Author Interview: Michelle Smith

Visit author Michelle Smith's website.

We are so thrilled and honored to feature writer, critique group member, mental health advocate, and all-around awesome human,  Michelle Smith.  

Michelle’s debut novel YA novel, PLAY ON, is now available as an e-book and will be out in print on April 21^st. 

First, an intro to PLAY ON: 

PLAY ON

In the small town of Lewis Creek, baseball is everything. Especially for all-star pitcher Austin Braxton, who has a one-way ticket out of town with his scholarship to a top university. All that stands between him and a new start is one final season. But when Austin starts flunking Chemistry, his picture-perfect future is in jeopardy. A failing grade means zero playing time, and zero playing time means no scholarship.

Enter Marisa Marlowe, the new girl in town who gets a job at his momma’s flower shop. Not only is Marisa some home-schooled super-genius, she’s also a baseball fanatic and more than willing to help Austin study. As the two grow closer, there’s something about Marisa that makes Austin want more than just baseball and out of Lewis Creek–he wants a future with her. But Marisa has a past that still haunts her, one that she ran all the way to South Carolina to escape.

As Austin starts to peel back the layers of Marisa s pain, it forces him to look beyond the facade of himself and everyone he thought he knew in his town. What he sees instead is that in a small town like Lewis Creek, maybe baseball isn’t everything–maybe it is just the thing that ties them all together.

Purchase PLAY ON: Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Book Depository IndieBound 

RW: We have so many questions for you! But, we also know you are crazy busy with your release day (!!!) so we’ll try to keep it together. Let’s talk about your debut! You’ve mentioned PLAY ON is the book of your heart. Could you share what makes this story so dear to you?

MS: I think because it comes from such a personal place. It probably sounds cheesy, but so much of my heart and soul went into those pages. There are thoughts that I never thought I should share—thoughts that I didn’t know I could share. The idea for this book was in the works for a long time, until I finally worked up the nerve to start writing it. And I’m really glad I did! 

RW: I think many writers feel a sense of vulnerability putting their words out into the world. Not only have you jumped that hurdle, you’ve gone a leap further and opened up about yourself, authoring posts for outstanding sites like To Write Love on Her Arms and, don’t bleed. breathe. Can you tell us about the decision to share your personal experiences? 

MS: The primary reason is so others will realize that they’re not alone. 

When I was going through the thick of depression, I was convinced that no one could possibly understand what my head was doing. That I was broken, that I was scarred, that I was beyond reaching. That there was no possibility for this to go anywhere but down. Depression is a very convincing liar, and it’s easy to believe those lies. So I want others to know that, while depression is so very dark and painful, there is hope, and the darkness doesn’t last forever. 

RW: As critique partner, we’re all constantly amazed by your voice.  Your characters always ring true, so vivid and memorable. Can you share a little about your character development process? Character sketches? Channeling spirits? How do you do it?! 

MS: Good gracious, I adore you guys.

I just…write people? Haha! My stories are always characters first, and I love to dive into their heads, to feel what they’re feeling, to say what they’re thinking. I will say that some characters are a little more difficult to connect with at first. In my most recent WIP, I was called out for boxing myself and my characters in, which was completely justified (I kind of realized I was doing it while writing). So my editor sent me a character development worksheet that was 8 pages long (I am not even kidding), and I just went to work. I was able to dig into them a little deeper, and it helped immensely. 

RW: We’ve got a great thing going here at RW: a blogging platform with a built-in critique group (often times support group!). But joining a critique group can be a daunting endeavor. Can you share what made you decide to reach out to the writing community?

MS: My first experience ever working with a beta reader was back in my fan fiction days. She nitpicked my grammar, let me know when my characters were being waaaaay too unrealistic, and told me when I could do so much more with a story when I tried to play it safe.

I loved her for it. And five years later, she’s still one of my closest friends. She’s also the one who talked me into writing my first book.

Critique makes you a better writer—it’s really that simple. Yes, critique can be difficult to handle in the beginning, especially if you have paper-thin skin, but it’s a necessity. Sometimes we nail a scene. Sometimes our chapters need work. And sometimes our entire book need a re-write. As writers, we often get too close to a story, and we’re unable to see the things that just aren’t working. Outside eyes help. 

All that said, it is important to find a critique group that matches your style—some readers are brutally honest, and some are more gentle guiders. The one necessity is that you find a group that’s honest. We absolutely need cheerleaders; we also need people who’ll give it to us straight, and won’t let us get away with anything less than our best.

Needless to say, I’m so happy I found you guys. 

RW: Can you share any deets about upcoming projects?

MS: Very, very little deets at this time. But I will say that we haven’t seen the last of Lewis Creek and its baseball boys. ;)

RW: More from Lewis Creek? YES! Okay, final question—and this is incredibly important—what is it that makes Dean Winchester so damn compelling?  *pause for moment of reflective sighing*

MS: *cracks knuckles* Now you’re speaking my language.

We have pie.

We have the Impala.

We have his love for Sam…

And Castiel.

We have the heartbreaking moments.

And we have general badassery. 

All that to say:

RW: You’re the best Michelle!!! 

MS: YOU are. 

About Michelle:

Michelle Smith was born and raised in North Carolina, where she developed a healthy appreciation for college football, sweet tea, front porches, and a well-placed “y’all.” She’s a lover of all things happy, laughs way too much, and fully believes that a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
Michelle lives near the Carolina coast with her family.

Connect with Michelle:   Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

My Writing Process Blog Hop

You guys! The amazing Michelle Smith  has tagged us in the My Writing Process blog hop. But before we get on with sharing our answers, please click on over to Michelle’s blog and check out her #DoSomething challenge that’s going on throughout the month of June.

#DoSomething is all about spreading kindness through simple everyday actions. You can find out more about it here and catch up on challenge #1 and #2 here and here. As Michelle says on her blog: 

“The world can be scary. It’s also full of wonder and love and hope. Let’s focus on the latter.”

Okay, now on to our Creature Double Feature.

1)     What am I working on?

Diane: Currently, I'm putting the final polish on my YA fantasy before submitting to agents and editing a YA sci-fi.

Rina: I’m currently working on a sequel to my middle grade fantasy, RULES OF RODENTIA. In Book Two, well… geez, I can’t really say too much without giving away parts of Book One! But rest assured, the deep woods are still a perilous place and there are some tasks only a young mouse like Tobin can handle.

Marlana: I'm working on a YA contemporary titled, AND THE BAND PLAYS ON from dual POVs.  The pitch: Sixteen-year old trumpet playing Frannie experiences her first crush when Ali moves into the neighborhood. He's like no one she's ever met -- tall, dark and...damn! Ali is upset to be uprooted from Orlando, leaving his friends and soccer team behind. So no one is more surprised than he when he begins thinking of Warrenstown, WV as home. Then on 9/11, America is attacked and the terrible tragedy that unites the townsfolk also outcasts Ali, his family, and anyone who associates with them.

Cheryl: I’ve been torn between two YA projects for a while—a straight up fantasy and something that’s leaning toward light sci-fi. As of late, though, the fantasy, entitled FATE INTERRUPTED, seems to have won the battle for my attention. Here’s the pitch:

In a country sharply divided between honor classes, Dorian Van Zander, youngest son of the high judge, crosses paths with prophet Kahlia Coine. Kahlia’s paintings illustrate her patrons’ futures, and she predicts Dorian will succeed his father after the high judge is murdered. Kahlia knows the future isn’t a suggestion, it’s a force, and once set on a path, there is no stopping it. But promises of a higher honor class for herself, her younger sister, and her ailing father lure her to court where she’ll attempt to alter the fate of Dorian’s family and her own.

Kahlia begins eliminating members of the high-court as pre-murder suspects, but publically displaying their secrets puts her own life in danger. Despite her low status, friendship between Kahlia and Dorian blossoms into something more, but the connection Kahlia discovers between herself and the judge’s inevitable demise threatens to rip away the life she’s always desired and the love she never knew she wanted.

2)     How does my work differ from others of its genre?  

Diane: Though my books are similar to what is out there in the genre, I haven't read anything exactly like them. The worlds are unique and so are the characters.

Rina: I think the biggest difference in my current work vs. other MG fantasy is the cast of rodents, snakes, and other critters who take center-stage. RULES OF RODENTIA is about the journey of a young mouse trying to ensure his family’s survival in the forest. Life is tough when you’re only two inches tall. Aside from letting the critters communicate with each other, I do try to keep a sense of realism. Tobin can’t cast a spell to transport himself to the spider den to save his baby brother; he needs to track the spider’s trail across the woods. 

Marlana: My husband is from Morocco and together we're raising two amazing boys. My husband and children are Muslim. I'm often surprised at some of the assumptions made about children with an Islamic upbringing. I felt I could bring unique insight into the home of a Muslim teen and what they experienced before and after the 9/11 attacks.  AND THE BAND PLAYS ON is my third novel and I can seriously say, it's the first time the words seem to pour directly from my soul to the page.

Cheryl: Yikes, this question is a toughie! I always want my settings to add another level of conflict to the plot instead of just being a backdrop for it. While most of what I write leans toward the fantastical, I try to make sure that there is lots of depth and richness to my world building, drawing on the characters culture, politics, and most importantly their world views that color everything related to both setting and plot. The places may spawn from my imagination, but I want them to feel as real and believable as possible and so intrinsically tied to the plot that the reader couldn't imagine the story taking place anywhere else. 

3)     Why do I write what I do?

Diane: I love speculative fiction! Always have. The first book that caught my attention was The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley in seventh grade. I fell in love with the world she created. It was a great escape. I try to fashion that same feeling in the novels I write. YA is a fun genre too. There's so much happening in life during the teenage years that stick with us for the rest of our lives. My characters go through lots of exciting changes and make some tough decisions.

Rina: As to why I like writing Middle Grade, it’s because adult minds tend to muck up even the simplest ideas. Typically, if you ask a grown-up a question, like if animals have feelings, you tend to get a big, drawn out response. I like skipping through all that nonsense and diving right into a story.  

Just today there was a story on the morning news about a mysterious ocean creature eating a 9 foot-long, Great White Shark. The shark was swallowed whole. Scientists are scratching their heads and I LOVE THAT. There’s mystery in this world, and that is what I like to think about. What ate that shark? A giant squid? A megalodon? Something we’ve never seen because that trench the shark was pulled into is so, SO deep?  Take it further—what if a ten year old girl won a science fair scholarship and got to accompany a research vessel, and they picked up a strange blip! on their radar…

Marlana: It was after I finished HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS that I wrote my first novel, a MG fantasy titled THE ALLIANCE OF MISFITS. I was so upset to say goodbye to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that I needed new characters to cope with the loss. My second novel, a YA Sci-fi titled THE GATHERERS, was outlined after a Star Trek marathon on Netflix. My protagonist, Paxton, appeared in my dreams and insisted I write her story. Finally, my WIP is something I've wanted to write for over a decade, but have been too afraid. With the encouragement of my critique groups and the upcoming 15th year anniversary of the horrific attacks, I knew it was time.

Cheryl: I think my voice lends itself well to YA. Besides that, though, I truly adore everything about YA literature. For me, it comes down to figuring out the world and where our special brands of crazy fit into it. The world and everyone in it is always evolving. Nothing stays static forever, so figuring out how we fit into the grand scheme of things is something (I think) readers of all ages can connect with. And then there’s the kissing. Because…KISSING! Duh!

4)     How does my writing process work?

Diane: I write whenever I can! With my first novel, it took me a while to figure out how everything was going to work in the world I'd envisioned. I did several rewrites and heavy revisions. But the second book just popped up in my brain. I also wrote it during NaNo, which was new for me, but it was a fantastic experience! I got so much done in such a short time.

Rina: I wrote RULES OF RODENTIA, Book One, chapter by chapter, plodding forward because that’s what felt natural. Working on the sequel is a different story (no pun intended). This time I’m outlining the book first, making sure I have the right story arcs coming together, points of character growth, and sprinkles of tension in the right places. There are a couple story lines that cross over from Book One, so it’s helping me keep things straight.

Marlana: Great question. And my answer? No idea! It's going to sound ridiculous, but seriously -- there are times my fingers are striking the keyboard and I'm reading the words filling the paper like it's someone else's work. I have zero idea how those words got there or where they've come from. I tend to write in chapters although I've been known to jump ahead and write a few scenes that have come to me -- typically while taking a shower, that I don't want to forget.  Then once I've written a chapter, I go back, edit it and then write the next chapter. Then I start at chapter one (AGAIN), edit it, edit the second chapter and then write chapter three and so on. You can imagine how tedious this becomes and it takes until I'm about ten chapters in before I make my OCD self stop starting from the beginning.

Cheryl: Ugh! Another tough question. ;) My writing process changes depending on any number of things. Sometimes I outline. Other times, not so much. Sometimes I write daily. Other times… you guessed it. Not. So. Much.

I can tell you this though, it can be frustrating if you dwell on the how or the why too much. For example, after finishing the novel I’m currently querying, I had a hard time falling in love with a new premise, set of characters, world, etc. I had lots of ideas, but the whole writing them down thing wasn’t happening. It drove me crazy because until that point, I was SO excited to start on something new. Stalling out felt like failure of the epic variety.

Très Stressful, I assure you.

Thing is though, it wasn’t because the ideas weren’t good, which of course was my big fear. Turns out, I just needed time to get better acquainted with them. And the longer these new characters and conflicts and setting percolated in my head, the closer I got to putting my fingers to keyboard. Once the story had built itself up to bursting from my head, the writing part took care of itself. Sometimes you just have to trust your brain to know what it needs and go with it. At the end of the day, telling an awesome story is all that matters, regardless of the process.

 

Up next are the lovely writers below. Please stop by their blogs and check out their posts next week.

Amelia Grimstad 

I am writing toward publication, Taekwondo-ing toward a black belt, parenting toward sending seven grown-ups into the world, and wife-ing toward happily ever after. I think I have a thing for goals.

José Iriarte 

José is a Cuban-American writer and math teacher living in Epcot with his wife Lisa and their two teenage kids. Stories of his have appeared in STRANGE HORIZONS and STUPEFYING STORIES, and his novels for young adults are represented by Cameron McClure of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Jade Eby 

Reading and writing have always been second nature for me. They are as integral to me as the air I breathe and the words I speak. I knew from a very young age that I would grow up to work with words in some capacity. I thought, perhaps I'll be a librarian. No, a literary agent. How about a copywriter? But the entire time, my heart would whisper, "you're going to be an author." In August of 2013, I released my first novel The Right Kind of Wrong and have since published Whiskey and a Gun (a prequel novella) and Capricious (a short story). My next novel, The Finish will release in 2014.

Revision Warriors: Reboot

Revision Warriors: Re-imagined. Re-invented. 

In the world of publishing, we know retellings are oh-so-popular today, so here we are, revamping the Revision Warriors of yesteryear.  

The mission is still the same: We write. We revise. We share the journey. But now we have fresh voices contributing to the saga, offering new perspectives on the path toward publication. 

We all know this can be a daunting journey, so we hope to cross paths with many readers, writers and lovers of words along the way. 

 

The Warriors:

Hi, I'm Rachel, and I write YA contemporary. I love stories that are dark and gritty and also ones that are sweet and romantic. Sometimes all at once. I'm represented by Molly Jaffa of Folio Literary Management.

I love books that make me cry, and I'll even admit to shedding happy tears for more than a few. Some of my favorite YA books are BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver, MY LIFE NEXT DOOR by Huntley Fitzpatrick and SOME GIRLS ARE by Courtney Summers. My all-time favorite author is J.D. Salinger, and I try to reread THE CATCHER IN THE RYE and FRANNY AND ZOOEY every year.

I'm fond of old movies, tap dancing, and pretending I can cook. I love connecting with other writers, and I'm on Twitter @rlynn_solomon

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Cheryl A. Ham

Hi! I'm Cheryl. I write YA Fantasy and am in love with all things SpecFic. Stories that combine speculative elements with lyrical prose blow my mind. Hello, Maggie Stiefvater, Laini Taylor, and Leigh Bardugo, I’m looking at you.

Random facts: I'm a dog lover and have two fur babies, Zeke and Ollie. Coffee fuels my soul--chocolate soothes it. I hate the cold (read: New England winters), but holy crap do I love ALL THINGS Christmas. I love wine and martinis. I’m an audiobook addict, enthusiastic sleeper, and lover of warm weather, socks, and cozy blankets. 

I’ve been writing for about four years and am lucky to have made the most amazing friends, especially the lovely ladies of the RW blog! I’m always looking to connect with other writers and book lovers, so please introduce yourself in the comments and share what you’re writing or books that you love. 

You can also find me on Twitter. @CherylAHam

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Diane Bohannan

Hi! I'm Diane and I absolutely love to write. I can't imagine not doing it. In the last two years, I've gotten serious about writing, rolled up my sleeves, joined critique groups, and visited conferences to hone my craft. I'm hoping to query my YA fantasy next year! Some of my favorite craft books are Plot versus Character, Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, and The First 50 Pages. Books that make me fall in love with words even more are: Cinder, Shadow and Bone, The Maze Runner, and Divergent. 

Catch up with me on Twitter @dianebohannan

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Michelle Smith

Hi there! I'm Michelle. In a nutshell: I'm a YA writer, military wife, momma, and Nerdfighter. Crazy-stupid love makes my heart go pitter-patter, and country music makes me swoon like you wouldn't believe. Mash 'em together, and you'll have most of my books. John Green is my favorite author, with JK Rowling, Leigh Bardugo, and Tahereh Mafi all in a close race for second. 

If you like rambling thoughts, crazy kiddo stories, and the occasional writing-related tweet, you can find me on Twitter @msmithbooks.

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Hello! I’m Marlana. My non-stop imagination concerned family and friends until I began jotting down my made-up worlds, added some pretend friends and called myself a writer. I read a vast variety of genres but for creating, I lean toward science fiction and fantasy for MG/YA. 

I’m a member of the Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators aka ScaBeeWee. My writing heroes include JK Rowling, Dan Brown, Sidney Sheldon, Robin Cook, Beth Revis, James Patterson, Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and Stephen King. I also find inspiration from movies and television. If you look up sci-fi geek, you just might see my picture.

Truthfully, I’m awkward on Twitter, but am trying to get better. If the occasional incoherent rambling doesn’t bother you, please follow me @MarlanaAntifit  

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Rina Heisel

Hello! I'm Rina. I write middle grade novels, and more often than not, something furry or fantastical works its way into way into my pages.  I’ve been crazy for middle grade since those early reading years, when books like To Kill a Mockingbird and Julie of the Wolves delivered whole new worlds right to my cozy reading couch. Books like Ender's Game, Watership Down, and the ghost stories of Mary Downing Hahn and Betty Ren Wright were like rocket fuel to my imagination and made me want to write! I’m currently represented by the amazing Danielle M. Smith of Foreword Literary and trying to make my publishing dreams a reality. I’m also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. 

Chat with me on Twitter! @rinaheisel