With characters yelling "It's my turn damn it!!!" She tries to explain to them that alas, she can only type a hundred and twenty words a minute and they will have wait their turn. She knows eventually they find their way out of her head and to her fingertips and she looks forward to sharing them with you.
When Michel can suppress the voices in her head she can be found at a scouting event or cheering for her son in a variety of sports. She would like to thank her family for always being in her corner and especially her husband for supporting her every dream and never letting her give up.
Michel is a member of RWA Pro and Midwest Fiction Writers. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, cat and new puppy.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the annals of dysfunctional families, the Chisholm’s are working their way to the top. Drug abuse, an unwed mother with multiple fathers, and the questionable cash flow for the 'pretty one'. All this from a seemingly normal, two parent middle class family. But were the choices truly made of their free will?
Bad choices are a Chisholm family trait, one that confounds the youngest child, Ellie, who's trying to separate herself by making smart decisions. And falling for Oscar Jeffreys, the hottest guy at school, would be number one on the list of Chisholm family disasters. Yet the crazy part is it’s not a one sided attraction. Somehow Ellie has caught Oscar Jeffreys’ eye. Sure she could see the barriers between them. Race, age, popularity. They were at opposite ends of the spectrum. But a demon set to destroy her family? She can't see that.
Oscar provides security and acceptance Ellie never imagined she deserved. As the passion of first love grows, Ellie honestly believes she has a chance to beat the odds and live a happy, normal life. Then her world collapses around her. With the help of a guardian angel, Ellie learns of a world that has unknowingly surrounded her for years. And she'll have to find strength buried deep inside to save not only her future, but flush out and stop the demon in her midst.
And Ellie will have to learn that sometimes the hardest lesson about growing up is accepting that you're worth more.
Bad choices are a Chisholm family trait, one that confounds the youngest child, Ellie, who's trying to separate herself by making smart decisions. And falling for Oscar Jeffreys, the hottest guy at school, would be number one on the list of Chisholm family disasters. Yet the crazy part is it’s not a one sided attraction. Somehow Ellie has caught Oscar Jeffreys’ eye. Sure she could see the barriers between them. Race, age, popularity. They were at opposite ends of the spectrum. But a demon set to destroy her family? She can't see that.
Oscar provides security and acceptance Ellie never imagined she deserved. As the passion of first love grows, Ellie honestly believes she has a chance to beat the odds and live a happy, normal life. Then her world collapses around her. With the help of a guardian angel, Ellie learns of a world that has unknowingly surrounded her for years. And she'll have to find strength buried deep inside to save not only her future, but flush out and stop the demon in her midst.
And Ellie will have to learn that sometimes the hardest lesson about growing up is accepting that you're worth more.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
The Chisholm family sounds very interesting - and very dysfunctional. How did you develop each of these characters and their flaws? Did you have anyone in real life that their character traits were modeled after?
I don’t know if I should plead the fifth on this question. In developing the flaws I had to look at all the mistakes a person could make. The standards are sex, drugs, envy, etc. Normally you have a family with the one black sheep that people either enable or ostracize. Instead with the Chisholm’s we have multiple mess-ups in one family. As far as real people…sadly yes. Some I’ve met in passing others I had to deal with directly, because as humans we all make mistakes…with the Chisholm’s I just had them not learn from them.
There is a theme with Ellie of someone who believes against all odds; believes in a better life and believes in love. Was she based on anyone in particular? Was it difficult to transition between her dysfunctional family's negativity and Ellie's optimistic attitude?
I think I tapped into the young me. That’s the joy of writing YA, when we are younger everything is a possibility. Although some people might try to tell you no (I had more than a few between teachers, family members and acquaintances) you have to find some thing inside yourself to push through for what you want not what is expected of you. Anyone can do what’s expected of them…it takes strength to do what you want. As far as transitioning, part of the reason I call the book Chrysalis is because Oscar really keeps Ellie safe from her family. Ellie’s family rarely acknowledges her existence in everyday life, but in book two The Beam her family’s dysfunction exists to the point Ellie walks the line of sanity. It’s not easy to go back and forth between the two because they always make Ellie question what she’d learned to be true. In the second book she feels like they are watching her every step ready to tell her what she’s done wrong and how she too is a failure.
I love the premise of the guardian angel. Do you believe in guardian angels? Do you have any stories you can share with us?
I hope so. People usually look at a City of Angels type guardian who kind of tap you on the shoulder and you stop right before the bus hits you and saves your life. I’ve had a few of those incidents where I had remembered something or it seemed like I needed to stop for something and then I learn my five minute stop saved me from being in a car crash. As for Ellie’s live in guardian angel I look to my husband and the people in his life that helped him, just because.
How did you come up with the plot of this book and the lesson Ellie must learn?
This book started out as an adult book flashing back…that really didn’t work. I knew where I wanted the book to go and in book three people will finally see the beginning that I wanted for the series. This whole series developed itself. I finished book two with Ellie being strong, but not where she needed to be. When I began book three even I was amazed and her development. She becomes so incredibly strong and a force to be reckoned with it surprised me. Growing up is hard in general, having the burden of basically raising everyone else when you’re the youngest takes a character I didn’t know for sure I could make feel real, but Ellie seems like a person you could know.
Michel will be awarding a butterfly gift basket to one randomly drawn commenter and a butterfly necklace to a second randomly drawn commenter.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/11/nbtm-chrysalis-by-michel-prince.html
