Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Author spotlight with Michel Prince (Over)



Michel has generously offered to give away one free ebook copy of Chrystalis after its release!


K.T.  Hello and welcome. I am very excited to have you here today. Why don’t we start off with a small introduction? Tell us a little about yourself.  

M.P.  Hi, thanks for having me.  My name is Michel Prince, I’m a writer from the Twin Cities where I live with my husband, son, cat and hamster.  I’ve lived all around the Midwest between high school and college.  My debut novel, Chrysalis, is due out in April.  It’s a Young Adult Paranormal Romance.  In my spare time I’m a Boy Scout leader and that takes up any free time that I find.

K.T.  Any interesting writing quirks or stories you would like to share with my readers?

M.P.  I fall into my characters and tend to reflect their moods.  The funniest most unexpected thing that happened was when I was at a leader training for scouts they gave us a fifteen minute break, so I took out my laptop.  The break ended right in the middle of a passionate kiss, and my lips were sore for two hours until I could move my character along.  Maybe I’m too attached. 

K.T.  When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? What sparked the desire to pen your first novel? 

M.P. Probably when I realized I could actually do it.  When I was in school I had won a few contests, but I never sat down and wrote more than a short grade school story.  Then when I got the spark, I wrote and was surprised when I hit eighty thousand words.  I actually went online to see how long a novel should be and realized I should probably wrap up Chrysalis, but sadly I hadn’t even scratched the surface.
The spark came from an interview that Stephanie Meyer had given where she discussed that she had a dream and just wrote about it.  I had written a prolog about ten times before, but didn’t know where it was from or who was talking to me.  I decided to write it out again and see where it led me.  The crazy thing, that prolog is now in the third book of the series because I thought I was writing an adult book that was going to gloss over how Oscar and Ellie met in high school.  Instead their story kept coming, so I kept writing. 

K.S.  What genre do you write?

M.P. Young adult and adult paranormal romance, not sure if the adult is erotic, guess my publisher can let me know if my sex scenes are too hot in the adult books.  I am also writing what now is termed sensual romance and my son requested a young adult adventure book which is coming along nicely. 

K.S.  What would you say has inspired you most in your writing career? 

M.P. Probably my husband and friends.  Sometimes in the characters, but mostly because he supported me, and there is nothing more inspirational than someone believing you can.

K.S.  What does your family think of your writing? 

M.P. I have a sister and niece that love it.  I’ve only let a few family members view the rough drafts so we’ll have to see after its release.

K.S.  What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your book?

M.P.  Although Oscar and Ellie are not autobiographical, they have had to face many of the same issues that I have with my husband.  Half way through the second book I looked at him and said “I’ve put up with a lot of crap.” 

K.S.  Can you tell us a little about your novel? 

M.P. In the annals of dysfunctional families the Chisholm’s are working their way to the top. Drug abuse, unwed mother with multiple fathers and the questionable cash flow for the “pretty one”.   All this from a seemingly normal two parent middle class family, but were the choices truly made of their free will.
  Bad choices are a Chisholm family trait, one that confounds the youngest child, Ellie, who is trying to separate herself by making smart decisions.
  Falling for Oscar Jeffreys, the hottest guy at school would be number one in the Chisholm family disasters … the crazy part is it’s not a one sided attraction.  Somehow Ellie has caught Oscar Jeffreys’ eye.  
  Sure, she could see the barriers between them.  Race, age, popularity.  They were at opposite ends of the spectrum.  A demon set to destroy her family was not on the list.  
  Oscar provides security and acceptance that she never imagined she deserved.  As the passion of first love grows, Ellie can see that she has a chance to beat the odds and live a happy, normal life.
  Then her world collapses around her. With the help of a guardian angel Ellie learns of a world that had unknowingly surrounded her for years.  She will have to find strength buried deep inside to save not only her future, but flush out and stop the demon in her midst.
  Sometimes the hardest lesson in growing up is accepting that you are worth more.

K.S.  Where can we find your novels?

M.P. They will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance, BookStrand, Coffee Time Romance and Omnilit after April 17th.

K.S.  Do you have a website, fan site, or Blog that we can visit?

M.P. www.michelprincebooks.com my blog is called “little people in my head”
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michel-Prince/100543550065487

K.S.  Do you have any closing advice to aspiring writers? 

M.P.  If you have a story, tell it.  Jack London got four hundred rejections, and he didn’t have the ease of email.

4 comments:

  1. Great interview and I loved the whole bit about the sore lips. It made me laugh. Great job Michel!

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  2. Great interview! Very inspirational for those starting out.

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  3. After reading your Gilwell Gazette article submissions I am so excited for you that you are being published. You brought tears to my eyes with those silly submissions, I am looking forward to reading this book!

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  4. To those entering, make sure that you either leave an email or find me on Facebook, the link is provided on the page, so that we can get you the book if you win!

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