It's time to ReVamp Broken Heart

Tell the werewolves I sent ya!

Hey y’all!

Remember that time I wrote about single parents getting killed and Turned into vampires in a small Oklahoma town called Broken Heart?

[Clears throat. Speaks like Sophia from Golden Girls.] Picture it. Las Vegas. 2004. I’ve been writing romantic comedy for electronic publishers since 1999. (I know how long ago this was. Shut up.) I’ve been to New York. I have a literary agent. I sold my first book, an erotic romantic comedy called Cupid, Inc., to New American Library (aka Berkley aka Penguin aka Penguin Random House).

I have an idea for a book where a 36-year-old single mother gets murdered by a rampaging beast and Turned into a vampire by a hot 4,000-year-old Irish vampire. Her name is Jessica. She lives in a small town. She’s a widow. She’s a smart-ass. (It’s me, okay? Except for the widow part.) I’m the Vampire, That’s Why is born. NAL actually buys it.

I’m married with two kids. It’s a rough time in Marriagelandia. In 2006, we move to Florida, which is also the year I’m the Vampire, That’s Why hits shelves. (I sell eight more books in the Broken Heart series to NAL. I abhor deadlines. I write anyway.)

Let’s hit the fast-forward button. I move back to my home state of Oklahoma. I’m still raising two kids. I don’t know what I’m doing. (Is this being an adult? I hate it.) Marriagelandia sucks donkey’s balls. One of my kids turns “adult” and moves back to Florida. I get divorced. I almost get homeless. I move to Texas.

I fall in love (this turns out to be a stupid idea). I get married. Er, again. I get a “real” job. I’m still writing novels on deadline. Second child grows up and moves out. Back in Secondmarriagelandia things suck. But I’m stubborn and scared and on *&^%$ deadline.

NAL doesn’t want any more books in the Broken Heart series.

I decide to write more Broken Heart books, but they’re not that great. I persist.

Secondmarriagelandia is falling apart. I slowly pack boxes and move them into my closet. I start to take down books I’ve independently written (to protect my rights and assets). Second husband threatens to kill me. (No, really, I have it recorded.) I fill up two trash bags with stuff I can grab, scoop up my dog (much to her surprise), and drive to Alabama where my grown-up daughter lives with my two grandchildren.

Me, daughter, and the grandkids move to Missouri. I divorce. Again. Books stay out-of-print. Part of it was protecting assets pre-divorce. Part of it was being so overwhelmed and tired and scared I couldn’t write. I didn’t want to write.

Second ex-husband dies from cancer. I am not sad. I am finally and forever safe.

I start writing again. Not novels. Horror. Short stories. I get hyperfocused on Chinese dramas. This leads me to reading web novel serials. I begin to play in this sandbox of writing serials. It’s a huge learning process. I upload old novels. Serial readers are like, “No.” I write original serials. I suck. How do these serial writers write 400, 600, 1,000 episodes? HOW? I don’t know. I watch more Chinese dramas. I keep writing. I keep sucking.

But then…

I start writing a romance fantasy serial called Reborn Wife: I’ll Chase Happiness Instead of My Husband. I allow myself to just write. Two chapters a day. Post no matter what. Let the story unfold however it unfolds. I don’t fix, I don’t worry, I write. I begin to understand a few things about storytelling that I didn’t know before, at least when it comes to serials. Readers love stories. Readers will forgive a lot of things as long as you keep telling the story. Readers want to interact with your story. They want to interact with you.

It’s very healing. Very freeing.

My daughter encourages me to “revamp” (ahahahahaha) the Broken Heart books I published on my own. She tells me to re-publish the free stories I wrote before. She says I should listen to the reviews written years ago about my independently written titles (TL;DR they suck) and fix them. She says that Broken Heart readers are still out there. They will read. They will support. They will forgive.

So…

Welcome to ReVamped. I’m revising the stories that have been out-of-print. I’m opening the doors to Broken Heart again. Once we get through our ReVamped stories, I’ll write a new Broken Heart book. I’ll write another after that, too.

If you’re in. Are you in?

I hope so.

Because here we are. Back in Broken Heart.

Have you donated to your favorite vampire today?

With love,

Michele :-)