Author Hot Seat - Lydia Michaels

The author hot seat specials are designed to help readers get to know some of today's popular and up and coming authors a little better. The questions are broken into four sections - About your writing, about you, fun stuff and finally. Some of the questions are easy, other may need a little more thought and some may cause our author friends to hesitate before answering. Still, they all answer.

 

Today we have Author Lydia Michaels in our author hot seat, let's see how she goes :)

 

Welcome to the Authors Hot Seat, Lydia.  Make yourself comfortable and we'll get started by asking some easy questions.

 

 About your writing:

 

How did you get started as a writer?

Journaling. It just made sense to put parts of my life in chapters. Once I finished my first memoir I tried my hand at fiction, focusing on Romance.

Why do you write?

I write because I absolutely love it. It's an addiction.

Have you ever had a day you wanted to quit and never write again?

Yes, the day I received my 30th rejection. Fortunately I forced myself to write something new and that series (The Order of Vampyres) is one of my greatest successes. Through all of those rejections I also learned how to be a much better writer.

Do you feel lucky to be doing what you are doing?

I don't think lucky is a big enough word to describe how grateful I am for being able to write for a living. It is truly my dream and I don’t know a word great enough to describe how special it is to live your dream.

Tell me how you got to where you are today?

Determination. I’m actually dyslexic and have always struggled with reading. It wasn't until I discovered romances that I discovered what people meant when they said reading for pleasure. Once I hit on something of high interest, I began devouring romance novels, reading close to 300 a year. After that I started writing. I'm terrible at spelling. I taught myself how to spell all the words I didn't learn in school and worked extremely hard to get my work up to a publisher's standards. Where other authors have a rough, first, and final draft, I tend to have between 7 and 15 drafts. Dyslexia is definitely a challenge, but I wouldn’t trade it in for a perfect mind because it is the source of my creativity. I actually dedicate a good amount of time giving motivational speeches at middle schools about being an author with a learning disability. I love what I do and once I realized it was my dream of all dreams I gave it everything I had and I finally made it.

How do your family/spouses react to your work as an author? Do they know what you write?

Yes, everyone from my husband to my grandmothers know what I write. They are extremely supportive. I am surrounded by amazing people who celebrate every bit of good news by my side and arrive with an arsenal of wine when there's any bad news. They are incredible, especially my husband. He is amazing!

 About you:

What are you passionate about in life?

Family, love, writing, helping others.

If you had to give a thank-you speech at the Oscars, who would you thank and what would you say?

Basically what I wrote in my “Acknowledgement” of my first published book, Called to Order:

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
 

~Albert Schweitzer

The challenging journey of an unpublished author is an overwhelming one. This is my first published work, and I never would have accomplished such a dream if not for the inspiring people who encouraged me along the way. To those of you who never allowed my inner fire to burn out and continuously reminded me that every dream worth having was worth working for, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To my mother and father, thank you for always letting me tie my own shoes even when I didn’t know how. Thank you for getting me a computer before they were considered necessities. Thank you for all the ways you have nurtured my creativity even when you didn’t quite understand it. And thank you for ingraining in me the confidence to be myself and the firm belief that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to.

I would also like to thank the many friends and family members who have anxiously awaited this moment with enthusiasm, blind confidence, and unconditional support at every bump, turn, and dip along the way.

Thank you to all the teachers, especially Ms. Good and Sue Antonelli, who helped me believe I was more than just a dyslexic student, that there were greater tragedies in life than not knowing how to spell, and helped me see that I possessed a mind capable of great things. Your encouragement and support throughout the years has influenced me more than you know.

Thank you to my book club girls and all of you who patiently advised me on ways to improve my craft.

Thank you to all the readers out there. I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing them.

And finally, a very special thank you to my husband, Mike. Without you, nothing else matters. You are the other half of my soul, and I thank God every day that I have found you. You are my most coveted treasure and closest friend. You are as depended on and indescribable as the air I breathe. You are the meaning behind my favorite song, the magic of Christmas morning, the sparkle in our daughter’s eyes, and the inspiration of every unwritten romantic thought hidden between the lines. I know I can accomplish anything, so long as you never let go of my hand. Thank you, Mike, for always supporting my dreams and for sharing that secret part of your soul with me that no one else gets to see. I love you.

**Yeah, they’d probably cue the music about a quarter of the way through all that, but what can I say? I’m thankful to a lot of great people. Lol.**

What are the three most important life lessons you’ve learned that might make life easier for others?

 

Nice matters and useless stress is just that, useless.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. Whom would it be and why?

I have no idea…Santa Clause? I could send people all kinds of stuff I know they need and can’t afford.

What's the worst thing you did as a kid?

I don’t know, lol, I probably repressed the memory. Once I crashed my bike into a parked car by accident and broke the taillight. I fled the scene (and I knew who’s car it was…I still haven’t told him.)

What do you do to have fun?

I love relaxing with friends. I'm a big fan of camping or just sitting around a fire laughing with good company.

Share a funny incident in your life.

Okay, I thought about this for a while, and this—although embarrassing—is undeniably funny. I have a big immediate family. A few years ago we went to Disney World. It was like the Griswolds in Wally World, but with more cursing. It was August and a bazillion degrees out. My hair had given up on its fight against frizz. I was hot, sticky, and miserable as I waited in line at Animal Kingdom with my afro. My family wasn’t too fond of me in that moment either. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a gigantic bird flies overhead and poops on my face! I freak out and demand someone give me a tissue. Every member of my loving family of course reached into their bags. Not a single one of those %&$#@&^ pulled out a tissue though. Each one whipped out a camera and took my picture. Ten years later, my husband and I took our daughter to Disney. We’re sitting in Epcot, feeding the ducks and BOOM! One poops on my neck! Thanks to technology, this time when I asked for a tissue my hysterical husband pulled out his phone and sent a mass text with picture. She got *&^% on again!

Fun Stuff:

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the lead role as you?

This is hard because I don’t really watch TV and am terrible with celebrity names. It would have to be somebody chubby. If my life was a movie I'd want it to be realistic. My own imperfection and forced confidence played a huge role in my choices as a girl. I'd want my movie to be 'real' so that others could relate. Nobody’s perfect.

If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?

Coffee ice.

What is your favorite color- food- song- movie?

Color: Purple

Food: Ice cream (Coffee heath bar crunch)

Song: U2 Where the Streets have no Name, almost anything by Coldplay, Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder, and Double Dutch Bus.

Movie: Love Actually, Family Stone, Braveheart, Boonedock Saints

What's the funniest pick up line ever used on you?

You’re eyes are as blue as window cleaner (My eyes are brown).

What's the one thing you can't live without?

My family and friends.

And finally...

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it's raining heavily, when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a bus:

-An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.

-An old friend who once saved your life.

-The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

You can only fit one person in your car, who would you choose to offer a ride to?

The old lady. My friend would understand and I already have the perfect partner in my life.

Thanks for being with us today Lydia, I hope you had fun answering the questions. To finish lets have a look at a couple of Lydia's Books. If your interested in seeing more of Lydia's books please visit www.LydiaMichaels.org  

Destiny Calls by Lydia Michaels (winner of the Top Bite Award from Bitten by Paranormal Romance).

After making the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his perfect brother and mate, Cain Hartzler’s patience with Destiny has grown thin. Resigned to an eternity spent alone, Cain decides it’s time to choose his own Destiny once and for all. But every choice he makes holds a greater consequence than the last.

There is only so much an immortal heart can take, and once Destiny Santos grabs hold of Cain’s, he is changed forever. Cain’s ever-confident bad-boy reputation is shaken to the core by this mere mortal, and he will do anything to have her, but another female has set her heart on Cain, and he must make an impossible choice once again.

A storm unlike any other is coming, The Order is changing, and passion will burn hotter than ever before when Cain Hartzler is finally pushed too far. There is no escaping Destiny when she calls!

 

White Chocolate by Lydia Michaels

Kat D’Angelo’s bittersweet life is about to get decadent. Four years after the scandal of her young pregnancy, Kat has finally managed to come to terms with her otherwise lackluster life. Budgeted to the penny and scheduled to the minute, Kat’s highest priority is her daughter, Mia. After being deserted by Mia’s father, abandoned by her conservative family, and broke to the point of near starvation, Kat has grown into a woman incapable of trusting others with her happiness. She is determined, for the sake of her daughter, to maintain a simple, organized life, free of unnecessary pleasures. However, when Tyson Adams, a successful, African American entrepreneur, becomes her new neighbor, Kat learns that some pleasures are too sweet to resist.

A beautiful telling of the power of love, the fear of diversity and a mother’s unconditional sacrifice that bursts with emotion, touches the heart, and erupts with passion. Unforgettable.