Life

How I Re-fell in Love with Writing

Eric Michel Books, Life, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

 

Ok, now that I have the Kaepernick thing out of the way, I can get back to my other work, which was my plan all along. (However, I do want to say a quick thank you to everyone who read that article, whether you agreed with it or not. We broke 100 views in 24 hours, which has only been done like two other times in the history of this website. So thanks.)

For those of you that read everything I post, you’ll know I recently started a fitness website. It launched in June, and so far I have a stream of about 20 dedicated readers that habitually click on whatever I put out. Shouts to you guys. For those of you that like my other work (ie the stuff that infrequently appears on this website) I’ve been inactive for a really long time. The reason for that is a simple, yet important one: I was disenchanted with the idea of becoming an author. I found myself thinking less and less about my career as a fiction writer, and more and more about pursuing a career as a personal trainer and fitness “expert.” My passion switched from writing made up things to analyzing scientific research and learning about the best ways to build muscle. Which would have been fine, if I didn’t quickly become disenchanted with that. Continue reading →

In Defense of Colin Kaepernick

Eric Michel Life, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

I really didn’t want to have to do this.

I mean, really didn’t want to have to do this.

I was actually in the middle of writing a very important post for this site, one that would have been the first in a few months. I’d rather be finishing that up. But instead, I find myself talking about the latest thing that has America’s panties in a bunch, Mr. Colin Kaepernick and his decision not to stand during the National Anthem.

Continue reading →

I’m not Actually Very Well-Read, and I Hate Myself For It

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I remember the day my mom told me a family friend of ours was opening up a used bookstore in our hometown.

“It’s called Shabby Pages. It’s going to sell mainly used books, and right now they’re only accepting donations, but I think later on you’ll be able to trade in for store credit.”

This information made seventh-grade Eric pretty happy. Not only could I stop begging my mom to make the 25 minute drive to Barnes and Noble, but I could also get books for hella cheap. At the same time, though, I was a little iffy on the whole thing because I had this aversion to buying used books, specifically paperbacks. If I didn’t put the creases in the spine, the book was no good. I was the only one who could damage my shit.

A couple weeks passed and we visited the store. It wasn’t too big, probably less than a quarter of the size of a typical chain store, but the walls were lined with books. Since the store was just starting out, the owner got her hands on pretty much whatever she could and sold it. As I walked around the store, I saw so many unfamiliar names that I was disappointed. Where was D.J. MacHale (my favorite author at the time, who wrote the ever-so-wonderful Pendragon series)? Dan Gutman? Eoin Colfer? Of course, the reason I didn’t know any names is because up until that point in my life I had been reading YA. That changed before I walked out of the store. Continue reading →

The Struggles of Being a Writer Who Doesn’t Actually Write All That Much

Eric Michel Life Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

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“So how’s the book coming?”

“What?” I thought I’d heard the words right, but I needed time to formulate an acceptable response. I was busy stocking the shelves at the store I work at in the summers, and my manager, innocently enough, asked how my writing was going, as she remembered that I wanted to be an author from my time there last summer.

“Uh… Not as well as I’d like, but it’ll get there.”

That seemed to jump around the question well enough, and the conversation moved elsewhere. But my mind didn’t. Continue reading →

I Went Without a Phone for Roughly Six Days, and Here’s What I Learned

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“The insurance company should be calling you sometime tonight, and they’ll ship the replacement phone in the morning. You should have it by Tuesday.” The lady at Verizon Wireless looked at me, sounding all too annoyed by the situation. She wasn’t the only one. As I’d find out in the coming days, you don’t know how good you have it until it’s gone. You also don’t know you have a problem until you have to confront it directly.  Continue reading →

My Horrendous Lack of Motivation— and What I’m Doing to Fix It

Eric Michel Life Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Reality has this funny way of knocking you down a peg just when things are starting to look up. There have been multiple times this year where I’ve ascended to what I thought was the top rung of life, to the point where I could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel… and then I’ve fallen on the last step and come crashing down to the bottom. I’m not going to go into specifics, but a little background is necessary for you to understand why I’ve been such a lazy bag of shit for the last three months.  Continue reading →