When Words Reach the Soul and Other Gifts!!!!

I would not be the person I am today, if it were not for the people in my life.  I am blessed with a family that I love, and I happen to have another passion working with Children.  I have nieces and nephews and friends kids, all whom I love to spoil, and all who in turn give me inspiration to write.

Words are my passion, but I would not have that passion if it were not for my faith, and the fire that he put inside me.  Even before I gave my heart to Jesus he gave me a gift, the gift of words.  I must admit my earliest stories were nothing to write home about, at least not the first drafts, but I was able to resurrect a few into something readable.  I always seemed to have my mind spinning though.

I write because I want the next generation to fall in love with words the way I did, I want them to have that love affair with books, the way I did.  I mean there is such an amazing feeling, when you know someone is holding a book with your name on it, and you pray, you pray hard that you are conveying a good message.

I love writing, and I love that the Lord uses that gift to help me reach out to others. 

 I love when my words somehow touch others.  When my words reach to a soul.

I write because God gave me that gift, and I am going to continue writing, and I pray that I help others reexamine things, with the words I write.

God Bless
Michelle~

What Set the Fire Inside of You?

Do you remember the first time you dreamed of writing, what set that fire inside of you?  For me I guess writing was a natural progression because I was always a reader, always looking for a good book.  I devoured them the way some children devoured Candy.

It was my freshman year in high school though that I was first encouraged to write creatively.  I had a wonderful teacher who I remember to this day, one who was always giving me extra credit work, not necessarily because I needed to bring up my grade, but because she saw a creative mind at work, and she even encouraged me to send my work off.  For a fourteen-fifteen year old freshmen that was a huge compliment, and I was determined to make her proud.

I am a seven time published author now, but I no longer have the grandeur of great fame made from my words, and I suppose I never really did, to me it was always about telling a story, creating something that could touch others, and bring them to the Lord.

I began writing three and a half years before I was saved, but after I was saved my writing not only grew, it changed.  I was no longer writing simply to tell a story, I was writing to share with others the joy in my life, the joy I found in the Lord. 

I am not only a writer now, I am an author, and the joy I felt when my first book was published was not diminished when I recently published my seventh, though I know better the realities of what I face.  I know that others look to me for advise, and want my opinions and I know too that sometimes others blame me for the mistakes they make, but that is true with anybody.  We all have faced that, so instead of focusing on that, I focus on that Fire that was set inside of me, all those years ago!!

God Bless
Michelle~

To Write or Not to Write And Birthday Wishes

Why is it that even authors run out of things to blog about?  I mean I could blog about my feelings on the presidency, or the way I feel this nation is going, but this is not what this blog is about.  It is a blog about my writing, so I write about writing, amongst other things of course.

I did manage to finish the Camp Nano project, and will probably be working on another project for August, but right now I am working on a Novel called To Write Or Die.  I honestly don't know how the idea came to me, probably from my obsession with Murder She Wrote, though the novel is of course not based on that.  It is rather different.

I am a writer, so I write, even when I am not writing, I guess in a sense I am writing, and my chosen genre happens to be Christian Mystery though I write other things, I have the most fun writing Christian Mysteries, because I have the most fun reading them.

I write poetry too, another passion of mine, but not to the extent of Mystery Novels, there is just something about the way a Christian Mystery Novel is written, the way you can get lost in a story, I feel the same way in that aspect about reading as I do about writing.

I know this is a writers blog, but for a moment let me take this opportunity to wish my friend Karen Vidra and Karla Dorman a Very happy birthday.  53 years young, they are truly a miracle, it just goes to show the Lord's plans outweigh the worlds plans.

To Be Continued...

Really What Do You Want to Do For A Living?

I remember early on when I said something about wanting to be a writer, I remember the looks, "No I mean, really, what do you want to do for a living" I want to write, I don't solely write, I work with the Children's Ministry to feed my soul, and I babysit, but writing is my passion.  Not writing, I can not imagine life without words.

Words are part of my heritage.  My Grandmother an Italian-American, the first generation to be raised in America, Providence Rhode Island in her case, grew up in the early part of the twentieth century.  She did well in school and wanted to make sure her children and grandchildren did the same.

I think my earliest memories involve me reading with Nonna.  I could read from the time I was three and a half, by the fourth grade, I tested at a tenth grade level of reading, despite being in Special Education classes.  Back then you were put in those classes if you seemed a little slow physically, and because I was, I was placed in those classes, and I found myself spending the time I was in first grade until the fourth grade.  My cousin helped me immensely with that.

I have always been a reader, so the natural progression was to become a writer, but it wasn't until my freshman year in high school that I realized that this was indeed a gift, but it was in College that I realized I wanted to write for a living.  I had studied enough now, to know that I was not going to wave some kind of magic wand, and make sales into the millions, but I did have hope that I would someday be published and in 2003 I was.

I was twenty six, when I was published, my Nonna would live to celebrate my first book Reflections on Life with me, but by the time A Collection of Memories was out, in 2004, she would have gone to Heaven, but I still feel her with me, encouraging me, the Lord truly used her to show me, that with God being a writer was possible, man may see me as crazy, but the good Lord knew I had a gift.

God Bless
Michelle~

This Writers Life, This Writers Reality Check

First of all let me take a moment to wish my Mother a happy 61st birthday.  I hope she is enjoying it!!!

Secondly I must say I am work hard on my Camp Nano project and am soon going to hit 33k.  I believe I will make it to fifty k by the end of the month!! Wohoo.

This month has been full of its ups and downs, to say that some parts of it have been difficult is most definitely an understatement but like always the good Lord sees us through, and soon my place will be ready wohoo!!!

I am going to be working more seriously on my writing from now on, moving on my own and paying rent has waken me up to the reality that I really need to work at this, if I plan on eeking out any kind of living from my words.  I do not have any visions of grandeur.  I doubt I will make as much money as Danielle Steel from writing, but enough to cover the basics would be nice LOL!!!

I get some income, but I do have dreams of making it as a writer, like I said I do not expect to be the next Danielle Steel, but I am a writer, and I believe a competent one so I am going to do my best to make sure that I treat this like a real job, because in every sense it is that.  Others may not see it as such but I do.

We have got a decent internet connection now, thankfully our little community has made the leap into the twenty first century and now has Cable internet, and I must say I love it LOL!!!

Well I guess I better get back to writing, June's Camp Nano novel I mean!  I will blog again soon!!!

God Bless
Michelle~

In the Life of This Writer

Hard to believe it's been about six weeks since my last blog.  I know I promised to blog more regularly than this, but life gets in the way sometimes, big time!

School is out for the summer, little man graduated Kindergarten, and big brother is going into sixth grade.  In fact his Mamma just told me he gets an award next week for not missing any school, think that is awesome!

I have been up to other things as well, like moving, that type of thing, and now we may be getting custody of my Nephew Steven, long story there, but if it's the Lord will I believe it will happen.

I don't know about my fellow authors but I am doing June's Camp Nano and may do Augusts as well.  I have a pretty good idea mapped out for August and am now at over 16k on June's so yeah I am pretty pleased with my progress.

I guess I better close this blog, and try to call it a night, but for some reason sleep is a mere illusion tonight.

God Bless
Michelle~