Cover Reveal! Michelle McLean's So You Have to Write a Poem!

I am very pleased to finally show off the cover of my upcoming non-fiction release, So You Have to Write a Poem: A Guide for the Non-Poetic :) This book has been a very long time coming (as it was once part of my essay guidebook, Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers). So I am very, very excited that it will finally be out in the world on Oct 6th! So....here it is :)

At some point, every student must not only learn about different poetic forms, but try their hand at penning a few. It can be daunting, even for those who enjoy poetry.

Following the same plain language, straight forward vein of Ms. McLean’s Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers, So You Have to Write a Poem gives novices an easy-to-read guide with simple step-by-step processes and fun examples while giving more advanced poets a technical guide to the rules behind all their favorite poetic forms.

This volume includes nine forms of poetry, along with overviews on poetry basics like meter and rhyme scheme, detailed, easy-to-understand instructions and “cheat sheets” that outline the rules for each form of poetry, and a section with a detailed explanation of how to analyze a poem.

(The cover was designed by OA's own extremely talented Toni Kerr!)

Winner of Michelle's Giveaway

The winner of my Anniversary giveaway is Rachel Crisman!!! Congrats and happy reading!!

Two Anniversaries, A New Release, and a Giveaway!!

January is a special writing month for me. It is the anniversary of two very big milestones in my career. On January 20, 2011, my very first book, Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers, was released from Career Press, making me a published author for the very first time.

Two years later, on January 21, 2013, another huge milestone - my very first novel, To Trust a Thief, was released from Entangled's Scandalous imprint.

And this year, yet another huge and wonderful milestone - the final book in my very first trilogy, A Bandit's Betrayed Heart (Blood Blade Sisters #3) will be released by Entangled's Scandalous imprint on January 13th.

Two anniversaries and a final installment release are just too much of a pile of wonderful to pass up without a celebration :) SO....how does a $20 gift card sound? :D Just fill out the form below and I'll announce the winner next Thursday :D

Entangled Ever After Blog Tour of Spooky Awesomeness!

To celebrate all the spooktacular releases this month, including our own Michelle Mclean's Wish Upon a Star (squeee!!!), Ever After is doing a joint Virtual Book Tour. And there are a TON of awesome prizes to be had.  :D

The tour launched yesterday and each day (from today through Oct 8th) will spotlight a different book in the line up. Michelle's book, Wish Upon a Star, will be spotlighted on Monday, Oct 7th.

So check out all the awesome books that have just released and scroll down to start entering those giveaways!!

Visit Entangled's blog HERE for tour stops. Michelle will be giving away a $20 gift card and the seriously fabulous Wish Upon a Star necklace created by the very talented Bonny Anderson(see below). Good luck with the giveaways and be sure to check out all these amazing books!

Find Your Ever After in Under An Hour

Ruby Hill by Sarah Ballance

From her earliest memories, Ashley Pearce has been drawn to Ruby Hill Lunatic Asylum, and she's not the only one. Decades after the abandoned hospital ended its institutional reign of torture and neglect, something lurks in the shadows. Since she’s a paranormal investigator, it's Ashley's job to find out what.

Crime scene expert Corbin Malone doesn't believe in ghosts. A born skeptic, he has no interest in entertaining the hype surrounding the mysterious deaths at Ruby Hill, but he won't turn his back while more women die. He agrees to an overnight investigation, never expecting his first encounter would be with the woman he pushed away a year ago. But when he discovers Ashley is a target, he learns his greatest fear isn't living with his own demons, but losing her for good.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

One Thousand and One Nights by Ruth Browne

Sheri spends her days fighting zombies and her nights chained to a wall, earning her every breath by telling stories to her captor Aleksy—stories that make them both forget the ruined world. Sheri could put up with the conditions—at least she knows her sister is safe in the community Aleksy leads—until she realizes she’s falling for him...even though he wants her dead.

When Aleksy allowed Sheri and her sister into his compound, he didn’t know about the zombie bite on her back. It's only a matter of time before she turns into one of the rising dead and threatens their existence, but Aleksy has a secret need for Sheri and her stories. For everyone’s safety, he chains her to his bedroom wall, hoping for just one more day. But how long will the community allow Aleksy to ignore his own rule: always kill the infected. Always.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Mercy by Jan Coffey

Julia Klein’s life has begun to unravel—her daughter Amy has been suspended from school, Julia is about to lose her job, and her boyfriend Garrett is being transferred thousands of miles away. Overwhelmed, she and Amy leave for a weekend at a rambling old colonial inn. Julia never suspects that Garrett, desperate to find a way to keep Julia in his life, has decided to surprise her by joining them. Nor does she expect her daughter to befriend a mischievous ghost...or that she herself would be possessed by the malevolent spirit of a long-dead mother.

As a dark secret emerges, Julia, Amy, and Garrett find themselves pitted in a fight for survival against a savage presence that intends to resurrect/repeat/relive a horrible crime committed two centuries ago. And this time, Amy and Julia will be the victims.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Haunted Chemisty by Lindsey Loucks

When bookish college co-ed Alexis heads to the laundry room in her new apartment, she runs into Ian Reese, the chem lab partner she crushed on all last semester. And the guy who stood her up on their first date. But she’s down for an awkward reunion, and no better place than her creepy laundry room.

Ian has every intention of making amends, but just when Alexis begins to trust him again, a new threat calls more than their future together into question. A ghost from the apartment’s past is hellbent on revenge, and if he wants to get his girl, he’ll have to get the ghost first.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Wish Upon a Star by Michelle McLean

Ceri McKinley never stopped wishing that her ex-fiancé Jason Crickett would come back into her life. But when he finally does, he comes with a request that puts them both—and all of humanity—into jeopardy.

Jason only wants two things: to bury his brother properly and to convince Ceri to trust him again after he jilted her. But when Ceri agrees to help him get his brother back, they end up fighting for their lives as a zombie uprising threatens them all.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Northern Light by E.J. Russell

Nothing gives art fraud investigator Luke Morganstern a bigger rush than busting forgers, the low-life criminals who dare victimize true artists. But when his latest job sends him to a remote cabin in the Oregon Coast Range, he’s stunned to discover the alleged forger is his former lover, Stefan Cobbe, the most gifted painter Luke has ever known.

Stefan, left homeless and destitute after the death of his wealthy partner, doesn’t exactly deny the forgery -- he claims he doesn’t remember, an excuse Luke can’t accept.

But Luke’s elderly client suggests Stefan may be telling the truth and presents another possibility – a dark presence in the woods, a supernatural fury simmering for decades. Luke must face down his fear of the uncanny – and admit his feelings for Stefan – if either of them is to survive.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

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A New Release!! A Bandit's Broken Heart by Michelle McLean

Toni graciously let me steal her day so I could share my new release with you :) A Bandit's Broken Heart is the second book in the Blood Blade Sisters trilogy and tells the eldest sister, Brynne's, story. My blog tour will be kicking up next week (and we'll be giving away some fun prizes so stay tuned!). But for now, here is the gorgeous cover, blurb and book trailer! :)

A Bandit's Broken Heart (Blood Blade Sisters #2)

A woman with a past

Widowed mother, Brynne Richardson, gave up her bandit activities when she left California to make a fresh start with her young daughter in Boston. Working for a handsome doctor fulfills her need to be useful and independent, but he creates another yearning she cant deny.

A man with a purpose

Dr. Richard Oliver assumes Brynne is just another debutante hunting for a rich husband, until she intrigues him with her steady hand for stitchesand guns. He cant put her out of his mind, but the young widow has mysteries hes determined to unravel.

A love in danger

When smugglers raid the much-needed supplies from the clinic, Brynne must resurrect her bandit persona for the good of the sick and the poor. Her secret life threatens to destroy everything shes worked so hard to protect her life, her family and her heart.

 Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | All Romance eBooks | Add to Goodreads

Hero Wars- A giveaway

Heads up for a fabulous contest at Entangled—HERO WARS

Wednesday, April 17th!

The heros are chosen (Go Leo!!) and this virtual coliseum awaits your attendance. Why, yes! There will be prizes! Entangled is giving a Nook to one lucky winner, along with several amazing runner-up prizes. (Team Leo!!)

Who are these spectacular heros? (LEO! LEO!) Marquess of Camryn "Cam", Leo Forrester (SQUEE!!!), and Justin Rodale. (from authors Diana Quincy, Michelle McLean (WOO HOO!!! Congrats, Michelle!!), and Robyn DeHart respectively).

Check out these swoon-worthy men (especially Leo, by our own Michelle McLean) and be at the Scandalous Facebook Page on Wednesday, April 17th, between 12-2pm EST.

Go Team Leo!

Book Trailer Reveal for To Trust a Thief

Minuette Sinclair thought her biggest problem was getting out of her aunt’s finishing school a proper Victorian lady. But her parents are in trouble and her fake fiancé is too. A legendary lost necklace might be their salvation, and Min is determined to find it and use it to buy her family and fiancé out of their misfortunes.  

Unexpected competition in the form of master thief Bryant Westley has Min tripping over her own feet to get to the treasure first. Desperate, she can’t refuse Bryant’s offer to partner up in the search – even though she knows she can’t trust him. Things become more complicated when Min realizes that her convenient engagement means more to her fake fiancé than her. Worse, she’s in love with Bryant, a distraction she can’t afford. Besides, if she can’t trust him with the treasure, how can she trust him with her heart?

To Trust a Thief Release Day Treasure Hunt!!

To Trust a Thief releases today!!

As a hunt for a priceless necklace is at the center of my story, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a little fun and have a treasure hunt of my own :D

Here’s the rundown – for the next five days, you can join me in a treasure hunt for five fabulous prizes. I’ll be making the rounds on my blog and four other fabulous blogs and will leave a clue at each one.

The clue will give you a hint both as to what the prize is, and where you need to go on our To Trust a Thief treasure map to enter the giveaway for that day. You’ll also get a few snippets of the book and a chance for extra entries if you solve a special riddle.

Here are the Treasure Hunt blog stops:

Day 1 - Monday Jan 21st – My Blog 
Day 2 - Tuesday, January 22 -- Romance Junkies 
Day 3 - Wednesday, January 23 -- Cocktails and Books
Day 4 - Thursday, January 24 -- Romance Book Junkies
Day 5 - Friday, January 25 -- Romance Reviews Today

Each giveaway will run for a week, so if you miss stop you can always go back and catch up.

So come celebrate To Trust a Thief's release with me and have a little fun hunting for your own treasure! :)

When I Grow Up I Want To Be...

I wanted to be a lot of things when I grew up. An astronaut (being bad at math, afraid of heights, and claustrophobic sort of made this one unfeasible); a teacher; a librarian (sensing a theme here). But mostly, a writer. I can remember wanting to be other things, but I think being a writer was always in there.

My mom called recently and said she found a book I'd written in 1st grade. I don't remember that one. But I did remember another one. So I dug through my files last night and found this:

I wrote this in 5th grade when I was 10 years old for the Young Author's Book Fair :D I read it to my son as a bedtime story and he thought it was pretty cool - which made me feel kinda proud :D I wrote a sequel to it the next year, which flopped and burned (and after reading the both of them, I could see why lol I think I'd written it quickly because the deadline was almost up and turned in a first draft. The first book was MUCH better).

Here are the opening paragraphs:

My heart started pounding as the waves crashed against the side of the boat. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt cold sea water rush over my sneakers. I picked up a bucket and started bailing water out of the canoe. I looked back and saw the soldier's canoe coming up behind me. I wondered why soldiers would be chasing me, a 15 year old boy. I hadn't committed a crime, I had just run away from the island orphanage.

Suddenly a huge ice beast rose up in front of me. The soldiers were still in back of me. I tried to stop the boat but the oars broke. I crashed into the beast!

~~~

Hehe ahhh that brings back memories :D Interesting to see that I was writing a MG/YA (there was a bit of romance) with a male main character :D I still do the YA and romance - haven't done a male MC in a while though.

Did you always want to be a writer? When did you know?

A Happy St. Patrick's Day Announcement :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the OA!!!!!

Well, I'm sure most of you have heard the news but I just had to celebrate with my awesome OA peeps :)

I am very happy to announce that my historical romantic suspense novel TREASURED LIES will be published by Entangled Publishing's new historical romance line Scandalous in Nov this year! Here is the PM listing:

Michelle McLean's TREASURED LIES, in which a woman reluctantly agrees to become engaged to make her aunt and her fiance's grandmother happy but finding a lost treasure could gain her freedom; in searching for that, she may lose her heart, to Erin Molta at Entangled Scandalous, for publication in November 2012 (World).

I want to send my OA ladies a HUGE thank you for all their support. This sale has been an extremely long time in coming (this poor book has been through A LOT!) :) And I couldn't have made it this far without all the help I get from my writer buds :) THANK YOU THANK YOU! :)

Picture Book Party!

Well, taking a trip over to the younger side of things, I am very thrilled to announce that my picture book, A Magical World, has finally gone live on several sites. You can now purchase the e-version for the Nook at Barnes and Noble, for all Apple products at iBooks, the epub version for just about any ereader on Smashwords, and it will be available in the next week or so on Amazon, Borders, Sony, Diesel, and Scrollmotion. The print version is available at Lulu, and should be up everywhere else by the end of the summer.

 Alex and his sister Izzy are stuck inside during one stormy, rainy week. But, they still manage to have the most spectacular adventures. They sail the seven seas on a pirate ship, swing on jungle vines, swim through the ocean, roam with the dinosaurs, and visit many other fantastic places! Just how, they never tell a soul. They simply smile and wink and zip their lips, and then disappear into their room. Into a wonderful, magical world.

To celebrate, I'm giving away a free coupon for a copy of the ebook along with an adorable little tote bag :D

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me where you would go, and who, or what, would you be, if you could close your eyes and get whisked away into a magical world of your own :)

For those who don't have ereaders, no worries! The coupon will get you a digital copy that can be read on any ereader or computer, so if you can leave a comment, you can get the book :D

Oh! And for those of you anxiously awaiting the results of our July Mystery Agent contest, we just want to assure you that they will be posted TOMORROW! And we will be hosting another awesome agent on August 1st, so stay tuned for details!!

Pleased to Meet You :) and A Contest!

Since today is my very first post (yay!) I thought I’d throw a little party to celebrate :D Check out the end of the post for details. But first things first….

Hi *waves* My name is Michelle. Nice to meet ya :D

I wanted to be a lot of different things “when I grew up” but looking back on it, being a writer was pretty inevitable. Books are my life and always have been. I’m perfectly happy spending long periods of time as a loner. I have a beyond overactive imagination. I love to get sucked into other worlds. I like to learn. I'm creative. I'm passionate. All of these things have been a part of what makes me ME since the day I was born. I think I've been a writer since the moment I took my first breath and maybe even before :) It's who I am. It's how I see the world. It's how I interact with people and with my environment.

Have you seen Beauty and the Beast (the Disney version)? I am soooo Belle. Seriously, it’s scary. I watched the movie with my daughter yesterday. Every time I watch this film, I’m reminded of the first time I saw it.

My whole family (parents, siblings, cousins, a couple friends) went to the theater. We filled up an entire middle row. I sat at the very end. The lights went down, the movie began, we saw the background story on the Beast….and then Belle wandered onto the screen, basket on her arm, nose in her book.

Every single one of the fifteen or so people in our group, in unison, leaned over and stared at me, laughing their heads off. And continued laughing through Belle’s enthusiastic bookstore visit.

Okay, so yeah, maybe you need a crow bar to get the book out of my hand…and maybe occasionally a trip to the bookstore (or office supply store, come to think of it) will make me go crazier than my five year old on caffeine, but hey, I am who I am. (My husband just did a full on snort at the word “occasionally.” So rude.) ;-)

My whole life I’ve had my nose stuck in a book. My mom used to find me sitting behind the couch with a stack of encyclopedias (which, fyi, are a lot more entertaining to read than one might think). I always, ALWAYS have a book. I never leave home without one :)

That insatiable love of reading turned into diaries filled with bad poetry and half written stories, and one day, several years ago, I typed the words THE END on a fully formed novel. And I was hooked.

What about you? Have you always been a writer, no matter what other professions you may have (or still do) worked in along the way? If not, what started the journey for you?

Contest Deets!

I'd love for all my new friends to meet my old friends, and according to my husband my bookshelves are in serious danger of collapsing, and we have no room for another one, sooooo, here's what I've come up with:

For every 5 new followers we get here at the Operation Awesome Blog, I will give away 1 book. Starting right now (with 153 followers), 7am PST going till 11:59pm on Sat the 24th. If we get more than 50 new followers, (because I don't know if I can bear to give away more than 10 books LOL), I'll throw in a $20 gift certificate to the online book retailer of your choice (B&N/Borders/Amazon).*

To Enter:

1. Be or become a follower at Operation Awesome.
2. Give me a shout out in the comments on this post or my post at my personal blog HERE.

That's it! :)

Winner will be announced next Sunday. Good luck!

*International entries are welcome. If an international contestant wins, I'll add $10 to the gift certificate instead of sending books.