Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Hour Glass
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 10/21/1981
WEBSITE: https://www.michellereneauthor.com/
CITY: Dallas
STATE: TX
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born October 21, 1981; married; children: one son.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Artist.
AVOCATIONS:Visiting museums, galleries, and libraries.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Michelle Rene is an artist and a writer of science fiction, historical fiction, and humor. She has written short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels, and virtual reality scripts. She writes under her own name, as well as the pen names Olivia Rivard and Abigail Henry. When Rene is not writing, she makes art. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and son.
Hour Glass
Hour Glass depicts a tender period in the life of notorious frontierswoman Calamity Jane. Before Jane is introduced, we meet a small family; Jimmy, Flower, and Hank Glass; living in a cabin in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876. Hank, the father of twelve-year-old Jimmy and six-year-old Flower, is suffering from smallpox. The story opens with young Jimmy loading his father into the family wagon to take him into town. Once there, Calamity Jane helps the two youngsters lead their father to the ‘pest tent,’ where he will likely die.
Jane takes the children in, inviting them to her current home, a room at Miss Dora DuFran bar, restaurant, and brothel. Flower, a quiet, shy child, introduces herself as “Ower,” which leads to her new name: Hour. The girls at the brothel take to Hour, charmed by her sweet, gentle nature. Jimmy grows in emotional maturity, as he tends to his sister and develops a romantic relationship with a teenage prostitute at the brothel.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews described the book as “compassionate and insightful, authentic and poignant.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote, “Rene’s tale features all the action and excitement of a classic western, and its humor and pathos add depth.”
Tattoo
Tattoo imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which everyone’s history is written upon their bodies. Some seek out skilled tattooists to remove the parts of their lives that cause them shame or pain, but this highly illegal process also alters their memories. Jane Sparrow is an anomaly; her skin is bare. When she arrives on the streets of Dallas, the public response is varied. Some think she should be destroyed, others worship her.
Jane’s potential threat to the system of the world makes her a target, and five individuals arise to the task of protecting her: her mother, who suffers from mental illness; a savant; a guard at a prison; a tattoo artist; and a lawyer. The story is told from the perspectives of each of these five individuals, who each have their own take on Jane’s condition. Michelle Rene in Readers’ Favorite website wrote, “Tattoo is a masterpiece, through and through.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews December 15, 2017, review of Hour Glass.
Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2018, review of Hour Glass, p. 35; January 15, 2018, review of Tattoo, p. 43.
ONLINE
Foreword Reviews, https://www.forewordreviews.com/ (March 1, 2018), Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers, review of Tattoo.
Readers’ Favorite, https://readersfavorite.com/ (May 31, 2018), Sandy Masia, review of Tattoo.
BIO
CONTACT
For any inquiries, please email:
mewing_arts@yahoo.com
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Michelle Rene is a creative advocate and the author of a number of published works of science fiction, historical fiction, humor and everything in between.
She has won indie awards for her historical fiction novel, I Once Knew Vincent. Her latest historical novel, Hour Glass, released February 20th to rave reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Her experimental novella, Tattoo, releases March 7th, and not only does it have a starred review in Publishers Weekly but will be listed in Foreword Reviews top eight sci-fi/fantasy books this spring.
When not writing, she is a professional artist and all around odd person. She lives as the only female, writing in her little closet, with her husband, son, and ungrateful cat in Dallas, Texas.
Monday, March 5, 2018
AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Michelle Rene
An interview with author Michelle Rene.
Hi! Welcome to Zigzag Timeline. Can you tell us about your background as an author?
I’ve been writing for about twelve years now professionally. I write science fiction, historical fiction, humor and everything else in between. I’ve written short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels, virtual reality scripts, and even a video game. My first books were published in 2014. One of which is my historical novel, I Once Knew Vincent, that went on to win some indie awards.
What got you into writing?
I’ve always loved writing. When I was thirteen, I spent a summer handwriting my very first book. Cursive… back when people did that. Two hundred and five pages. It was my first attempt, and not one anyone should ever read it, but it got me hooked!
What was the first idea you had for your book, and how did the story grow from there?
Other than my thirteen-year-old novel, my first book came during a fever dream during the most boring cruise I’ve ever seen. I fell asleep watching some terrible documentary about finding Shanghai-La. That combination brought me a litany of crazy imagery that catapulted me head first in the book writing world. The flood gates were opened after that.
Among your characters, who's your favorite? Could you please describe him/her?
Dakota is probably my favorite character in Tattoo. The chapter with her was the first one I wrote, and I guess you can’t forget your first love. She’s creative, savvy, and has a tender heart. Originally Tattoo was a short story with just the Dakota chapter, but I decided to expand it from there.
What's your favorite scene from your novel? Could you please describe it?
The scene with Dakota and Jane in the tattoo studio. It’s the first time you see the plight of tattooists in this new world and what they’ve evolved into. I loved the idea of one person being able to write an entire life for someone else and it feel completely real. I guess because it echoes what I strive to do as a writer.
What's your favorite part of writing? Plotting? Describing scenes? Dialogue?
It’s a tie between describing scenes and dialogue. I strive to push myself to find new ways to describe the same surroundings and really lean into the way a character talks to paint the story. After all, no two people see the world the same, so you can’t write it the same. We all have a voice, outer and inner.
How long does it take you to write a book? Do you have a writing process, or do you wing it?
I’m a really fast writer. I’ve written novellas in a matter of weeks. My record for writing a novel was sixteen days. Of course, that’s a first draft. My process varies from project to project. Some require more research and outlining, and others hit me so hard, I don’t need more of an outline than a few sentences. With Tattoo, it was a piece of paper that said “1-They 2-Natali 3-Elliot 4-Irene 5-Dakota 6-Toby 7-They.” The story was so solid in my brain, that’s all I needed.
What is it about the genre you chose that appeals to you?
Trying to nail a genre to Tattoo is like trying nail egg yolk to a wall. The best we can tell, it’s science fiction/fantasy, but Tattoo’s such a unique, slipstream-type story that it sort of hovers in it’s own orbit. I love books that try something unique and challenge the importance we put on the structures of genres. Story is story is story.
Are there any books or writers that have had particular influence on you?
That would be a really long list as I am a voracious reader. With regards to Tattoo, I would say Neil Gaiman is an influencer. I love how he can invent his own worlds, and really his own versions of genres, and it’s beloved by all audiences.
Did you ever surprise yourself when you were writing your book? Characters who took on lives of their own? Plot elements that took unexpected turns?
All the time! I believe whole-heartedly in an outline to plot your story, but I’ve never written a book that didn’t divert me. I’ll be typing, and some realization hits me while I’m typing out some character’s dialogue. Some new epiphany that explains why they are acting a certain way. The next thing you know, I’m adding three more chapters because of it. You have to be open to that because once you create characters, they take on a life of their own.
Thanks for stopping by!
ABOUT THE BOOK
A mysterious young woman appears in a cynical age. Why is she here … and will she survive long enough to achieve her purpose?
Judgment Day was not as advertised. Instead of fire and wrath, our histories suddenly began to appear as tattoos on our skin. No one could hide their past deeds anymore, unless they visited an illegal tattoo artist, who could replace their sins with unmarked skin.
Years later, a young woman appears, entirely unmarked. No one knows what her appearance means, but a small band of people find themselves drawn to her, ready to set off on a quest whose purpose is as unknown as the young woman’s past.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Rene is a creative advocate and the author of a number of published works of science fiction, historical fiction, humor and everything in between. You may have also seen her work under the pen names Olivia Rivard and Abigail Henry. She has won several indie awards for her historical fiction novel, I Once Knew Vincent.
Michelle’s favorite places in the world are museums, galleries, and libraries. Everyone who creates tells a story of some kind or another. Whether she’s painting, writing, or making a video game, Michelle is dedicated to her obsession with storytelling.
When not writing, she is a professional artist and all around odd person. She lives as the only female, writing in her little closet, with her husband, son, and ungrateful cat in Dallas, Texas. You can find her online at www.michellereneauthor.com.
Tattoo
Publishers Weekly. 265.3 (Jan. 15, 2018): p43+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Tattoo
Michelle Rene. Annorlunda, $3.99 e-book (147p) ISBN 978-1-944354-35-0
Rene (I Once Knew Vincent) pours emotion into carefully chosen visuals in this beautifully haunting tale of lives written on skin. Jane is a young woman in Dallas, Tex., and an anomaly. After Judgment Day, every person's skin is permanently tattooed, from birth, with their complete life story, from the good times to the darkest secrets, all there for the world to see. Some daring tattoo artists do the highly illegal work of helping people rewrite some of the more difficult parts of their lives; altering a tattoo alters the wearer's memory as well. Jane, however, is a completely blank canvas, inspiring both fear and adoration in all who encounter her. There's no past that she remembers and no future she can think of until she crosses paths with five very different people who become her protectors. Jane's story, told in reverse chronological order from the protectors' varying viewpoints, is the catalyst for deeper introspection and an examination of life in a so-called perfect world where there are no secrets. A surprise plot twist adds a wonderful sense of depth, inviting readers to question what they know of the story and characters, and leaving them with a sense of wonder and of slight disquiet. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Tattoo." Publishers Weekly, 15 Jan. 2018, p. 43+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A523888902/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b6305199. Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A523888902
Hour Glass
Publishers Weekly. 265.1 (Jan. 1, 2018): p35.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Hour Glass
Michelle Rene. Amberjack, $14.99 trade paper (302p) ISBN 978-1-944995-49-2
This touching historical novel from Rene (I Once Knew Vincent) imagines a tender moment in the rough-and-tumble life of the legendary Calamity Jane. In the late summer of 1876,12-year-old Jimmy Glass must take his ailing Pa and six-year-old sister from their mining claim into nearby Deadwood, S.D. Hank Glass, who has smallpox, is led to the pest tent with the rest of the quarantined victims, while Jimmy and his sister are taken in by brothel owner Miss Dora DuFran at the behest of none other than Calamity Jane. In a rare vocal moment, Flower Glass, normally a quiet child who is averse to touch, introduces herself as "Ower," which immediately becomes "Hour." Hour's sweet and shy nature endears her to the working girls at Diddlin' Dora's. In their brief acquaintance, Jimmy and Jane each manage to save the other's life, and the two children find a place in Jane's heart, despite her gruff exterior. Rene's tale features all the action and excitement of a classic western, and its humor and pathos add depth. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Hour Glass." Publishers Weekly, 1 Jan. 2018, p. 35. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522124953/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=eb27f3fd. Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522124953
Rene, Michelle: HOUR GLASS
Kirkus Reviews. (Dec. 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Rene, Michelle HOUR GLASS Amberjack Publishing (Adult Fiction) $14.99 2, 20 ISBN: 978-1-944995-49-2
The infamous frontier woman Calamity Jane stumbles into the role of surrogate mother for two orphaned youngsters.
There's a smallpox epidemic around Deadwood, South Dakota. From a canvas-sided cabin "in the gulch near the creek," 12-year-old Jimmy Glass loads his pox-stricken father into a ramshackle wagon and pulls him into town, bringing his little sister, Flower, along. There, the youngsters meet Calamity Jane, who has them carry their father to the "pest tent." Jane then installs the children in her own room at Dora DuFran's bar, restaurant, and house of ill repute. As much as this is historical fiction (several characters are real persons reimagined) and a coming-of-age story, it's primarily an attempt to humanize the outsize legend of Calamity Jane, a woman who's pugnacious, vulgar, and a touch feminist. That summer, the year of Jane's lover Wild Bill Hickok's death, Jane can be found at "at the pest tent, passed out drunk by the outhouse, or drinking at Dora's saloon." Jimmy sees the real Jane and knows she shares his worry over the fragile Flower, his half Lakota sister, whom he calls "mine to care for, mine to watch over." Flower seems to have autism: "She talks to me, but normally doesn't with other people," Jimmy tells Jane. "She don't much like lookin' at people, either." Amid the Deadwood dangers, Jimmy, already capable, grows in emotional maturity as well, finding love among Diddlin' Dora's ladies in the wise soul of teenage Missy, who always smelled of cinnamon. Set against the background of rough-and-tumble Deadwood, probing the legend of Calamity Jane to discover the true heroic frontier woman, Rene's (I Once Knew Vincent, 2014) focused narrative never strays from its themes.
Compassionate and insightful, authentic and poignant.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Rene, Michelle: HOUR GLASS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A518491454/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0af5d448. Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A518491454
TATTOO
Michelle Rene
Annorlunda Books (Mar 1, 2018)
Softcover $9.99 (147pp)
978-1-944354-35-0
A hospitalized girl is roused from a coma, waking to a world where Judgment Day has come and gone. Michelle Rene’s Tattoo, a novella from a press specializing in the form, juxtaposes postapocalypse with rebirth as old forces revisit a new generation.
Because the Maker’s hand tattoos citizens’ stories on their bodies as they’re happening, there are no secrets anymore. Whole professions are reimagined; police read skins rather than collecting evidence, while tattoo artists traffic in illegal skin alterations. Skin’s not just a testimony to the outside world, it’s also a record of a person’s individual identity and memory. Change the skin, change the person.
When Jane Sparrow, a bald young woman bearing no tattoos, suddenly appears on the streets of Dallas, she’s an unknown quantity, even to herself. For most, her blank skin threatens the status quo. No tattoos means she’s accountable only to herself. While the system seems intent on making her disappear, five people—an insane mother, a young savant, a prison guard, a tattoo artist, and a lawyer—see something quite different: “everything frail and true left in the world.”
When people’s bodies are inscribed with their stories, there’s no such thing as merely skin-deep. In Rene’s redemption story, surfaces reveal deep truths about humanity. And according to the powers behind Jane Sparrow’s advent, nothing signals this more than blank skin, symbols of frailty and fragility, “precious treasures to be treated with kindness and love.” Of course, this is also a world where gods and people are trying for redemption one more time, so there are no guarantees that they’ve got the formula right just yet.
Reviewed by Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers
March/April 2018
Tattoo
by Michelle Rene
Fiction - Short Story/Novela 152 Pages Reviewed on 05/31/2018Buy on Amazon
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BOOK REVIEW
Reviewed by Sandy Masia for Readers' Favorite
Michelle Rene's Tattoo tells a story of the world after Judgement Day. It's nothing like the old religious texts had predicted, because as punishment humans have to go through life with their most intimate details and sins tattooed on their skin. With each transgression a new tattoo appears on the body. Gone are the days of anonymity and innocence; everyone knows who everyone is. Then a child appears, Jane Sparrow, who is totally unmarked, becoming the subject of controversy and social polarization. Her presence, her nature, is a mystery to all. In a world where everyone is marked, where no one is innocent, what does her existence mean? Who is she? What is she capable of? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
The first thing you notice is the truly ingenious premise of Tattoo. Michelle Rene is creative. I can't remember the last time I came across an idea so mind-blowingly beautiful, rich and thought provoking. Michelle Rene follows through on her promise to be as interesting with some eloquent writing, fantastic character development and an outstanding story. It isn't conventional, nothing about Tattoo is, but that is what makes Tattoo work so well. A human story for the self-absorbed, cynical and disinterested world we live in.
Michelle Rene's writing will get you in touch with your altruistic side. You thought it was gone? Believe me it's somewhere in there. Michelle's writing cuts deep like that. She will make you reflect on humanity's moral nature. She will challenge your cynicism and maybe resurrect some hope in you. It's a work of fiction, yes, but it has far more to say about our nature than it does about anything else. Tattoo is a masterpiece, through and through.