Have you read it? Into the Fire

“Have you ever had phantom pains? An ache in your body you just can’t seem to relieve?... This book causes those at your very core.. your heart and soul. I was enraptured at chapter two and had my own “binge read” episode because this novel, it devours... it is that passionate.. that heartbreakingly beautiful. It isn’t your typical “happily ever after” but a gripping, chest achingly, REAL fairytale.”

— Amazon Review

I dare you to read this book. If you're a fan of From the Wreckage you should read it. If you're a fan of angst; read it. Like stories similar to Looking for Alaska, If I Stay, Before I Fall? Read it.

One book. 100k words. One beautiful tale. All platforms.
https://michelegmillerbooks.squarespace.com/ftwseries

I’ve told the story many times. The story of how I was finishing up Out of Ruins and I created a character named Dani:

“According to my therapist, I give up things I love to punish myself.”

“From what?” asks a small girl about his age. She’s twisted up; her slim legs crossed and wrapped around each other, her arms folded around her waist. She looks like a human pretzel. She wears long pants and sleeves, even in summer, and West guesses she probably has an issue with self-harm. He learned early on in his stay that many of the patients here have serious issues. More serious than he thought his ever were. He looks at the girl. Her brown eyes are huge, almost like a cartoon Bambi's eyes popping out of her head. They’re misplaced amongst the other, more fragile features of her tiny face.

“What are you punishing yourself for?” she asks, sitting straighter now. “What did you do?”

“Why are you here?” he counters snidely and leans back in his metal chair.

Without blinking, Danica pulls the sleeve of her long, black tee up and flashes her arm at West. Her forearm is covered in precise little lines of scars. Row after row of white scratches attesting to the fact that she does, or did, self-mutilate. She’s not shy about it, though. She leans over and pulls up one loose leg of her sweatpants and then the other. He holds his breath as he takes in the massive scars covering her calves. They look like burn scars. Old and healed over, but they still cover her shins and calves.

“I punish myself because I lived.”

That last line was all it took for me to NEED to know the rest of her story. Are you intrigued? Want to know how Danica Evans came to be in the same place as West? Want to know her past, her present, if she finds her fairytale future? Read Into the Fire today!

“Once again, Michele has crafted a painfully beautiful story with characters that reach inside and pull on your heartstrings. This book will make you feel. It will devastate you but it will also heal you. So grab some tissues and prepare yourself for an emotional journey.”

— Amazon Review

The one with my life confession...

There are winter trees, aka Christmas decorations, on my mantle. It is February 18th.

My mantle is the one place I decorate seasonally. I used to do more—hand towels in the kitchen, baubles in the foyer and on tables—but I adopted minimalism into my life a few years back. For the record, when I say minimalism what I really mean is don’t open the garage, attic, or any closets or you will be swallowed whole by the vast amount of items I’m “storing.”

Yes, minimalism is a work in progress.

Back to my mantle. Trees. Typically, I remove the January winter trees and find a cute love saying, candles, or maybe put a few jars with candy on the mantle. Possibly, a sweet family picture. But this year I somehow missed the changeover from the longest January ever to the month of love.

Why? How? February is my birth month. It’s not like I didn’t know it was coming up.
I imagine it had something to do with: a weekend visit from friends, a winter dance showcase, a national anthem singing at the NBA game, an out of town dance convention the weekend after said birthday, tornados on said birthday, a hubby out of town for work, and a choir performance.
Oh right, life.

Life is why my mantle is aesthetically behind. Why my clean clothes are still in the basket. Why the grass isn’t mowed. The kitchen is primed but not painted. Why our dogs need haircuts, why our son needs a haircut. Why I need hair color!

Life is why nothing in my house is all that perfect right now. It is also why my family is happy. Why I’m happy.

So, excuse me for the messy bun, and the still half-finished projects all around our home.
We’re living our best lives.

I hope you’ll ignore the mess and remember to live too.

---

“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

— Dolly Parton

The one with From the Wreckage series updates...

Things change, right?

When I originally wrote From the Wreckage it was a trilogy following small-town sweetheart, Jules, and a somewhat complicated ex-football player named West. As West’s story developed, I met Dani, the scarred girl with an intriguing view on life.

What’s up, Dani? I had to know, and thus, Into the Fire was born.

Soon I decided Austin, West’s seemingly put-together party boy brother needed his own tale, and I wanted to write a story about Jess, a newcomer to West and Jules’ lives, too. Okay, cool, three more books. I would spin them off and call them the Wrecked series. Appropriate, no? Books about wrecked people from the From the Wreckage world.

Dani came first. I had the amazing Regina Wamba of Mae I Designs create her cover and I never looked back.

That’s a lie.

After publishing Into the Fire, I found myself living with a bought of ‘you’re a fraud’ for the better half of a year. After the success of From the Wreckage, I was sure nothing would be good enough again. It took going back to my boy West for me to find happiness writing again. Thus, West: a From the Wreckage POV novel was born.

Firmly back in the Rutledge boys’ headspace, After the Fall, Austin’s story, came easy. What didn’t come as easy was realizing Into the Fire had never picked up traction with readers. Did it suck? Was it the cover, the blurb? There are no concrete answers, but seeing Dani’s story—one I am very attached to—flounder made me change my marketing decisions. Austin’s cover/title, and that of West’s book, needed to be themed the same as the original trilogy.

I wanted readers to KNOW these books were related. So, out went the idea of the Wrecked series and in came one continuous series of books.

I had my fabulous designer friend Designed by Starla reimage the entire series, except Into the Fire, and was happy. Unfortunately, Into the Fire was a beautiful exclusive shot and design created by Regina that I could not adjust to Starla’s design. I decided to sit on it for a while because it’s a beautiful design.

Fast forward to now. 2020 (what!?). The cover of From the Wreckage is very symbolic—Jules’ narrates the entire story from that chair. The backpack, super important—but does it fit the genre? Books, even freebies, are hard to sell these days. I’m not only an author. I’m a marketing manager, a PR person, an accountant. I run this shop we have dubbed Enchanted Ink Press so I must do what’s best for these characters and my business.

Back to the drawing board.

From the Wreckage now has a new cover shot. One I hope speaks to readers as to exactly what type of story I told. This is a love story. Yes, there is drama and realism and a natural disaster, but above all, it is a story of two people overcoming great odds and falling in love.

Since I changed From the Wreckage, I figured it was time to adjust Dani’s cover too. I’m so happy I did. The ENTIRE series now shares the same fonts and esthetics. It’s so easy to see their connection. I hope this change makes it easier for readers to identify as a brand.

So, I gave you that entire story to basically say From the Wreckage and Into the Fire have NEW pretty covers! And I have updated the reading order in the blurbs on all sites to read as follows:

The From the Wreckage series is a Young Adult to New Adult series with one trilogy and multiple character spin-offs. Please see the reading order below:

Jules and West's story

1. From the Wreckage

2. Out of Ruins

3. All that Remains

Spin-offs best read in order but CAN be read alone

4. West: A POV novel of From the Wreckage

5. Into the Fire: Dani's story

6. After the Fall: Austin's story

I am working with Amazon to get the series numbering correct. They have never had it right to begin with and they wouldn’t add Into the Fire to the series because the cover previously said Wrecked series on it. Sigh.

This is my life. These are the issues that keep me from writing new words. Hopefully, we’ll get it straight soon. Until then check out the pretties—

Look at them all in a row now. Don’t they look perfect together?

One more week! Tyalbrook 3

If your future has already been seen,
If your entire life has played out according to a prophecy...
Can you still control your own fate?

A QUEEN destined to save the races…
A GUARDIAN who won’t be denied…
A SACRIFICE that will test them both…

The Prophecy of Tyalbrook is realized in this epic conclusion to Skye and Xander’s journey.

Add to your TBR on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/Tyalbrook3_GR

Preorder on Amazon, Apple Books, Smashwords, Kobo, B&N: https://books2read.com/Tyalbrook3