Michele Lenard's Blog

I've been on a Yellowstone binge lately, and as I was watching the other night I thought to myself, "Beth Dutton would be so fun to write." Then I realized I'd already written her. Sort of.

Like Beth, Harper is a broken soul underneath her take no prisoners exterior. Like Beth one parent scarred her and the other inspires her, although that inspiration isn't born of admiration. Quite the opposite actually. It's because she doesn't want to become her mother that Harper becomes driven to succeed, and it's because of heartbreak that she becomes somewhat ruthless.

Harper has one special man she gravitates toward, much like Beth does, although Harper's man isn't as blindly accepting. In fact, he's the one responsible for breaking her heart.

If you love sassy women who don't take shit from anyone, check out Harper's story. She makes her first appearance in Purely Novel Intent, but Willfully Malicious Intent is all about her. Purely Novel Intent - A Steamy Workplace NovelWillfully Malicious Intent

The other day I read a Facebook post where someone commented that they cringe when they think of their friends/family discovering their reading history on their device after they die. Until then I'd never considered something like that, but now it's got me curious- what would people say about mine? While I read everything from history to mystery, non-fiction to smut, only the smutty books are on my devices (mostly because I don't want those covers lying around the house where kids can see them). The books on my ereader aren't the complete picture of what I read, but people are likely to get an eyeful if they scroll through my library! Does that worry me - a little, because sometimes what I think I'm going to read isn't what I get, and what I get is WAAAY out there. But after learning that my one hundred year old grandmother is named after her mom's favorite romance author, a woman who was quite risque in her day, I'm thinking quite a few of us might have a library that represents only some of our reading tastes. And as my friend Kiley likes to say, "Don't judge me!"

I just learned about a relatively high-profile romance author who had her book banned on Amazon. (Ironically the paperback and hard cover copies are available, just not the ebook. I have no idea why). This got me thinking about my own publishing journey. I haven't had anything banned, but I've been banned from advertising several books because of the cover. Someone, somewhere found them too sexy, and bam, I can't advertise them. I find this frustrating because I specifically choose covers that are sensual not sexual, but I guess I can understand how images might be construed differently by different people. And the entire book wasn't banned, I just can't promote it. Banning entire books though, that feels like a slippery slope. Where is the line? If steamy or erotic scenes get flagged, so too should psychological thrillers, no? (I'm not advocating for anything to be banned, just suggesting that once you take something away more will follow). There's a market for all types of stories, and the great thing about books is that if you don't like one you can put it down. You don't have to take it off the shelf completely.

Today the fifth book in the Mile High Romance series, Thoroughly Innocent Intent, goes on sale!

Although this is written as book five, each book is a standalone, and can be read in any order. However, there is only one character that appears in all six books, and this is his story.

Colt is a lovably flawed professional football player. He's put the game above all else, which means his personal life is comprised of flings instead of relationships. That doesn't mean he doesn't understand women. He's helped friends, teammates, even his ex-wife sort out their love lives, he just doesn't need to follow his own advice since he's married to the game. Or he was, until he met a woman who couldn't care less about his fame and fortune.

That's an intriguing change for a guy who's used to having women flock to him, and one he wants to understand better. In the process, he learns how his love of the game has made his relationships suffer, which begs the question, is football worth it?

Colt was my all-time favorite character to write. He's not perfect, but he's not a bad guy either, making him impossible to hate even as he's making mistakes. But like any dream guy should, Colt's willing to work on his bad habits to be the man people need him to be.Thoroughly Innocent Intent

A few months back I joined a critique group of several women from around the country. Though we all fall under the romance category, we each favor different genres and tropes. Each week we post several chapters and receive feedback from the group during a phone call. We've also set up our own private chat room. I have never met any of these women in person, but they've become my closest friends, collaborators and confidants. On a lark we decided to give our little group a name (I'm not sure exactly how we landed on Peenerpuff but it fits) and write a Christmas anthology. Releasing December 1st, Jingle My Snowballs is our collection of shorts. We've got instalove, secret baby, paranormal, love triangle and several other tropes, all of which take place around the holidays. Between the time we decided to write this anthology and the publication date, there were only three weeks to pull this together. I've never written so fast in my life, and I don't want to make a habit of it. However, writing a short story was fun, and that I will do again. Jingle My Snowballs

I'm a little late with this post (in my house Thanksgiving runs through the weekend due to football games and Christmas decorations) but I wanted to tell you about a Turkey Day scene in my latest book, Thoroughly Innocent Intent. This scene is one of my favorites because it includes a precocious little boy who calls this author out for her love of unisex names. I'm not sure why I gravitate toward names, particularly for women, that could be for a boy or a girl. Maybe it's because I'm a tomboy at heart. Maybe it's because my own name can go either way (spoiler alert, Michele is a pen name). Whatever the reason, I tend to pick unisex names for my female characters, and one little guy calls me out on it. I hope you find the scene as entertaining as I do! Thoroughly Innocent Intent

My favorite romances are the ones where I'm inside the main characters' heads, so naturally that's what I write. However, the more books I write the more it becomes obvious; I imagine men way better than I do women.

I can't explain why that is. I have female friends and I participate in 'girl talk,' yet the conversations between male characters is so much easier for me to write. Maybe that's because I'm an athletic/outdoorsy person and most of my male characters are athletes. Or maybe it's because I was a tomboy growing up. Either seems like a logical explanation, but sometimes it makes me wonder if I shouldn't focus on the man's POV instead of both?

Which do you prefer, dual POV or solo POV?

Purely Novel Intent is the second book in the Mile High Romance series, but it's actually the first book I wrote, and in many ways it's the first draft of my career. It's somewhat autobiographical in that I struggled to embrace what I was writing. Specifically, the steam/smut/sex or whatever term you prefer.

I love reading steamy stories, but that doesn't make writing them any easier. Not in the beginning anyway. My first attempt had me looking over my shoulder to see if anyone could see what I was typing, even though I was the only person in the room. I don't think it was the steam so much as the fact it was coming from my imagination that had me on edge. Of all the scenes in the book those are the ones that took me the longest to write, because it felt so awkward to do.

The original version of the book documents this, although it didn't make the final cut. Neither did my character's rant about how romances could be good even when the heroine's life isn't in danger or the hero isn't a vampire or werewolf. (Did anyone else notice how those stories spiked after Twilight?) My attempt at humor was interpreted as an insult to the genre so I took that part out, although I maintain that since a romance technically has to have a happily ever after there's no reason you can't poke fun at the predictability of the various tropes.

You'll probably never miss those scenes that were part of the first draft and not the last, but since they helped the story evolve I wanted to give them a little shout out. Purely Novel Intent - A Steamy Workplace Novel

My name is Michele, and I'm addicted to romance.

I picked up my first romance at age ten, a Jude Deveraux book I swiped from my mom's bookshelf. Though I read anything and everything, from mystery to history, mystery to non-fiction, I keep coming back to romance.

I love a steamy story (no closed-door bedroom scenes for me) but I also love the emotion behind the steam. There are a few authors who satisfy my craving for both, but more often than not I find stories are either heavy on the steam or heavy on the emotion. I decided to write my own to fill what I saw as a void.

They say to write what you know, which means romance is sort of an ironic choice for me. I love reading it, but am I the sort of person to offer up romantic gestures? No. Am I a cuddler? No. I'm more practical than romantic, and I find touching itchy. I probably shouldn't admit that if I want you to read my books, but for whatever reason the things I'm not good at in real life I do pretty well on paper. Or a Word document.

As a lover of all things active and outdoors, most of my books fall into the category of sports romance, although sports is not the main plot. And as a Colorado resident, I like to set my stories in this amazing state. So, if you're looking for a fun, steamy read to make you laugh, occasionally cry, and fuel your bedroom fantasies, take a chance on me!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my inaugural blog post, and don't forget to add my books to your TBR list!