Hi, friends!

Sorry I’ve been absent here on the blog. My best friend’s been in the hospital since early December, and I’ve been spending a lot of time with her. If you would like to read her story, her family is sharing it on this GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chrissy-stricker.

But I did want to check in here as well since all of January passed without me posting anything at all. This February, I’m participating in #AuthorLifeMonth on Instagram, which is a great way to meet other authors and learn their stories. I’m going to include my first week of posts here, but I hope you’ll come check me out there as well!

Day 1: Me!

This is the shot I’m planning to use as my author photo, which I sort of snuck out there as my profile photo a while ago. My husband took it, and I just really love it. Looks like future days will have me talk more about what I write, but in general it’s YA with a twist of something more.

Day 2: My books!

My debut novel, YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED, is forthcoming from @bloomsburypublishing in winter 2021, and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s about 17-year-old Jenny Waters, who gets on a plane in 1995 in New York and lands in St. Louis in 2020. Everyone on the plane has stayed the same age, but everyone on the ground has aged 25 years. I love this book so much and can’t wait to share it with all of you!

Day 3: Writing Fuel!

Basically… caffeine. When I was younger and didn’t care about calories, I drank multiple cans of soda a day. I now limit myself to one can per day, which makes me sad because I really love my soda. However, I also love tea—especially Pure Leaf—and coffee. A couple of years ago my husband bought me a Keurig, and I didn’t think I’d be that into it, but it’s so perfect for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Pictured are a few of my favorite flavors 😀.

Day 4: My Biggest Fan

In all honesty? My kids! But since I don’t post photos of them here (although my 9yo would love it if I would!) and my book isn’t out in the world yet to accrue reader fans, I’ll go with the fourth graders I presented to last week. They made me the nicest “compli-mats” full of notes about how they’re excited to read my book when it comes out. I mean, they’re just a tad below my target age, but they’ll be awfully close by the time the book hits shelves 😉.

Day 5: A Shelfie.

I really love my bookshelves. When we moved into this house, the basement had basically been party central. Like, the walls looked like an Applebees. Our painter said he’d never had to fill so many holes 🤣. And man, did it stink. So we had to overhaul it, and as part of that, we had these beautiful bookshelves built. I very quickly filled them up, and I’ve been trying to weed out some of my old books to allow room for my continuing book-buying habits. There’s still a little space…

Day 6: Inspiration.

I sort of hate the question, “What inspired you to write this book?” YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED is the seventh book I’ve written, and most of the time I can pinpoint what triggered the idea, but in this case, I don’t remember. I just know that one day I had this question:

• What if a girl got on a plane and landed many years later?

And when it comes down to it, “What if…” is what really inspires anything I write. Sometimes it’s a movie I watch and I think, “That’s cool, but what if…” Or maybe I’m walking around at an event and see an interaction and think “What if…” I’ve written numerous stories based on questions that start right there. Some of my favorites have been:

• What if twins were separated at birth by alien abduction?
• What if a magical violin pulled you into the story of the music you were playing?
• What if a girl is the star of the biggest reality show on the planet—and she doesn’t know?
• What if a girl discovered her babysitter dead right after she texted her a death threat?

I am never short of “What if” questions.

Day 7: Swag/Stationary

As a pre-published author, I don’t have any swag yet, and I’ve never invested in fancy stationary. However, thanks to my kids’ schools requiring us to buy new notebooks every year that never get filled up, I have an endless supply of half to three-quarter empty spiral notebooks. So I use those for my to-do lists, writing notes to people, brainstorming, and anything else I want to keep note of at my desk.

When I do have swag, bookmarks are high on my list as many author friends have told me they’re the most beneficial. I’m not sure what else. I’d love ideas! If you’re a reader, what swag do you most love getting? If you’re a writer, what swag have you had the best feedback on?

Come see my entries for the rest of the month at https://www.instagram.com/michelleimason/!