Books-n-Kisses is super excited to have TJ Michaels back on the blog today. So I will stop babbling and get to sharing TJ with you…
Q1) Can you please share with us a little about yourself
I’m a West Coast girl with two grown kids and a kick ass day job in the technology sector. I can sing. I dance fairly well. I love German Shepherd dogs. Uh, what else? I’m goofy, love video games and take great pleasure in embarrassing my kids on occasion. It’s really special since they’re big now. Heh!
Q2) Have you always wanted to be an author?
Nope. I’ve always wanted to be a business owner or run a school. Writing came as something later in life after reading some really good books and thinking, “I can do that!” And once I started I fell in love with it.
Q3) Can you share with us your typical writing day. Is there anything you have to have while writing?
I look forward to the day when I can write for a living, but for now I have to fit it into my day job and family time. My typical day starts with me walking into my office and working for my clients. Usually once I walk in, I don’t walk out until around 7pm or so. After that I’ll do dinner or hang out with my kids, then I’ll sit down to write. I’ll hit the sheets sometime between 11pm and 2am. That includes weekends. It’s a non-stop thing, but I enjoy it so it’s not a hardship. I do get tired though. And when I’m wiped out, I’ll veg.
Q4) Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?
The most rewarding part of writing is when a reader sends a note asking for a new story in a series, or writes a review to say they love your writing. What’s tough is keeping your head in a place where you continue to love writing for writing’s sake.
Last year I had some major emergencies in my family, including the death of my father. I went from selling several books a year to my publishers to selling not a single new book. There were some changes at one of my pubs that meant I was shuffled around to my 4th or 5th editor and my new editor didn’t seem to care for my style. It was discouraging. I spent a lot of time worrying about promo and getting my sales up. Nothing was working. Add to that my demanding day and you’ve got a basic disaster.
My daughter looked at me and said, “I hope you get back to the place where you write because you love it.” It was a wake-up call and I had a decision to make. I seriously considered walking away. Then a story popped into my head, and here I am. Again *smile*.
Q5) Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?
I’m a History Channel nutball and I was watching a program one weekend. Honestly I wasn’t paying much attention to it, but then the narrator started talking about lost books of the bible and how some of them reference magic. And my ears perked up at full attention. And the idea for the story just started gelling together in my head. After some research and bugging the heck out of my critique partner, R.G. Alexander (who happens to have studied mythology and ancient cultures in school) I put it down on paper and Seals of Destiny was born.
The first book will be available in May/June. The title is Silk Road, and I’m absolutely thrilled about this book. It’s got angels, Fallen angels, Fallen demons, leprechauns (yes, I really mean leprechauns, though this one is a bit more edgy than the ones on the cereal box), along with some characters inspired by video games, places I’ve traveled with my day job and things like that.
Q6) Can you share with us your current work in progress?
It’s a post-apocalyptic paranormal romance. It’s a 3-book series (well, three books so far – could be more though because the world is huge) called Gathering of the Storms. The story is about a woman who is overdue to take a husband in the most technologically advanced society remaining on the planet. She’s a blademaster and heir to the councilship of her province. She’s a real badass, but very much a lady. A spitfire that bucks what has come to be tradition, yet at the same time she also follows orders as the second-highest ranking officer in the military, second only to her father. A complex woman…who ends up with a warlord husband. Funny thing is she’s known him all her life and his idea of a good time is the same as hers – fighting. And therein lies the problem *grin*
Q7) Who are some of your favorite authors?
Goodness, that’s a tough one. There are quite a few, but my short list is Lauren Dane, Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter, Alyssa Day, Sylvia Day, Larissa Ione, Cynthia Eden, Lora Leigh and Shayla Black. Many of them write, or used to write, for the same publishers as me. Lauren, Sylvia and Shayla were particularly, and continue to be, nice to me and extremely supportive. Angela Knight and Jaid Black were authors I read right before I first got published and their writing was a punch in the gut, creatively speaking. It got me to write “out of the box”.
Q8) Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?
Not really. Style and voice are pretty unique to the author. But they have definitely inspired me to hang in there with this writing thing and to write what I love no matter what anyone says.
Q9) What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?
Lothaire by Kresley Cole is on my absolutely “Can’t Wait to Read” list. Just waiting for the ebook price to come down a little *tj praying hard for the ebook gods to cooperate*
Q10) Is there anything else you would like to add?
I’m attending the Authors After Dark readers and writers convention in New Orleans this year and in celebration I’m hosting a HUGE contest called ZART – Zombie Apocalypse Response Team. We’re giving away a book a week from some of the coolest authors from now until the convention. The first survival kit item is up for grabs starting today. For those of your readers who enter my contest, mention that they saw it here along with the comment number, and I’ll enter them TWICE for the grand prizes!
For deets visit http://www.tjmichaels.com/zart-baby
So to enter for a chance to win your Zombie Apocalypse survival kit. Stop by TJ’s blog here——>>>>>http://www.tjmichaels.com/zart-baby . Enter, Make sure you tell her that you saw the ZART button at Books-n-Kisses and get and extra entry.
No comments yet.