Finished!

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GABBY is finally finished. It's a young adult "fish out of water" story about a public school student who is suddenly transferred to a private Catholic school when her parents die in a car accident. Now it's time to find my baby a new home.

Next book updates

As The Gospel According to Gabby grows page by page and comes closer to being completely finished, you will hear it here first. Over 130 + pages written and on target to be completed by this summer.

School's Out!

Remember that old Alice Cooper song, "School's Out"? To quote the former Motor City classic glam rocker, "School's out for summer! School's out forEVER!" Love it, love it, love it! That song was playing at the exact perfect time and at the exact perfect moment when I left the parking lot of my high school last week. "No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!"

This teacher will have to learn some new dirty looks over the summer. My students rarely even bring their own pencils and books! Don't they deserve my dirty looks? You betcha.

Ah, summer---the best season of all for us living in the Rust Belt. So much to do, so little time. My son is my number one priority this summer. Have fun and play with Xander is at the top of the list. Yes, I know it's been 2 1/2 years between books! I need to finish writing THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GABBY, my long overdue follow up to CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL.

Reality often gets in the way of our dreams but not if you let it.
Find your balance. Find your passion.
Don't lose sight of what matters the most.

Advice for Wanna-be Published Authors

recent article I wrote for www.shared-self-publishing.com


After three frustrating years, one promising literary agent let down, and dozens of rejection letters, I decided to go the "indie" route and self-publish my Young Adult autobiographical novel, CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL.First, I researched and found a reputable POD publisher in WRITER's DIGEST magazine and sent in my complete manuscript. Being a high school English teacher by day, writer by night, I edited the book myself. I had the option with my publisher to choose a pre-formatted cover design, pay extra for a custom designed cover, or design one myself. A self-confessed control freak and what seems like decades carrying around a vision in my mind of my book cover, I, of course, had to design my own.My publisher sent me 10 author copies of my baby book and that is when the real work started. If you think writing is challenging enough, wait until you begin the long journey of marketing your book on your own. My publisher's marketing department helped with a press release form, book reviewer and book store contacts, and other various strategies to help me sell copies.Having an author website set up and networking on various social websites helped me to promote and sell many books. What teen doesn't have a MySpace page? Being a young adult author who writes mainly books for teens, I am now quite proud of the fact that I have over "700 friends" on MYSPACE. A big NY literary agent even found me on www.myspace.com/readmichellekane to propose a new book idea he was interested in having me write!My dream has always been to publish a book. Although I did not get a six figure advance and Jennifer Aniston isn't starring (yet!) in the film version of CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHHOLGIRL, I am very glad I self-published this book. I even have a charity tie-in and have been featured in local newspapers and magazines that announce the fact that I am personally donating 25% of royalties from sales of CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL to domestic violence shelters. The satisfaction comes from not only receiving my royalty checks in the mail, but by giving back to my community and knowing that I am doing SOMETHING to help the fight to end domestic abuse in the USA.

Visit Michelle Kane and Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl.

The 3 Hardest Jobs in the World

What are the three hardest jobs in the world? Can you guess? No? Then I will tell you, because they are the three jobs that I currently have.


1. Mother
2. Teacher
3. Writer

Yes, I will be blogging about these jobs today. If you've noticed my tagline, my 4th "hat" that I wear is Dreamer. We all know dreaming is easy.

Mother. It's a full time job, whether you work outside or inside the home. I only have one kid and it's not always easy, especially when he is only three; wanting independence, craving a nap, or throwing a tantrum. Today after a long day at the subdivision swimming pool, Xander decided he needed to poop in every stall in the women's bathroom. After much pushing and sighing, he managed to drop about one kid off at each of the four "pools" before accepting help getting dressed. He's FINALLY mastered the potty training and not pooping in his pants anymore, so who I am to judge this bizarre bowel movement ritual? Twenty minutes later, emerging dry and completely dressed from head to toe, he escapes and runs back into the swimming pool. Very exasperating.
I drag him out out the pool, redirect him to the car and in a tiny voice, he said, "I'm sorry."

Motherhood. The most challenging and rewarding job in the world. HIP HIP HOORAY TO ALL THE MOMS.

Teacher. Yet, another extremely challenging job, yet rewarding as well. I think my job teaching at-risk urban teenagers is especially challenging, with the rewards not always immediate. I look around at the feel-good slogans surrounding my home office and classroom on the many plaques, photo albums, knick-knacks, etc. that I receive. "Teaching is a work of heart" and "Teachers make a difference." There's also one that proudly states "Teachers preserve the past, reveal the present and create the future." WOW! Do we really do all that? I know I try to do that in my classroom, but are my students trying to LEARN what I TEACH them?
"Teachers do it with class!" Hmm??? According to all the recent reports about female teachers on CNN lately, this one should be removed from all t-shirts and mugs immediately! :)

A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE MOST UNDERPAID PROFESSIONALS IN THE WORLD!


Writer. The final role that I play in life. Challenging when the words don't flow as easily as they should and the sales don't grow as quick as they could. I read once that writers don't write because they like to, they write because they HAVE to. This is something my husband doesn't understand when I vent to him about struggling with the writing of my next book. I can't just take a break on writing, like he suggests. I've had paid writing gigs and unpaid gigs, the rewards come with the CREATION of a finished piece and my BYLINE on it. Who wouldn't want to be the next J.K. Rowling? In the meantime, writing this blog has made me discover that my 3 jobs
are all linked together. 1 mother + 1 teacher + 1 writer= CREATOR.

I have CREATED a beautiful, healthy son, I try to CREATE students into future leaders, and now I have to work on CREATING my next novel. Till next time, see you in my dreams.

Pedophile Priests

I am a Catholic school survivor. I am also a child of a domestic violence survivor.
Thank God I never had to survive being abused by a pedophile priest.

According to the organization "Bishop Accountability" more than 4,000 priests, out of the 42,000 in the United States, were accused of abusing scores of children.

How does this happen? How can such a trusted person who devotes his life to serving God sexually abuse a child? Priests who thought they got away with it years ago are now serving time in jail and the Catholic Church is paying out millions to the victims and their families. It's about time. Now it's time to take care of the future. Our children are the future. How do we prevent Catholic children from suffering abuse by priests now and in the future?

How do survivors of pedophile priests move on and have normal, healthy lives and relationships? How do they FORGIVE? How do they LOVE?
Pedophile priests MURDER childhoods.

Should priests be allowed to marry an individual other than God?
Should we never trust a priest to be alone with our child?
Should we turn away from the Catholic Church?
Should we just forget about it and pretend these things don't happen?
What do you guys think?

www.michellekane.com

Chasing Dreams & Having Goals is a Waste of Time?

I can't believe I am writing two young adult novels simultaneously right now (kind of.) Just to give you an update, I am done with the first chapter of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GABBY and I know, what happened to KIDS OF 8 MILE HIGH? Well, I am still working on that project, although it has become somewhat of a "backburner book" for now. The good news is a FREE sample chapter will be available soon. Maybe I'll post it here.
When I am not being a suburban wife, teacher, mother, cook, housekeeper, boo boo kisser, chauffeur, etc. (or should I say WHILE) I am writing: personal essays, blogs, book chapters, and in my son's journal that I keep for him.

When I CREATE, even if it's not that SUCCESSFUL, I feel more ACCOMPLISHED. As if my I am one step closer to seeing my dreams and goals become real and possible. I have HOPE.

So here's the thing: I was really frustrated the other day from a mad mess of writer's block and expressed my feelings to my husband, whose response was, "You can't expect to accomplish a goal or conquer a dream to make you happy."

Wait a minute. What?

I told him that it was important for us to teach our son that he should follow his dreams and that he can accomplish any of his goals with hard work and determination.

My husband said, "Yeah, but you can't expect dreams and goals to make you happy."

I know. Total Mars and Venus, right? Some people are simple---work your 9-5, come home, open a beer, watch sports, spend time with your family, etc. That makes them happy. I am happy and grateful for all that I have. But others are always striving for more, it doesn't mean they are not happy with their typical, American suburban lives, but a dream coming true is a dream come true.

What do you make of this? Do WE need MORE? Will you not be HAPPY until your DREAM comes true? DO you still have a DREAM?

Writer's Guilt

Well...I feel v. guilty about not keeping up with my blog lately. Being a busy working mom with a three-year-old takes up most of my time---er...life. Now that school is finally out for this exhausted high school teacher...I can concentrate on having fun with my son, writing, more fun, writing, fun, more writing....and so on and so on. Not to mention watching the new season of WEEDS--which is so awesome if you haven't watched it---you MUST.
My first priority is Xander, of course. Now that he doesn't nap much, but likes to spend his time running around the house, playing outside, swimming, reading, and pooping on his tiny potty chair, the only time I really have to write is at night.
So if it takes me forever to get the next book out, you know why. But it will be out. Check back often for more updates on the book or just to read the latest blog on how I'm spending my summer: whether it's playing with Xander, going to a local festival around the metro Detroit area, traveling with my husband, catching the latest rom-com, my thoughts on entertainment, parenting, etc.
I'll be here---but only for the graveyard shift.

Feng Shui Update

It worked! It worked! Well...so far. Maybe. I told you I would give you all an update on the Feng Shui experiment. Even though I wrote the mantra, "Everything I have been looking for now comes looking for me," nine times in red ink for only four days, instead of nine days like I was supposed to...I think my luck has actually started to change already.

Here's the good news and kharmic surprise: A literary agent from NYC called me and is looking for young adult novels about Catholic schoolgirls. Who better to try and write one then this Catholic school survivor herself? My book CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL is already published and a bit too "black comedy" for what the NY editors are looking for. But what a great opportunity to fall in my lap! Can I come up with a hot GOSSIP GIRLS type YA novel set in a Catholic school? Or will I block under such creative pressure? Stay tuned.
As I just wrote another donation check to a domestic violence shelter with the royalties of my book sales...I now live and breathe the reality that the more you give the more you get in return.

My website www.michellekane.com is finally back up! Just an FYI if anyone is looking for a web designer/host do not use the company Boston Dedicated. The owner is a shady con artist who tried to extort money from me and shut down my site because I didn't pay him an exorbitant amount of $$$ to buy my domain name from him...my own name!
After many frustrating months and not paying one cent to an extortionist, I now own my domain name and my site is back up! yay me! Maybe nice guys don't always have to finish last...
Thanks for all the support friends. Check me out:
www.michellekane.com
Got LIT? Read the new book, CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL

The Age of Aquarius

One of my favorite horoscopes for Aquarius, my sign:

"A bit of obsessive-compulsive behavior is not necessarily a bad thing. All talented people have a touch of it."

Writer's Digest Magazine says...

this about Michelle Kane's new book CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL..."great title...bright, clear voice..."


GOT LIT?

Author Interview: Michelle Kane

Very pleased and excited to be featured on www.bookreviewtime.com

If you haven't read my latest author interview---you can read it here:

http://www.bookreviewtime.com/fiction/drama/sample-drama.html