SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Michell Burgan!

Joining me today in The Loft is new Extasy author Michell Burgan. Michell writes Sci-Fi adult, and dark romance as well as tales of the supernatural. Her stories feature strong, independent, take-charge, plus-size women. No matter their age, they lead their fellow cast to great conclusions. When not writing, Michell pursues other creative tasks, such as drawing, painting, working with acrylic, or taking photos. The single mother of a young adult, Michell resides in her home state of Texas.

Author Michell Burgan

S: Welcome to The Loft, Michell!

What do you think is the biggest issue facing romance authors today?

M: Keeping their writing fresh and engaging for readers. Finding a new twist to make their story fresh. In my case and other authors who write spicy romance, it's keeping the story balanced between the spice and the story.

S: Finding that balance is extremely important.

If you could change one thing in the book publishing industry, what would it be?

M: I understand that publishing is a business, but publishers could benefit from not being super-exclusive. There are so many talented writers out there who need the experience of top-notch editors and publishing professionals, but can't afford to pay outrageous fees. There are other ways to make it feasible for both sides. So whether it is profit share, payment plans, or offering smaller cost-efficient classes, those services need to be available. Publishers could also hold small book festivals and invite smaller authors to help them get exposure.

S: Well-edited and correctly formatted manuscripts are essential to the submission process. I have editing experience, but I also utilize editing software. For me, it's a matter of professionalism.

Why write romance?

M: Usually, people write what they read and that is the case with me. I love a good romance story with lots of twists. I do prefer supernatural, Sci-Fi, or dark romance, but a cute cozy romance is fun sometimes. The one thing these stories almost always have in common is a lead female character who is usually not confident in herself without the main male character to show her she's worth everything. The female character is also usually a smaller physically-built woman. I want to see more plus-size women and more strong, confident female characters before the male character even shows up in the story. There weren't many of those stories out there. And you know what they say, "If the story you want to read is not out there it's because you haven't written it yet." So that's what I did. I wrote a story that I wanted to read and that I felt had the representation I wanted to see out in the world.

S: How do you develop your characters? Do you use photos or a vision board?

M: When developing characters, it kind of varies for me. I normally decide what my world is going to be first. Then I start with names. I always try to pick names that are very different but also fit the world I am trying to build. Once I decide on names, their personalities begin to fall into place. For example, the main character in a new series I am working on is Mars Ramsey Centaurus. This name tells you that she is a strong character and the story is most likely going to have something to do with celestial or supernatural beings. I feel the names of your characters really help with creating their personalities.

S: When you have fully developed characters, it becomes easier to assign names. For example, the surname, Snively, conveys negative character traits. The surname, Smith, may be used to hint that the character is hiding something.

Do you have a “the one who got away” tale? Care to share it?

M: I do. He was my college sweetheart and the father of my daughter. We had a huge fight the day I found out that I was pregnant. I didn't know that someone close to me had already told him I was pregnant. I told him to leave during the fight if he didn't like the way I did things. All he wanted was for me to tell him I was pregnant, but I wasn't ready and I didn't know someone else had already told him. Later on, he did try to come back and apologize. The same person interfered. I didn't know he came to apologize to me. We never got past all of it.

S: Which famous book do you wish you had written?

M: This is a hard one. I love so many stories out there. But one of my absolute favorites is "Lord of the Rings." So, I wish I had written it. Just the fact that that story has become the archetype for most fantasy stories out there is amazing. I would have loved to have been the first to create these characters--the elves, hobbits, and dwarves.

S: What inspired "Treacherous Heavens?"

M: I love Sci-Fi, but Sci-Fi normally doesn't have much romance, let alone spicy romance. So I decided to do my best to create a story that was a good balance between Sci-Fi and spicy romance. Other than that, the other shows and books that inspired me were Star Trek, The Expanse, The 100, and Night Flyer.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "Treacherous Heavens?"

M: In my book, "Treacherous Heavens," and its sequel, "Dangerously Broken," I tried to keep things authentic to its characters and locations. For example, the female lead is from Texas so her dialogue has very Texan words like, y'all and fixin to. But she also shows the Tex-Mex side of her. She curses in Spanish.

Here's the blurb--

Waking up 105 years in the future was shocking. Finding out the world they knew was totally destroyed was devastating.

Atlantis Rey, single mom to Verruca Rey, wakes from her cryogenic sleep pod 105 years in the future to find out things have not gone to plan. Vega, the ship’s AI, explains that the vampire clean-up did not go as scheduled and that she and the 249 other passengers, are the last known living humans.

Vega appoints Atlantis as the leader of the awakees, and they all look to her for the answers to how to survive their new lives. Knowing their best chance is to return to Earth, she has to find the right place to settle them before space or malicious awakees foil her plans.

Yet amidst this chaos, Atlantis and Verruca manage to find lovers and a new family to surround themselves with.