Michele has written essays and articles for newspapers and magazines. She has performed her stories on stage. Her book, “Craving Normal,” was published in 2019. She is working on her second book, “How to Stay Broke and Influence Nobody–while searching for joy.” One of the stories in her upcoming book recently won a Writer’s Digest humor prize.
Who are your favorite authors?
Nora Ephron, Anne Lamott, David Sedaris, Erma Bombeck, Cynthia Heimel, Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Dave Barry, Dorothy Parker, Joan Didion, Eve Babitz, Jack Kerouac, Sandra Tsing Loh, Fran Lebowitz, Charles Bukowski, and John Steinbeck.
I love writers who get me thinking, feeling, and laughing.
Other creative influences: Elaine May and Madeline Kahn. It was hard to be too serious, growing up in the 1970s, with Dr. Demento on our car radio, Mel Brooks’s in the movies, Carol Burnett on TV, and Mad Magazine. Humor surrounded me.
What are you working on next?
“How to Stay Broke and Influence Nobody,” — my true story collection. While attempting to be a functioning adult in Los Angeles, I’ve made some questionable life choices readers may learn from.
In my quest to live a life I enjoy, I’ve struggled while attempting jobs, self-employment, raising a child, trying to pay bills, caring for pets, traveling, and interacting with humans—family, other parents, co-workers, and some celebrities (Caution: Don’t trip over the names I’ve dropped. Believe me, my interactions are NOT meant to impress. Celebrity encounters happen often when you live in Los Angeles).
I hope my life experiences might inspire you to do that thing you’ve been wanting to do. Hey, if I can make a fool of myself and survive, you’ll be okay! You may get some enjoyment from my misery. It’s fine. I’m elated to have these experiences behind me. As I’ve said, “If I’ve done it, it can’t be right.”
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I’ve written stories since I was able to write. The first one I remember was about a little farm girl kidnapped by aliens. They took her to their planet, where they allowed her to stay up late and eat junk food. She never wanted to return to her farmhouse. That was my 8-year-old fantasy at the time, as the child of health food fanatics.
I didn’t submit any of my work until about twenty years ago, an essay about an encounter I had in the grocery store, was published.
Do you remember the first story you ever read and the impact it had on you?
“Charlotte’s Web.” I couldn’t put it down and it made me cry at the end.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I started life in the suburbs of San Francisco. Then, after the summer of love, my parents took my little sister and me to travel the world in a trailer.
I wrote my stories for “Craving Normal,” about these experiences, and then how I returned back to America and had a hard time fitting in, after our adventures.
Michele has written essays and articles for magazines and newspapers. But what she enjoys most is storytelling–writing about life, culture, and society with her own slanted view, often injecting humor.
Many of her life experiences should be labeled, “Warning: Results May Vary,” hence the name of her blog.
“Craving Normal,” is a collection of stories about being born to suburbanites who veered way off and transformed into nude-beach-going, world-traveling-hippies, and other adventures of growing up during the “Me Generation,” and beyond. “Craving Normal” is available now, in print and eBook, on Amazon.
