Guest reader, Angie Nutt takes you to the world of the Conservatory where Channing finds himself at the mercy of vengeful ghost, Alex and everyone begins to learn that the world of music and performance is cut throat….literally!  Chapter 13 is available here on the RSS feed as well as on itunes for free.

Here’s a look at the first of the new t-shirts for the Conservatory!

     Now your favorite to date Michele Roger story, “The Conservatory” comes alive in images!  Detroit artist, Tom Duncan has brought to life the monster infested world of the Conservatory.  This is the first of several samplings he has given permission for the public to see.  Enhanced versions of these designs will be available for t-shirts just in time for the book’s release on Halloween.  Email Michele at michele@brittanygirl.com to ask about availabilty.  More designs to be released soon!

     It’s been an interesting process.  I have moved twice in less than 18 months.  First it was reducing my life of twenty years as a family down to a single parent.  This month, with the kids off to college, I’ve reduced and simplified again; sorting and sifting through what one really, really needs and what one should give away.  All of this process made for some interesting questions to ponder.

    In the end, what do we really need?  Beyond the obvious of food, shelter and water, what does an individual need?  Or more importantly, not what do I need but what will I take that defines me as a person?  It is said that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  I haven’t been had time nor inclination to wonder who I am and what means something to me.  Moving has forced me to ask these tough questions.  The answers are ones that I didn’t expect.

     When it all came down to it, the things I clung to for dear life were odd little every day things as well as my piano and harp.  It got me thinking, as I stubbornly refused to let these handful of things go, how much energy I was putting into them by holding on so tightly.  While the premise of my anthology “Something Wicked This Way Strums” is that of a doomed soul trapped inside of my harp and destined to forever tell the tales of the damned, but I have been wondering how much of it could be sceintifically true?

     In times of stress or high emotion, I turn to pictures or instruments for a form of audio or visual comfort.  In particular, with the piano or harp, I pour what has upset me into the instrument.  And it makes me wonder, how much of me, the high emotions of me are in the ivory, the wood and the metal strings?  If I was hit by a bus tomorrow, would my spirit rejoin the rest of me?

     You’ve seen all the movies.  You know those scary horror films where the innocent couple with two.3 kids buys the beautiful American dream style house in the middle of no where for cheap and think they’ve just gotten a great deal.  Only two weeks later strange things start happening; first to the family dog and then a few bumps or cuts that can be mysterious but also explained and then caboom!  Junior is sitting on the front porch asking if he can have another squirrel to offer up to Satan while his sister is in the kitchen sharpening the cleaver, dad has taken to wild eyed chain saw running and mom’s face is peeling off as she hyterically laughs at the absence of her refection in the mirror.  All of this is preverbial “punishment” when they refused after that first week to “get out” as the house had howled for them to do (bleeding walls optional).

    So, when I wanted to write a new short story for my friend for his birthday, I thought to myself, what would happen if the house was the opposite?  What if the house didn’t want the family to leave?  What if it LOVED the family?  Could a house become a child with separation anxiety or better yet, an estranged lover?  Could a house be haunted by spirits who threw a fit when they saw a for sale sign go up or boxes being packed?  Such is the subject of a new short simply called “House”. 

    For all you people out there who are in foreclosure, in a shortsale, or simply selling off the house you grew up in, this one’s for you and for my friend.  Happy Birthday!  The audio version will be available in a few weeks.  Look for “House” on the Something Wicked This Way Strums anthology on itunes as well as the RSS feed here.

It’s been since April roughly, since I’ve posted here.  Let me bring you up to date.

In April, I was told that my rental house of six months was now being short saled and I had to find some new diggs.  Then, my son moved out to go to college and get a place of his own.  In May, I wrote a short for www.horroraddicts.net but did not post here because my laptop stopped connecting to any wireless device.

If anyone is interested, the “Something Wicked This Way Strums” anthology on itunes and here in the Michele Roger RSS feed has a new twist on an old story.  Look for “Hyde”.  I’m seriously considering making it into a novel down the road but for now lets hope it suffices as a good short. 

Dark Matter is in print and I did a few book signings whilst I looked for a new place to live.  I decided that while the author life of living in a low income neighborhood is the kind of thing that many people speak of as noble when it comes to dedication to the craft.  But if I can’t write because I’m too afraid the lap top will get stolen when I’m broken into, then there is a problem.  Thanks to Lulu the dog polar bear for stopping the two attempted break ins!

I now have a new place but it meant sending my best friend, confidant, baby and shrink all wrapped into a thick, soft coat of fur back to the breeder.  Her drool was too much for the new place and so was her 100 pounds of pure dog.  I miss her more than I miss my own children.  That is to say, teenagers who fly the nest will say hurtful things abd break your heart in the natural process of cutting the apron strings.  But Lulu was “true blue”; always there with a hug, a slobbery kiss, a happy leap and a protective stance whenever I needed her.  Giving her up was the hardest thing I’ve had to do to date.  I am told that she is doing well, riding in the golf cart at the farm and headed for motherhood of her own.  So with two kids headed to college and lives of their own and my third “child” off on her own on a farm in Indiana, there are two options: lay in bed and watch Cornonation Street in a fit of tears looking for the wisdom of the soap opera writers…or….take out my frustrations by creating the monsters readers seem to love and vent by way of horror.  I’m jumping into option two.

Looking ahead, I am presently working on a book tour in the Chicago area in November.  With any luck, The Conservatory will be finished and in hand along with the revised version of Dark Matter.  I am hoping to release The Conservatory by Halloween.  Please consider buying a copy either in print, on Amazon’s Kindle or coming soon, on the iPad thanks to smashwords.com. 

Next in week, you will hear another chapter (maybe two) as we reach the climax and conclusion of Conservatory.  As a side note, I am looking for an artist who might like to submit some drawings of monsters for t-shirts.  If you are a Conservatory fan and can draw or know someone who can, please send samples to me asap.  Profits will be sent to the artist based on sales and initial investment by me.  Artist must agree that all work can be used for promotional material for the book.

Thats right!  It only took a few months (okay 6) but Conservatory is back in business and has a new free podcast chapter locked and loaded.  More on the way!  It’s already had some great feedback from the UK.  Be sure to add your 2 cents in the comments section below!