Jo: I begin each day with a cup of coffee and a
blog post. It gets my brain working and the words flowing from my fingers. I
also read and comment on a multitude of other blogs because I’ve found
inspiration in them on occasion.
Paul: What types of books
do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Why?
Jo: I read everything I can get my hands on. I
have a few favorite authors: Fern Michaels, Rick Riordan, Eoin Colfer, Cornelia
Funke, Emily Bronte, Robin Cook, Jane Austen, and a number of popular authors
of today. I like Fern for her female empowerment, Rick for his mythological and
historical style, Robin because I love medical mysteries, and the others
because they wrote something that spoke to me.
Paul: If someone had the power
to step into your creative mind what would they see?
Jo: They would see a brain working on overdrive.
I cultivate new ideas everywhere. There would be scary monsters, beautiful
people, facts, figures, and a whole lot of beliefs I hold to very firmly.
Paul: What is a typical day
for you?
Jo: A typical day (M-F) is: Up at 6am, put kids
on bus, write my blog post and comment on other blogs from 8-9 while answering
e-mails, then work on editing, creating book covers, or my WIP until 3 when the
kids return. Cook dinner, homework, clean house, bathe kids, prepare for bed,
and read (until I fall asleep).
Paul: Do you have a
favorite character in each of your series, aside from the lead? If so, which
one and why?
Jo: I do. Kutula from Yassa because he was fun, funny, and ended up asserting himself
into a position that I couldn’t deny his right to, Emmett from The Abigale Chronicles because he’s
based on my own son, and Cecilia Hooper from my new series Mystic because she’s such an innocent.
Paul: How do you find the time to write?
Jo: I schedule it every weekday. It’s my job and I refuse to call in
sick.
Paul: What is one thing you hope I do not tell the readers?
Jo: My real name. I use a pen name for many reasons and to have my
real name discovered might bring me a lot of backlash due to the things I
write.
Paul: If
you are self-published, what led to you going your own way?
Jo: I
won’t lie; I sent my manuscript to agents. They didn’t know how they could
market it and I got frustrated by being turned down a billion times. I thought,
with the boom in ebook publishing, maybe I had a shot going it on my own. I’ve
seen a little success with my chosen route and, though it’s more work for me, I
do enjoy keeping more of my profits.
Paul: Do
you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Jo: I’m
not a plotter in a traditional sense but I do make some major decisions before
I begin to write: What the main character’s moment of change will be, what
journey they are taking, who will support them in their endeavors, and how the
story will end. I then make chapter titles as a rough guide and let the story
flow from there. Every time I’ve attempted to restrict that in any way, I
deviate.
Paul: Do
you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is
more fully-formed?
Jo: I
think every book needs editing. I don’t care how great you are, you need
someone to tell you when something sucks. I go through no less than four rounds
of edits with every book I publish. I edit in, out, send to my editor, then
edit again based on feedback.
Paul: Do
you have to do much research for your stories?
Jo: For
Yassa, yes, because it was historical
fiction and I wanted to stay as true to Genghis Khan as I could. For the
others, like The Abigale Chronicles (Book One and Book Two) and Player, not
really. I do keep a pretty tight timeline worked up for most of them though,
and I keep a handy link document open where I dump sites I found with useful
information. Mystic requires that I
check facts about locations and weather details so I find myself Googling a lot
for that series.
Jo: I suppose it’s time to ruin the surprise
here. I’m working on a series titled Mystic
about tolerance and judgment. The first book in the six book series is titled Bronya and was just released in August
of 2012. There will be five novellas and one conclusion novel. Bronya, the first novella, centers
around homosexuality and the devastating effect a community can have on people
who are different. As a series, I want to show people they have strength and
can battle hate if they work together.
Paul: What inspired you to
write this book?
Jo: I see so many people out there hating someone
over something. Whether it’s a life choice they make, something that happened
to them, or something they decide, it can cause a lot of self-loathing. I want
people to realize their words hurt as badly as their fists in many situations.
Paul: Do
you also write any poetry, non-fiction or short stories?
Jo: I
have written novels, children’s chapter books, and one non-fiction book in my
area of expertise: graphic design and branding yourself. I put my short stories
on my blog for everyone to enjoy.
Paul: Do
you have any pieces of work that will never see the light of day?
Jo: I
have one that I’m working on that’s very personal. I’m not sure I’ll ever
publish it because of that. It’s titled Player
and is a novel about the games played when dating. Once bitten, twice shy, and
all that jazz.
Paul: How
much marketing do you do for your published works or for your ‘brand’?
Jo: More
than is good for me, I’m sure. I tweet, Facebook, and blog. I did a blog
challenge not too long ago and met a lot of like-minded people I have kept in
touch with. It has added time to my day but a lot of reward to my life.
Paul: What’s
your favorite / least favorite aspect of your writing life? Has anything
surprised you?
Jo: My
favorite part is the creation and sense of completion I get when I finish a
work. My least favorite part is wishing I had more hours in a day to write. I
was surprised at the toll the summer took on my WIP. My kids being out of
school has thrown a wrench into my schedule. I’m looking forward to November
and NaNoWriMo. I’m hoping to get caught up and ahead in that month.
Paul: What
do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have any hobbies or party tricks?
Jo: I’m
an illustrator and photographer as well as a graphic designer. I’ve created a
couple of book covers for other authors over the last few months including: Canopy, Lazy Arizona Organic Gardener’s Basics,
and Divorced to Dating Disasters.
So, that keeps me pretty busy. I love to swim also but this summer hasn’t seen
me in the pool much. I’m hoping to have more time to do that once the kids go
back to school.
Jo's Blog: Jo Michaels
Jo on Twitter: @WriteJoMichaels
Jo on Facebook: Jo Michaels
Jo's latest book: Mystic: Bronya (Amazon)
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