Author of The Wine Lover's Mystery Series and The Horse Lover's Mystery Series
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At nine years old Michele
Scott knew she loved to write and one day wrote a short story
that she showed to her dad. After reading it, he looked at her
and said, “You are a writer.” With those words spoken, she’s
never stopped writing stories.
She graduated from The University of Southern California with a degree in communications, where she studied journalism and hoped to be a reporter. But deep down inside, she’d never given up on being a fiction author. Shortly after graduating from college, Michele’s first son was born six weeks prematurely and while caring for her newborn, she decided to write her first book. Initially that book started out as a catharsis to help her deal with the emotional stress she and her family went through while her baby was sick. “The book became something bigger for me than just dealing with my feelings. It turned into a thriller involving a neo-natal intensive care doctor. Once I finished that story, the feeling I got from knowing I could put a story together from beginning, middle to the end was such a great high for me. It brought me back to those dreams I had as a little girl of always wanting to be an author,” Michele states.
After writing that first book she realized that she had a lot to learn about writing and the business of writing. For ten years Michele kept writing books, submitting, attending conferences and workshops and receiving rejections but never giving up. She received over two hundred rejection letters from agents throughout the years. For a few of those years she was a single, working mom taking care of her first two children, and although there were a handful of years of personal and professional heartaches, she never gave up on her dream of being an author.
It was a visit to the wine country that gave Michele the idea to write MURDER UNCORKED. Once the seed of the idea had been planted, Michele began developing her main character in the Wine Lover’s Series and things took off from there. When Michele submitted the book to Jessica Faust at Bookends Literary Agency in March, 2004, the agent signed her immediately after finishing the novel. One month later Michele received THE CALL from Jessica telling her that she had a publisher—Berkley Prime Crime, and that they wanted to sign her for three books in The Wine Lover’s Mystery Series. in December that second call came in about The Horse Lover’s Mystery Series. “It was great to discover that series also sold, because I grew up riding horses and horses are a huge passion of mine. I always knew that I would write a book that incorporated the horse world.”
The path to publishing has been fraught with disappointment at times for Michele, but she feels that it’s been worth every minute of it. “There was a time a few years back when I almost did give up on the dream. However, my middle child set me straight.” Michele recalls receiving another rejection and her son found her in tears over it in the kitchen. “He asked me what was wrong and I told him that I just didn’t think I could keep doing this. And, that wise little kid of only nine at the time told me, ‘don’t you know that God wouldn’t have made you a writer if he didn’t think you couldn’t do it.’ I mean, WOW, how do you give up after that? Then, my dad reminded me of all the techniques he taught me as a kid and that was to visualize the dream as real, see it happening and believe in it.” Michele desires to help women reconnect with the dreams of their childhood. “As women we tend to take care of everyone and everything around us, many times at the expense of our dreams and passions. I want women to realize that they can be great moms and wives without burying their dreams.” When she speaks to women’s groups she poses the question to the audience “Do you remember that dream you had as a little girl? Are you living it? Do you wish you were living it? You can.” Michele is proof that dreams do come true even in the midst of raising a family. “It may have taken me over a decade to do, but the journey has been a wonderful experience”
Michele writes full time and lives in San Diego with her husband, two sons, and daughter.
She graduated from The University of Southern California with a degree in communications, where she studied journalism and hoped to be a reporter. But deep down inside, she’d never given up on being a fiction author. Shortly after graduating from college, Michele’s first son was born six weeks prematurely and while caring for her newborn, she decided to write her first book. Initially that book started out as a catharsis to help her deal with the emotional stress she and her family went through while her baby was sick. “The book became something bigger for me than just dealing with my feelings. It turned into a thriller involving a neo-natal intensive care doctor. Once I finished that story, the feeling I got from knowing I could put a story together from beginning, middle to the end was such a great high for me. It brought me back to those dreams I had as a little girl of always wanting to be an author,” Michele states.
After writing that first book she realized that she had a lot to learn about writing and the business of writing. For ten years Michele kept writing books, submitting, attending conferences and workshops and receiving rejections but never giving up. She received over two hundred rejection letters from agents throughout the years. For a few of those years she was a single, working mom taking care of her first two children, and although there were a handful of years of personal and professional heartaches, she never gave up on her dream of being an author.
It was a visit to the wine country that gave Michele the idea to write MURDER UNCORKED. Once the seed of the idea had been planted, Michele began developing her main character in the Wine Lover’s Series and things took off from there. When Michele submitted the book to Jessica Faust at Bookends Literary Agency in March, 2004, the agent signed her immediately after finishing the novel. One month later Michele received THE CALL from Jessica telling her that she had a publisher—Berkley Prime Crime, and that they wanted to sign her for three books in The Wine Lover’s Mystery Series. in December that second call came in about The Horse Lover’s Mystery Series. “It was great to discover that series also sold, because I grew up riding horses and horses are a huge passion of mine. I always knew that I would write a book that incorporated the horse world.”
The path to publishing has been fraught with disappointment at times for Michele, but she feels that it’s been worth every minute of it. “There was a time a few years back when I almost did give up on the dream. However, my middle child set me straight.” Michele recalls receiving another rejection and her son found her in tears over it in the kitchen. “He asked me what was wrong and I told him that I just didn’t think I could keep doing this. And, that wise little kid of only nine at the time told me, ‘don’t you know that God wouldn’t have made you a writer if he didn’t think you couldn’t do it.’ I mean, WOW, how do you give up after that? Then, my dad reminded me of all the techniques he taught me as a kid and that was to visualize the dream as real, see it happening and believe in it.” Michele desires to help women reconnect with the dreams of their childhood. “As women we tend to take care of everyone and everything around us, many times at the expense of our dreams and passions. I want women to realize that they can be great moms and wives without burying their dreams.” When she speaks to women’s groups she poses the question to the audience “Do you remember that dream you had as a little girl? Are you living it? Do you wish you were living it? You can.” Michele is proof that dreams do come true even in the midst of raising a family. “It may have taken me over a decade to do, but the journey has been a wonderful experience”
Michele writes full time and lives in San Diego with her husband, two sons, and daughter.
Mysteries by Author:
- The Wine Lover’s Mystery Series:
- Murder Uncorked
- Murder By The Glass
- Silenced By Syrah
- Corked By Cabernet (2/09)
- The Horse Lover’s Mystery Series:
- Saddled With Trouble
- Death Reins In
- Tacked To Death