5 Things You Didn't Know About Michelle Major

5 Things You Didn't Know About Michelle Major

A Guest Post by Michelle Major

1. I cry for sentimental reasons. This is probably my most embarrassing habit, especially when it involves my kids. I mean, who doesn’t cry at those sappy Folger’s coming-home-for-the-holidays commercials (maybe this is where my deep and abiding love of Christmas romance got its start!)? But I’m the only person I know who cried her way through almost every parent-teacher conference of the elementary school years. And my kids (bless them!) got amazing feedback from teachers. As soon as someone told me I had a good kid, I’d start with the waterworks, always blinking like a madwoman to play it off. At this point, my kids are teenagers and love to play the game of “make mom cry.” Can they say something sweet or schmaltzy that will get me all choked up? Don’t get me started with the tender and touching animal videos – I’m a goner for sure!

2. I’m partially deaf. Total hearing loss in my left ear. It happened when I was studying in France in college. I lost my hearing and my equilibrium – listed through the town of Tours for several weeks. My sweet French mom took me to a few doctors, but all I remember of those appointments was her emphatic “Oooh, la, la” when the doctors guessed at the problem. I’m old enough that it was well before the internet or cell phones and it took a bit of time for my Dad to realize the severity of the issue. He flew me home and I had surgery, but the nerve damage was done. In a lot of ways, the situation changed the trajectory of my life. Instead of heading to Paris for a newspaper internship, I pointed my car west and made my way to Colorado. Talk about a lifelong silver lining. Or maybe a sliding door? Either way, I found the place I’m meant to be and I’ve gotten used to the way I hear—although crowded spaces with lots of background noise are a challenge. And I’m not sure I even realized how much I rely on reading lips until the dawn of mask wearing. But writers spend much of our time milling about our own minds, and I like to think that my hearing loss gives me an advantage there – I like hanging out in the worlds I create best of all.

3. My dogs talk back to me. For real. All the time. Of course, I’m the one giving them their voices until someone invents an interpretive collar like in the movie Up. But each of our dogs have their own personalities and manners of speaking. I’m not sure why, but the 10-year-old white lab, Sage, has a horribly potty mouth. She’s so sassy. And our Weimaraner, Sam, is kind of a nervous nelly. It’s such a goofy thing to do but even my family gets in on the act. When I’m in the room, they’ll ask the dogs questions so that I can answer in their canine voices. Oh, gosh—did I think sentimental crying was the most embarrassing thing I do? Clearly, talking for my dogs has now topped the list.

4. I spent an entire decade listening exclusively to Joni Mitchell. Okay, maybe not exclusively but at least ninety percent of the time. I discovered Joni in my dad’s collection of vinyl records when I was a teenager, and she absolutely gutted me. It was like every angsty, uncertain emotion was there in her lyrics and that singular voice. I’m sure my college roommates got sick of Joni blasting from the dorm room, but Joni and her music got me through some deep and dark times. Like an old friend, I still revisit her and just hearing the first strains of one of her classic albums can bring me back to a different time in my life. Music is such a powerful force and for an introverted, socially insecure but hopelessly romantic girl, Joni was everything.

5. I’m a comic book movie geek. Or at least movies based on comic books. I think it started back in the 70s with Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman (and my WW underoos), but I love the way superhero stories are so elemental in their structure and themes. Marvel or DC…irreverent like Iron Man or tortured like Batman, I’m happy to watch and re-watch comic book character movies. In crafting the characters of my novels, I dive deep on the origin stories of how they got to where they are and so much of that inspiration comes from the classic structure used in superhero stories. I know I’m not the only one who is fascinated by the hero’s journey and all of the facets of creating characters. To me, comic books do it so well. Plus, those big-budget movies are just so darn fun to watch. Even my dogs agree – and they might tell you all about it.

5 Things You Didn't Know About Michelle Major

A Guest Post by Michelle Major

5 Things You Didn't Know About Michelle Major

A Guest Post by Michelle Major