Meet L A Michaels

Today we’d like to introduce you to L A Michaels. 

Hi L A, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My writing journey started informally back in elementary school when I wrote a play for the Lake Orion/ Oxford- Boys and Girls Club. However, the idea for my most recent published novel; “Technically Magic” came about when I was three years old and stuck with me throughout my life. At eighteen years old I had written probably five different drafts for “Technically Magic” along with a series of scripts for a potential television version. I desperately wanted it to work as a novel but I had no idea how to go about getting it published so I “trunked” it until I could figure out what I was doing. In the meantime, I wanted to continue writing. I had come up with several other ideas throughout middle and high school for different books. One of which was a series entitled “Grosse Pointe: The Series.” This story essentially followed a reverse “Beverly Hills: 90210” story in which a family moves from the elite Upper West Side of Manhattan to the midwest. The twist being that they weren’t exactly slumming it in regards to their new location. However, they lost their money and status with the move. Aside from the main family known as the Kingsley’s which consisted of an older sister and her fiancé taking in her brother and sister nothing about the supporting cast worked. Years later I would develop a different story involving two rival sisters who married into rival families. I would later incorporate the Kingsley family into that story. A few years later I really wanted to get published. I still had no idea how to go about doing it. So, instead of going back to “Technically Magic” I went back to the story that included the two rival sisters along with the Kingsley family. It was entitled… The Turning Tides. It played into daytime soap opera themes and cliches but told them through my lens and placed them in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and the surrounding areas as opposed to one of the coasts as daytime has normally placed soaps. I would create a story bible that would span from the 1960s through the then present era of the mid-2010s. Later I would go back to expand to the 1950s. I would eventually decide that the title didn’t work and remembered the original title for the soap opera “One Life to Live;” “Between Heaven and Hell.” “Between Heaven and Hell” or BHH as I label it sometimes is so far a trilogy plus a short novella consisting of; “Between Heaven and Hell,” “The Innocent Years,” and “The Youngish Marrieds” with the novella being entitled “Our Private World Apart.” All of which have titles inspired by daytime soap references. A spin-off novel entitled “The Rainbow’s End” is scheduled to be released before summer of this year with the main series returning next year. “Technically Magic” was finally released this year in January after having written the final draft over the course of 2020 and 2021. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t call my journey as an indie author to be a smooth road. However, I would say that as time has gone on that same road has gotten a lot smoother as time goes by. There are of course writers’ groups online and even YouTube channels that tell you how to write a novel. When you write your first novel my advice to you is actually listen to those groups. However, that doesn’t mean follow them to a T. But do follow their advice. Writing and publishing are two very different things that are of course interconnected. When you eliminate a middle man of a traditional publisher you are essentially expected to do all the heavy lifting. Which means finding an editor, proofreader, format person, someone to create a cover, and then on top of all of that you have to do all the advertising yourself. I went about this by going about creating some form of a social media following. Which is slowly but steadily growing as time has gone on. I mostly have posted book promotions done by one artist up until this year when we amicably parted ways. 

The publishing world in itself is confusing. The self-publishing world can be twice as confusing. However, for me, I purposely picked BHH as a test ground to see how this would work. That version of BHH is no longer available for sale… I’ve learned with each release new and different (normally better) things to make things go from bumpy to smooth. There are guidelines and expectations that apply for traditional publishing that do not apply for self-publishing. One that might shock people… You don’t need to do a pre-order. You can as a form of pre-release advertisement but they aren’t necessary. I also went through several cover format people before finally landing on the right one with my third physical release which was a stand-alone novel that was published in November 2020. BHH was originally released in 2018. I re-released the first novel along with that stand-alone to a much better result with a new cover, a thinner book (that retained the same exact text), and something you honestly wouldn’t be able to distinguish between indie and traditional. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an independently published author under my private label of “LML Books.” I’ve so far published five physical books along with a digital-only novella. My 6th book is set to be released sometime between the end of March or beginning of April and is entitled “The Rainbow’s End.” 

The main genre that I tend to tackle is women lit with a lean towards romantic plots. I’d proudly call myself a romance author but there are specific rules that technically speaking don’t put me in that category as of now. One day I may write a true-to-form romance but I enjoy going beyond just that of looking at a couple on their way from strangers to lovers to potential soulmates. I love character studies. I enjoy getting to know the characters. Which of course doesn’t set me apart in any way from other authors. My most recent release “Technically Magic” is first book in what would be considered urban fantasy. My biggest inspirations as an author are first and foremost; the late great Jackie Collins. Then Candace Bushnell and Karina Halle have both played a part in the types of stories I tend to enjoy writing. 

My novels are first and foremost written about things that I know. With the exception of one novel which is set in Kansas (I lived there over the course of a year in high school), my novels are all set in Michigan. Why? I know Michigan. There are other stories set in Michigan but in my opinion not enough as most stories tend to gravitate towards New York or California. I’ve always made it a goal even from a young age to avoid that trope. I also try to include diverse casts. The lack of Hispanic representation in media within the US is disappointing to say the very least. Two out of the three main families in the BHH series are of Hispanic decent thanks to the characters of Delia Knight marrying into the Knight family in the late 50s and Nadia Bloom marrying into the Fitzpatrick family in the early 70s. My leading man throughout the first arc; “Cliff Knight” is a darker-skinned Hispanic man. I also try to normalize the concept of people just being friends or falling for one another without the concept of race playing into those friendships. The main character of Vivica Weston is friends with a mostly diverse group. I also explore several LGBTQ/ Queer ideas within all my novels. There are several main characters within BHH that identify as queer. The main character in “Technically Magic;” Aarick Langston is pan-sexual and non-binary. However, the book is set in 2007 through 2010 when the term non-binary was not really used. It’s mostly up to subtext within the first novel but that subtext is right in your face. 

I feel that what sets me apart is that I am very much involved in the behind-the-scenes process of my books. I can’t speak for every indie author but I have developed a team of people that have helped me achieve the best version of my novels. However, I still come up with the cover concepts and images. I just have people who are better at formatting and drawing execute them (and have been lifesavers in the process). Each cover you see is a concept completely from my head down to their facial expressions. 

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I do believe in the concept of luck whether it be good or bad. I’d say that in terms of bad luck that I tend to have to reschedule releases a lot. Which is why I’ve made it a goal going forward to only announce releases within the days of the books actually going live. When you are essentially a team that is made up of yourself with four other people (a total of five) there are going to be some easy-to-fix problems along the way. 

My novel “The Youngish Marrieds” had the biggest setback. I sent the wrong file… I had an unedited version and an edited version. I sent the wrong one in to be formatted and that set things back an additional two weeks. 

In terms of good luck. I’ve had success with my covers. They are always eye-catching. I’ve had increased sales and continued sales for that matter as I’ve continued to release novels. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lamichaelsauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlamichaels
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lamichaels1995

Image Credits:
Anthony Lobaito
L A Michaels
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