my magic books. When I set one of my romances in a vineyard, I researched grape growing and winemaking extensively. I love researching different cultures and ways of living than what I have actually experienced. My first book, Secrets of the Lotus, was set in New York City, which I had never actually been to at that time. I studied maps and talked to people who lived there, though, and eventually I came up with a decent representation of life in Manhattan.
- What is the best and worst writing and publishing advice you’ve ever received?
Three words: Write every day. Those three words can make or break you as a writer. On the one hand, it’s great advice. Writers write. You can’t notwrite and be a writer, right? On the other hand, you can’t—you absolutely should notwrite anything in your novel without a purpose. You can take a break from the novel and jot down a poem or a journal entry or blog or something. But every scene you write for a novel should serve a purpose for moving the story along, and you should know what that purpose is before you start writing. If you’re writing without purpose, you’re going to have to tear it up and throw it away, anyway, so wouldn’t you be better off not driving yourself crazy sitting at a desk writing nonsense? Take a walk, clear your head, play with your kids or your dog. I truly believe we all have a point where we need to take a step back from writing.
4. How did you come up with ideas for your books?
Ideas come from everywhere when you’re a writer. Sometimes I can’t even remember. I think Secrets of the Lotuscame from a picture of a necklace I saw in a catalog. Becoming Magicwas inspired by my feelings about the #metoo movement and my hope that my daughter will grow up in a better world. And my upcoming Christmas bookDickens Magicwas inspired by the community theater where my daughter and I play.
- Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book?
Becoming Magicis actually the darkest of all my Sleight of Hand books. After all the stories that came out about Harvey Weinstein and others in Hollywood, I started thinking a lot about my chosen genre. I had—still have, actually—a haunting feeling that this genre is unwittingly perpetuating the notion that women wantto be objectified and dominated. I even looked back at some of my older work and found enough of that sort of theme there to bother me. So Becoming Magicbecame a sort of turning point for me as a romance writer. I call it “a new kind of romance” because I think you can write sexy withoutallowing the hero to be a dominant prick and witha strong heroine who’s willing to stand up for her right not to be touched until she’s ready. Carole, my heroine in Becoming Magic, was a victim of a sexual assault while she was trying to make her way in Hollywood. So she needs a hero like Connor, even if she’s cautious about him at first because he’s an actor. I think the scene where she finally tells him what happened is one of the most powerful I’ve written.
- Do you outline your books or just start writing?
I am a pantser, not a plotter. With that said, however, I always have a rough idea of where my books are going. I sometimes will skip writing a scene, but I leave myself notes about what I wanted to do in it. Paradoxically, maybe, I also am a believer in serendipity in my writing. So often I’ve been writing along and it hits me that what I’m writing now explains something that I already wrote about before, and I hadn’t even planned it that way.
- Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?
Well, I mentioned the community theater thing. My daughter actually got me into that, but I stayed because I love the theater she acts in so much. To me, it’s a magical place. When she was little and her director would allow it, I would take my computer into the theater and sit in the back and write. Sometimes even now I’ll sit in my car or down the street at the coffee shop while she’s in rehearsal. Not for her, but because I am drawn to that theater. A year ago, my daughter talked me into auditioning, and that led to minor roles in two plays. My love for that theater and my experiences there heavily influenced Dickens Magic.
8. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?
Well, I’ve just finished putting the finishing touches on Dickens Magic, which I’ve already told you a good bit about. It’s about the adventures of Kate and Alex, two former actors in the old Masonic Theater in New Bern, N.C. The theater is in financial trouble and they have to save it, so they end up calling on their old friend Andre Hawke (from Close Up Magic). I actually love so much about this book. It’s got family and a little tragedy and love and magic, of course. It’s really the most romantic of all my Sleight of Hand series. And it’ll be out on October 31, 2018. Just in time to get ready for the holidays!
- Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to write a series?
I’ve actually got two different series, Sleight of Handand Synchronicity. Sleight of Handis a series of pretty much standalone books featuring stage magic or a magician, usually as one of the heroes, although I did switch this up a bit in Dickens Magic. That kind of series is pretty easy. I just make sure to introduce the hero or heroine in the previous book. For instance, Tony, the hero of Escape Magic, is the brother of Andre, the hero of Close Up Magic. And Ian Logan, the hero of Island Magic, is a friend of Tony’s and Andre’s. During the course of Island Magic, Logan performs a magic trick that requires the help of Hollywood special effects guru Sabrina Parker, who is the heroine of Movie Magic…and you see how things go from there. Synchronicity is totally different and has been much more challenging. It’s a trilogy with a short story prequel that features the same characters throughout. I’m hoping to get the final book of that one out next spring. It’s written, but strangely, I’ve hit a wall on the editing. I’ll break through, though. The story needs to be finished!
- As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
I’m going to continue with my new kind of romance and hope it catches on. As a writer, I believe I have a purpose to fulfill, and it’s not justto write a fun story that entertains. That’s part of it, but writers everywhere have an obligation to try to make the world a better place. Some can do that by pointing out what’s wrong with our world and how to fix it. Some can do it by writing about what the world may become if we’re not more careful. I prefer to write the world as I wish it was. I wish everyone had love and romance, so that’s what I try to write.
BLURB:
Carole Barnes once believed she would make her own way in Hollywood, but those days are long gone, leaving behind only a dark, slimy secret that Carole has never shared with anyone. Now she hides in the bright sunshine of the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. As far away as she can get from Hollywood. But what to do when Hollywood comes knocking in the form of a sexy movie star?
Connor Wallace has everything going for him—looks, talent, a successful career—but what he really wants is to perform magic on stage. His love of magic leads him back to his mentor Walt Bryson. At first, he’s pleased when Walt suggests his assistant Carole produce a documentary of his transformation from movie star to magician. He’s worked with Carole before—but the ambitious girl who had a crush on him is gone now, leaving a beautiful, withdrawn woman.
It’s the perfect arrangement. Carole knows she can make a success of the movie and Connor wants to work with her. But as they grow closer, Connor determines to find out her secret. Can love overcome the boundaries of fear? Or will Carole’s past return to plague them both?
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EXCERPT:
She reached for a handful of popcorn and her hand brushed his. When she turned her head and met the gaze of the same pair of clear blue eyes as those on the screen, her heart skipped a beat and she froze. For an eternity of a half second, neither of them moved, then he slowly turned his hand over and folded his fingers over hers. “Is this okay?”
“Yes.” She breathed the single word, then added, “And no.”
“No?” He raised his eyebrows.
“I really want some popcorn.”
“And I still really want to kiss you.” His eyes flickered down to her lips. Then he sighed and released her hand. “I guess one of us should get what they want, huh?”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Michelle Garren Flye is an award-winning romance author of eleven novels and counting. Her short stories have been published by the romance anthology Foreign Affairs, Opium.com, SmokelongQuarterly.com and Flashquake.com, among others. She has served on the editorial staffs of Horror Library, Butcher Shop Quartet and Tattered Souls. Michelle has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is the mother of three and lives in North Carolina.
Links:
Blog: BREATHE: http://michellegflye.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellegarrenflye/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michellegflye
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Magic-Sleight-Hand-Book-ebook/dp/B07F24NCKC/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/becoming-magic-michelle-garren-flye/1128970793
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Michelle Garren Flye will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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