The Writer's View: Michelle Garren Flye

This post is a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michelle will be awarding promotional postcards from Carina Press with 10% off coupons to one commenter at every stop, and a $10 Amazon GC + a copy of Bartlett's Poems for Occasions, which inspired part of the book to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click the banner above to see the other stops on the tour.

My Nest
By
Michelle Garren Flye

I recently made the decision to return to my writing space. My real writing space, that is. I’m a mom and over the summer I found that I actually got way more writing done if I stayed downstairs where the action was.

(Who am I kidding? It’s not just the summer. Whenever my kids are home, I get more writing done if I’m downstairs to referee and stay on top of things—sometimes literally.)

But with the beginning of the school year, I decided I needed to have dedicated writing time in the mornings when my kids are gone and the best place to do that would be in my “nest”. I call it a “nest” instead of an “office” because, although it has my desk in it, it has no walls on two sides. It’s really a glorified landing outside the master bedroom, but it has the advantage of overlooking the kitchen to the right and the front door to the left. I’ve filled this space with the things that inspire me: prayer beads made from lotus seeds; my favorite (and most comprehensive) book of poetry; bookshelves made from cabinets discarded from my alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill; (ahem) toys, specifically Jack Sparrow and Batman; my grandmother’s rocking chair; and a dessicated rose from my fifteenth wedding anniversary—to name a few. On the wall behind my rolltop desk are my favorite personal paintings. One by a friend, one I’ve had since childhood that was painted for me by my best friend’s mother, another by my brother-in-law.

My favorite thing about my nest is the view. If I turn to my left, I can see the creek that runs outside my house. Gorgeous trees (cypress and live oak, I think), draped with thick Spanish moss, overhang the dock and you can just glimpse the forest on the other side of the creek from my seat. I love looking at the water because it’s always changing. Sometimes it’s glassy and still, sometimes full of ripples, and during hurricanes I have seen that three to six feet of water become downright turbulent. Today it looks like silky glass, reflecting a distorted blue sky.

I am glad to be back in my little nest. I believe my best work comes from what I love and up here, I am surrounded by love, family and a perfect view of beauty to inspire me.

About the Author:

Michelle Garren Flye is a mother, writer and editor based in coastal North Carolina. She obtained her degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992. Not liking the hours required of a journalist, she went on to obtain a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1997. When her first child was born in 2000, she packed her diplomas away and began a new life as a stay-at-home mom, which fortunately afforded her the opportunity to pursue her writing on a semi-regular basis.

Michelle has served in various capacities for several online and print literary endeavors, including Dark Recesses, edifice WRECKED, Horror Library, Butcher Shop Quartet, and Tattered Souls.

Michelle is the author of three romance novels, Where the Heart Lies (Carina Press 2012), Winter Solstice (Lyrical Press 2011) and Secrets of the Lotus (Lyrical Press 2010). Michelle also self-published a fiction book titled Weeds and Flowers for the Kindle in December 2011.

Find Michelle online at

Blog: BREATHE: http://michellegflye.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Garren-Flye/132688623422175
Twitter: @michellegflye

All widowed Alicia Galloway has left of her war-hero husband are the flag that draped his coffin and his final wishes: to move to his hometown, take over the family bookstore and enjoy a simple, quiet life with their two small children. When she arrives, her husband’s best friend makes that new life anything but simple. How can she be so drawn to Liam Addison?

Liam only intended to help Alicia get settled. But one unexpected kiss awakens his long-held forbidden feelings. Soon, the town busybodies swoop in to warn Alicia away from him. Because no matter the man he’s become, he’ll never live down his reputation as town troublemaker and wolfish womanizer.

No one wants the war hero’s sweet widow and the supposedly former bad boy together. But the more everyone tries to keep them apart, the closer he and Alicia get. And the more determined Liam is to prove he’s a changed man. Will it be enough to convince Alicia to let a new love in her life?