Michelle Webster's Blog

Many writers say that ultimately you write for yourself, first. Instead of analyzing that, which I have agreed with until now. I want to say that I write my stories so I can tell stories to others. A storyteller. I want my stories read and disseminated. I realize now that no one is reading my book that I don’t just write for personal enjoyment. Nope. I expect in return that when I publish, it will be read by SOME people. Not none. Not talking money here but wanting my stories read. If I was just going to write for myself, no intention of others seeing it, boy would I write something else. Fanfic. A good juicy shippy fanfic for one of my fav shows. That is a story for me. I wrote one before I wrote fiction. ‘Nocturne’s Shadows’ which was so fun to write and even read after. Also poetry. That is something I enjoy writing for me. The dilemma is where do I go now? No one is reading my book. I have a why bother feeling since that book took a lot out of me and if I knew it wouldnt get read, I would have thrown it in the fire after I finished the first draft. The fun ends at the end of the first draft for me. Then its revisions, edits, proofread, reread reread reread… Publish, market, and so on. I only like writing, not the rest. All that and no readers. So why bother? Maybe I should do my first NaNoWrimo but make it a fanfic novel just for me. But I do have a story I want to tell. I dont write just for me, I am a storyteller at heart. But I took a blow and lost my sense of who I am as a writer. What to do next? Dont know. Kind of lost. 

Anyone else out there who likes to let their stories come alive in a sketchpad? I love art, I would love to be good at drawing and painting. But I am not. That does not stop me from scribbling out bits and pieces of my characters or setting or themes, symbols, etc. Usually they are tucked away to never be seen again. Today I happened upon them. It’s like finding gold. I love past memories and trinkets. I am going to share them, though again these are just scribbles so don’t judge me on my lack of art skills :)

These are all for my novel Escape (The Lion’s Den #1) http://bit.ly/mlwebster

Actually one is an incomplete sketch of my dog :) 

  Again, these are based on my brand spanking new novel ESCAPE: http://bit.ly/mlwebster I would be so grateful if you would give it a chance and even give a review or share it if you like. It’s not easy getting people to notice your book in this age of ebooks. Thank you very much. I would also love to hear what you think of these sketches in comparison to the novel!

-Michelle

Anyone? 

Somebody?

Hey I learned more geography from chasing down Carmen Sandiego everytime I popped in the floppy disks for the game that was all the rage in the 19?? Well, in my childhood.

So where is Michelle Webster as this post would be better titled. Here. There. Not really anywhere in particular. Just living boredom, working my full-time job, aspiring to be a writer, though moreso, aspiring to be a marine biologist or something similar that studies wild animals, helps make a difference for them, or for any animal at that. Anyone following me on twitter knows I have a passion for animal rights and I have no problem being their voice on twitter or facebook or elsewhere. So where is Michelle the author?

Michelle is sort of stuck, my running shoes have gotten stuck in mud and I don’t know what to do or where to go. I want to write but I have forgotten how. It makes me feel so lost and desolate but really this happens every single time I finish a book and have to start another. Really, I spent years on a book, the last of those years was not writing but revising, fixing it. So in starting fresh with a new one, yes I always forget how to write! I have a story I am working on. I have the main characters names, the sort of starter to the plot and a vague gist. So I have something to work with! I have another one I would like to work on too. I really think it could be great but this other story has grabbed me so I am hoping to keep this one for my next next story ;) 

So what about Michelle and this rather scant and pathetic blog she created on this ghost town website? My goodness, I just never know what to say on these blogs. But I am finding my voice on social media as an animal activist, as someone who has passions outside of the writing world, as someone who is always a storyteller but recognizes there are more stories than those in pages. Lolita, Tilikum, Kiska, the 10 dolphins in Las Vegas, the 18 belugas in Russia, Narnia, Morgan, the class of 2015: j50 j51 j52 l121 l122, Aurora & Qila, Bjossa, Chester, Hana, Helen, the moms: J16, J36, J41, L94, L91. Lolita’s mom L25 Ocean Sun. Then L27 who hasn’t been seen. So many stories that need telling, that need voices. I tell their stories too.

So in this very forgotten about blog, I am here to start fresh. I will offer no structure or schedule, no cutesy catchy titles like whopper wednesdays (used to work at BK) and toony tuesday, or even more apt ones that would fit a writer’s blog. Instead I will be me. I will not add pressure to myself with schedules. I will just write when something comes to mind, or I have somthing to muse or ponder, ideas to throw out there with hopes of ideas and feedback thrown back to me. Maybe we can even discuss at times. I will give updates. I will give passion. Not all will be writing, so be prepared for animal posts—not ones to guilt you because you ate ham today (shame! Lol) but because you ought to know me, and this is going to be me.

I hope I am captivating enough for return visits.

Thanks,

Michelle Webster, who writes books so please check them out.

If you asked me any author or book that I loved, that inspired me, that I still think about, it would be anything Lauren DeStefano! I am not 100% sure how I stumbled onto her. She wasn’t really known because she had just published her first book, Wither. I think I happened to follow Lauren on twitter and she always interested me. She is quite a neat person and her tweets—often based on her five cats, are addicting. She is very much a person as much as an author on social media. Any fan enjoys that. And any author should aspire to have that sort of presence — to be more than a book, more than a sentence on a facebook page or than a 140 character tweet. Be a person too!

So somehow I ended up at the bookstore with a hardcopy of Wither in my hands. When I lay down in bed that night to read it, I remember the exact moment Wither had me. Half way through Page 4. The last sentence stopped me in its tracks, held me there for a moment, and then I read like mad. You will have to read for yourself to know what part I mean but this is a great book and well worth reading. One of my absolute favorite books. It stays with me.

I’ve never been a book reviewer and I was terrible at book reports in school, I don’t know how to characterize or describe writing, even my own. And so I don’t know how to convey the essense of this book and why it does what it does for me. When I wrote Escape (The Lion’s Den #1), it was very much inspired by Wither and the rest of the Chemical Garden series. The way Lauren writes also inspires me. While I want to be me, write my style, I envy her ability to write so beautifully, elloquently, honestly, and yet speak such darkness and sorrow and fear in her words. Rhine, the main character feels real as you read her first person point of view. The other characters also come to life. She just does it all so well.

Back to Lauren on social media. That is the glimpse we get of her as a person. She engages with her readers which is a bonus, I love finding out more about writers as people rather than a face on a bookjacket and an authoritative name on a cover. She has cats with as much personality as she does. They could have their own social media account. You see bits of her home, her crocheting character dolls, her humour and quaintness and down to earthness mixed in with a very creative colourful person. She is genuine about her anxiety (I suffer anxiety too), about the ups and downs in life, about fame and just wanting to write. Basically a normal person, if she can do this, I can too!

Sometimes authors seem so stoic when you don’t know them beyond the bookjacket. I am not stoic, I am hopelessly flawed, I am faking normal to get by (some of it necessitated by my day job and other times by family), I would chose a life of crazy cats over people, I find people = anxiety. In other words, I am not that image on a bookjacket that looks so together, perfect, and expert as an author. And you don’t need to be. Most authors aren’t! Lauren DeStefano has inspired me to be a strong author because she taught me that all us authors are just people, you don’t need to be special to write, just be you.

Her writing itself is beautiful and inspires me too. I’m currently reading her 5th published novel Burning Kingdoms, part of the Internment Chronicles. Give her books a read :)

LaurenDestefano.com

Just spur of the moment this morning I decided I want to take to my blog to talk about who inspires me. I mostly mean writers who inspire me as a writer but this topic could grow into more than that. I do hope to do several posts on this topic over the next while. But I will admit to you all right now: consistency and me, we fail. I don’t know how I manage to write books because I fail miserably when it comes to sticking to a schedule or a goal. I am honest at least :)

My first featured inspiration will be author Lauren DeStefano, known for her brilliant Chemical Garden series, and now the Internment Chronicles. Look for my next post about her.

Because it’s Mental Health Week…

May 4-8 and because one of my novel is about mental illness, it is free til the end of Friday. Only on Amazon Kindle.

This novel, Entangled in Darkness, is a dark, raw emotional portrayal of mental illness. It hits Annalyn when she starts college and her life—and her whole family, begins to unravel. She spirals downward into chaos, into a deep darkness. Life is never the same.

This novel tells one story, a very honest realistic one, in hopes of helping people see what mental illness can be like for those suffering and to let those struggling know they are not alone. I’ve seen so much as a psychiatric nurse and as a family member, a person with her own history with darknesses, and a survivor of my best friend’s suicide. Especially as a nurse, there is so much you can’t unseen, so many voices that deserve to be heard. Maybe this story can be some of their voices, someone to say: I get it, I understand, you are not a freak or alone, you are cared about, I will speak for you because I know right now you can’t.

Feel free to spread the word & let’s end stigma and be their voice!

Free eBook of Entangled in Darkness at Amazon (All Marketplaces)

Offer ends this Friday May 8, 2015!

I know it has been awhile but I have not dropped off the face of the Earth or quick writing. This novel has taken longer to write than anything else I’ve worked on, including Entangled in Darkness and some unpublished works. So it feels very good to be done and ready to let the world read it. Just finalizing things, last minute touches, and catering to all my nerves and cold-feet (or cold fingers in the case of a writer). I don’t have any information in this post because I have to put together summaries, bios, commit to a title and all of that first. Soon though! I am excited for this book, it is different from Entangled in Darkness in that it is a young adult dystopian genre (my favorite to read), but I wrote it and so it won’t be light and fluffy. I just got off nightshift, so sleep, then time to work on this stuff :)

Check back soon! Or follow my on twitter or facebook.

Fb: facebook.com/mlwebsterauthor

Twitter: @mlwebsterauthor

Realized today (via Goodreads) that several new releases of authors I love are coming up in January, February and March including Lauren DeStefano (Sever) and Beth Revis (Shades of Earth). Somehow this became an excuse to shop on Kindle… and then turned into an organize my kindle sort of night. Purchases tonight: Birthmarked – Caragh M O’Brien, and A Long, Long Sleep – Anna Sheehan, and pre-ordered Shades of Earth – Beth Revis for Jan 15 :) This was my exciting night off. If only I could read faster. My to-read folder is 32 ebooks full.

In the past I’ve always written my scenes, plots, etc. In a linear manner. I always felt I had to lay it all out in full details as I wrote. I always hated the idea of going back and changing what I had written. It was against my pantser nature (though I didn’t know the word then). Now I write with the idea of laying the bones now and knowing I can and will come back after for some big time revisions. It is freeing thinking this way because I don’t get stuck on details and I can move forward. Then after first draft is finished I can see the whole picture and then revise it all.

Working on my fourth novel has me approaching the whole process differently. It feels good to learn from the past, take the good with the bad and change accordingly. I guess time will tell if my new approach works. I feel like my creative brain has been restructured both from writing, reading fiction and reading writing craft books. I have come a long way since I wrote Entangled in Darkness. My process is so much different now. I feel more at ease with it too.