Featured Interview with Michelle Levigne, Author of "The Family Way"

We're happy to have Mechille Levigne with us today, author of Desert Breeze's February release, "The Family Way." Onto the questions:

#1 The Family Way is a Tabor Heights novel. How did you find/get the inspiration for the Tabor Heights Series?

MECHILLE: The first few books were stand alones; A few of them in the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County area, but not related. Then as I got more ideas and roughed out the books and got into revisions, I realized I could borrow characters from one book to the other, or situation mentioned in one book would make good books by themselves and it sort of grew. I don't want to say it was Frankenstein's monster, but it was something like that.

It's like real life in real towns. All of the books either out or currently under contract through 2011 are in my year one plan for Tabor Heights. Yes, I do have a number of ideas planned through year 2.

#2 - How did you come up with the plot for The Family Way?

MECHILLE: Actually ... the germinal idea is pretty clear. 10+ years ago, my doctor had me on BC pills for hormonal reasons. The pharmacy messed up one month and gave me a double-strength dose. Chemical depression set in, and during that point I had some really weird dreams that stuck in my head after I woke up. One was of a young widow standing at her husband's casket, and her in-laws telling her to get out of town. (That's the germinal idea for my May book, "A Quiet Place.") The other image was of a husband coming home from a long trip, his wife says "I think I'm pregnant," and his first response is, "Is it mine?"

I already had nasty, self-righteous Mr. Montgomery, the lawyer, who was the nemesis in "Common Grounds," and he still needed to be punished and reveal his true colors, so it was easy to cast him as the vicious father-in-law. It was a very short book to begin with, but as I created more Tabor Heights stories and fleshed out the town, I "discovered" more people who would be friends with Lisa and either contribute to the fight or try to guide her out of it. I already had Kat, Bekka and Amy from "The Second Time Around" and the upcoming "Detours" who were living in the same building, and they're close to Lisa's age, so it was natural to have some or all of them as Lisa's friends. It sort of grew organically as time went on.


#3 - Cast the characters - who is Lisa? Todd? (I love seeing author's visions for their characters.)

MECHILLE: Honestly, I didn't have any actors or faces in my mind to "play" Lisa and Todd when I was writing them .... although now that I think about it, two actors from the TV show "Chuck" would be perfect. The actress who played Chuck's ex-girlfriend, Jill Roberts, would be great for Lisa. And the guy who plays Chuck's brother-in-law, Devon "Captain Awesome" would be great for Todd.


#4 - Do you have music you write to? Do you have a "soundtrack" for "The Family Way?"

MECHILLE: I used to play movie soundtracks all the time when I was writing ... but now it's too much trouble to get up and change CDs or flip over LPs (yes, I still have a huge LP collection and I invested in a turntable a few years ago so I could keep listening to them -- why spend all that money replacing all those movie soundtracks???) My favorites are the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dragonheart, Pirates of the Caribbean, all the Star Trek, Star Wars and Superman movie soundtracks. Hmm, can't remember what else -- it's been so long!

#5 - What's the latest movie you saw?

MECHILLE: Tooth Fairy. It was funny, silly, cute. I like Dwayne Johnson/The Rock. Before that was Avatar. I'd be tempted to get it for my iPod Touch ... but the movie is too big to limit to such a small screen. I can't wait to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians -- read the book last week, and I have to agree with the reviews online -- it's as good as Harry Potter, maybe better in some aspects. Of course, it might be because there's less angst and tripping over British-isms ...


#6 - Do you write other genres? If so, what? What do you find appealing about those genres?

MECHILLE: I write SF and Fantasy mostly. I think the fun part of writing in SF and fantasy is I can set up new worlds with new toys and new possibilities and let my characters go. I don't have the restrictions of the known world and political and economic situations. I can have a hero who's a fugitive, but he has the added advantage and burden of being a shapeshifter to get him out of trouble and into even more trouble. It's bad enough having the police chasing you, but what if your enemy was a psychotic genocidal organization that nobody believed existed anymore, and it was out to destroy you because it considered you a threat to the Human genome, just by existing? Or you're a Fae with magical powers, but you're exiled to live in the Human world with reduced powers, and you're sentenced to helping lovelorn Humans during your two years of punishment.


#7 - Do you have any hobbies you'd like to share with us?

MECHILLE: Hobbies? What are hobbies? I've become addicted to online puzzle games, and I'm trying desperately NOT to play them -- you sit down to relax for a little bit, take a brain break, and then you look up 2 hours later and your hand is cramped, your eyes are dry, and you're way behind in your page count for the day. Aarrgghh!!

STEPH: Thanks so much for being here today, Michelle, and good luck with your Tabor Heights Series!

Featured FEB 2010 Release - The Family Way

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Lisa thought she walked into her marriage with her eyes wide open, aware of the hard task of getting the approval of her cold, domineering father-in-law. When she discovered she was pregnant, she thought she would finally be accepted, but Todd's reaction to the news was the last thing she expected: "Is it mine?"

She had endured his father's constant criticism because she thought Todd loved her, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe Todd had never loved her, and he was more like his father than she dreamed. To protect her baby, should she leave him, and refuse to continue the Montgomery family tradition? Where did being a 'good Christian wife' end, and the need to protect her sanity and her baby begin?

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EXCERPT:

Lindsey, Todd's oldest sister and her husband, Kevin stood in the hall. They were both dressed up for an evening out; suits and high heels, that cashmere coat that looked so good on Kevin, and Lindsey had her hair swept up with the blue and pearl clips Lisa had given her for her birthday.

A stab of envy shot through Lisa, followed by a sharp hunger pang. They were going out for dinner. How long had it been since Todd took her out?

"You're not ready," Lindsey said, after looking Lisa up and down. She chuckled. "Are we early again?"

"Ready for what?" Lisa stood back and beckoned for them to come in. The mantel clock in her office chimed the half hour.

"Yep," Kevin said. "We're early. How's the cartoon business treating you, Lisa?"

"Fine." She looked back and forth between the McNeals, feeling grubbier with each passing second. "What's going on?"

"Todd said you two had something important to tell everybody, so he made reservations at the Mediterranean." Lindsey took a step closer, her blue eyes narrowing a little as she looked over Lisa’s baggy jeans and sweatshirt. "Don't tell me my idiot brother forgot to tell you what time?"

"He didn't bother inviting me." Her throat closed for a minute, then Lisa swallowed hard and tried to smile. "Look, whatever is going on, I'm really not in the mood. I spent the whole day bent over my desk and my head hurts -- "

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle has been a book addict since picking up 'The Cat in the Hat'.



She started writing her own stories in junior high, when TV shows didn't turn out like she thought they should. Her first rejection letter came the summer after high school graduation, her first published story was in connection with fan fiction, and her first sale was in the Writers of the Future anthology.



With a BA in theater/English and an MA in Communications, focused on film and writing, she has worked for a local newspaper, then in advertising, and now works as a freelance editor. She is published in multiple sub-genres of romance, as well as SF and fantasy. Awards include being a finalist in the Dreamrealms and EPPIE competitions, with an EPPIE win in 2006.

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Buy Link for Amazon's Kindle:

The Family Way