Ask the Author: Michele Israel Harper
Answered Questions (8)
Michele Israel Harper
Hello! My deepest apologies that I didn't see this sooner! Yes, I have a prequel out called Ghostly Vendetta, then I'm hard at work getting the next book in the series after Zombie Takeover ready for my editor. I try to write each one as a standalone so that you don't have to read the next book unless you really want to. I hope you love it if you try it!
Michele Israel Harper
My favorite fictional couple has to be Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. There is something so timeless and romantic about their entire story, I can't help but adore them. Beauty and the Beast is a close second, but there is a depth to Elizabeth and Darcy's story that just isn't present in Beauty and the Beast. I'm hoping to add that depth in my own story, Kill the Beast: a Beauty and the Beast Retelling, and answer questions I've long wanted to explore about my favorite fairy tale. Thank you for your question!
Michele Israel Harper
Kill the Beast was actually a submission for the Five Enchanted Roses fairy tale contest by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. It was winter, and I got sick, so sick it took a month to even start getting better. I totally missed the deadline. So I've been slowly working on it, refining and reshaping it. Now that I have a deadline, I'm rushing to finish the final draft and get it to my editor!
Michele Israel Harper
Oh my. Dreams, a phrase, a book, working so hard on other things--like my editing business--that I just HAVE to write. My time is so limited, I write in any spare moment I can find. Forget inspiration! Sometimes I'm so desperate to write, I hide in the most random of places as the words pour out of me!
Michele Israel Harper
You can make a story whatever you want it to be. When you read a book (and I adore reading books), the story wends its way in whatever direction the author takes it. You have no control. But when you write a story, you can create anything your heart desires! (Unless your characters sabotage your--I mean, their--story and take it wherever they want it to go. Which happens frequently. Bossy little things...) ;)
Michele Israel Harper
Two ways: I either step away for a little while and do something else, or I just keep writing nonsense--whatever comes to me--until I break through the block and the words flow again. I've written some amazing plot twists when I do an info dump like that!
Michele Israel Harper
Never stop learning! Take any class, any webinar, go to any conference you are able to. And if you're sitting there thinking, "This isn't for me," don't feel bad about moving on to something that is. This is your journey--make it fun and memorable!
Michele Israel Harper
Kill the Beast, a Beauty and the Beast Retelling.
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