The next time you’re feeling as though life has put
roadblocks in the way of your writing career, think about
Michelle ‘Michy’
Devon. Through near-fatal illness and chronic invalidism, she still
manages to write and publish. Devon keeps a positive outlook in the face of her
circumstances and just won’t quit.
“If anything, nearly dying—twice—has brought back into focus
all the things that matter most, and writing is one of those things. I’ve
definitely rededicated myself to the craft and nothing is going to stop me from
achieving the success I seek for myself,” says Devon. She has used her
experiences as story inspiration, as she learns to deal with the restrictions
her diastolic heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension have placed on her life.
With all that she’s been through, her interest in the nature
of reality may seem quite natural. Many of her stories deal with how the
characters deal with their perceptions of reality, juxtaposed against how the
other characters perceive the same situation. Her recent novella “Celeste”
presents a prime example of conflicting perceptions, leading the reader to see
both sides.
Empathy, another facet of reality that fascinates her as a
character attribute, takes center stage in the short story “Empath.”
“I do think there are people who are empathic, who can sense
and read others thoughts, body language and feelings as easily as if they felt
it themselves…” Devon explains.
Several of her works deal with infidelity, including three
short stories written to help a publisher who needed to fill an anthology on
the subject of ‘justified endings to bad exes.’ Although working as a
contracted editor at the time, Devon submitted her stories and they were
accepted.
Current projects in the works include “Abduction,” a novella,
fantasy novel “Firestorm,” the lighthearted novel “Accepting Aimee” (part of
the “Covington Confessions” series) and “The Nature of the Universe”-the
working title. She admits to having at least seven novels is some stage of
development.
Michy (the “ch” is pronounced as “k”) makes her home in
Texas, but don’t expect laid-back, down-home in her works. She tackles
cosmopolitan topics with a sharp wit that no ailment can dull and a sense of
gratitude honed to razor sharpness by what she’s gone through.
“I believe love and gratitude are the two most powerful
emotions and energies in the world, in the entire universe. I want people to
know that when you live in a state of gratitude, absolutely nothing is
impossible. I am so grateful for my life, grateful for my gifts and talents,
grateful for just being. I try to live in that abundance, in that place of
gratitude and love all the time. I often fail, but I do try.”
So the next time you feel as though circumstances are
conspiring to keep you from writing, remember Michelle Devon. Change your
perception of reality and get back to work!
