Bio.: Michelle Gamble is an award-winning author with over 20 years in the publishing, public relations and marketing business.
She has enjoyed a prosperous career working for a variety of industries as an editor, writer, publisher and marketing expert. Michelle Gamble-Risley founded MGR Consulting in 2006. She is a seasoned veteran of the communication business, with over 20 years experience in public relations, marketing and custom publishing. She began her career in 1988 working respectively for the California departments of Justice and Water Resources. In 1991, she joined California Computer News and eventually took over the role as publisher, working on strategic communication programs to increase the publication’s market presence and overall success. She then joined two new start-up companies called The Center for Digital Government and The Center for Digital Education where she served as executive editor and director of custom publications and developed an array of marketing and communication programs and services. After a brief position as director of strategic communications at a marketing agency, she left to form her own agency in 2006, which eventually led to the launch of 3L Publishing in summer of 2009.
Michelle is also a gifted public relations expert. She has enjoyed appearances and articles featuring 3L in Success Magazine, Sacramento Magazine, Business Journal, Redbook, Elle, About.com, ABC National News and numerous national media. Her clients works have been featured in Posh Caribbean, Daily Summit, Washington Post, About.com, Sacramento & Co., Good Day Sacramento, Business Journal, France Today, French Morning, Herald Nuevo, and dozens of other high-profile media outlets. She is also an accomplish writer and has been published both regionally and nationally in Converge, T.H.E. Journal, Engineering News Record, Tele-communications Week, Government Technology, Comstock’s, Sacramento Magazine, Access, and dozens of others. She is a speaker and presenter and has done presentations at numerous conferences across the country. She is also a screenwriter and her movie Virtual Seduction aired on Showtime.
Her book, Second Bloom: 10 Steps to Reinvent, Rejuvenate, and Realize a New Life in the Inspirational category, has been chosen as an Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest 17th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. She has also written Smash and Vanity Circus and contributed to several other books as ghost writer.
Follow Michelle: Blog and Facebook
Follow Michelle: Blog and Facebook
Guest Blog: Michelle Gamble-Risley, author of California Girl Chronicles, Brea’s Big Break
My name is Michelle Gamble-Risley, a pen name I feel stuck with even though my divorce changed my name back to Michelle Gamble. Problem is I have written five books, hundreds of magazine articles, and screenplays with that moniker all over them. I’m not entirely sure how to solve that problem. I am the author of the second book in the California Girl Chronicles series, Brea’s Big Break. The book picks up where the second book Brea and the City of Plastic left off. Brea, our intrepid, flawed heroine is still stuck trying to figure out her love life while breaking into the world of Hollywood as a screenwriter.
Now I get asked all of the time if I am Brea. I guess the answer is, “A part of me is her, but I am not her.” I believe you should write what you know, and if you don’t know something, research it but keep it based in your personal truth. I do think better writing comes from our experiences. We can delve deep into our hearts to unearth the reality of the situation, which is why I put my heroine in a relatable situation. I am a screenwriter, too.
I also wanted to create a sexually empowered, unapologetic heroine. A modern woman who is unashamed of her sexuality and makes no apologies that she enjoys sex. In some ways, she acts masculine in her ability to switch sexual partners and see sex as sex and love as love. This premise for some reader offended them – and they didn’t understand Brea. They saw her in a negative light. I felt differently. I wrote her flawed, confused and uncertain – actions and feelings many of us can relate to. Situation in life are not always black and white. I like to blur the moral and psychological lines and provoke reactions and beg questions.
The California Girl Chronicle books are fun, frothy, mind candy, but there are some deeper questions at play. I want readers to have a good time with Brea (she is humorous, too), but I also wanted a moment to pause and think. Brea is an exceptionally beautiful woman who has her pick of men. Yet beautiful women can become objectified and sought after in undesirable ways.
In book two, Brea faces the reality of sexual politics. She deals with the underbelly of attraction, desire and sexual harassment. A friend of mine once said that beautiful girls tend to be the most abused, because society objectifies them and reacts negatively to their looks (e.g., jealousy). I thought about that for a long time, and realized in some respects he was right. California Girl Chronicles puts that situation under a microscope and depicts the fallout.
The books are also erotic and fun. I didn’t know it at the time I started the series that 50 Shades of Grey would be such a hit. So I had the opportunity to dovetail on that success. California Girl Chronicles got compared to 50 Shades. First, my book is only comparable in its eroticism. The rest of the darker qualities aren’t included. Like I said, California Girl Chronicles is meant to be escapist and fun. I didn’t get into the darker edges of sexuality – not too much anyway. It’s just a great beach or poolside read and perfect for summer vacation.
Outside of my own books, I am also a CEO and publisher. I own 3L Publishing, which makes it easy to publish my own books. I have published about 40 books by other authors, and every so often, I write and publish my own books. I have not written any new books slated for 2014 (my company is growing too fast), but I will return to writing soon. Authors are welcome to check out my company at www.3LPublishing.com.
5 Things About Me
• The movie I co-wrote, Virtual Seduction, is a film produced by B-movie icon Roger Corman
• I started writing novels when I was age 10 and toted my stories around in a shoebox, and my first book Second Bloom won several literary awards
• I’ve traveled the world and been to almost all 50 states, and I recently wrote my first travel book due out in late summer
• I love all music, but ’80’s music in particular still thrills me
• You can’t go wrong with a trip to the beach – rain, overcast or wind never a bummer at the beach
California Girl Chronicles Brea & the City of Plastic
Book Overview:
Welcome to the sexiest, wildest ride you’ll take. Meet Brea Harper, she is the next Carrie Bradshaw only transplanted in Los Angeles. Funny, witty, beautiful, and very sexy, Brea takes readers on a wild ride into her outrageous romantic and professional life. Demoralized and forced to work in what she calls bikini hell just to make ends meet, Brea pursues her career to become a screenwriter only to be continuously distracted by hot men. Delightfully misguided, Brea makes poor choices many women of all ages will find highly relatable. She is one of those unforgettable characters readers love to love.
California Girl Chronicles, Brea’s Big Break
Book Overview:
Take Another Wild, Sexy Ride Into Brea s World! Welcome back to a story about wild, witty and sexy romp into the world of Brea Harper as she tries to succeed as a screenwriter in Hollywood only to be continuously distracted by hot men. In this second book in the series, our beloved Brea has finally realized her dream to write a Hollywood movie. Follow her new adventures as she discovers what it s really like to work on a movie, deal with Hollywood sexual politics, and balance her many hot, sexy and wild relationships with all of the men who love to love her. Which man will lure her into more bedroom antics? Will it be the sexy actor hired for her film, Johnny? Perhaps the new energetic and slightly insane playboy Ryan? Or maybe she will manage to rebuild her relationship with her dreamboat producer Kale. California Girl Chronicles takes readers on a wild, sexy ride into Brea Harper s outrageous romantic and professional life in this edgy new series destined for great commercial and critical success. Brea is not your typical California blond or like quintessential blonds like Cher in Clueless. She is smart and very driven to succeed as a screenwriter. Find out why this great flawed character has got readers screaming at her in maddening frustration, Don’t do it Brea!
GIVEAWAY TIME! Thank you so much Michelle for the awesome guest post.
Thank you for your guest post Michelle 🙂
Thanks Michelle for your post and awesome giveaway! 🙂
Thanks for yoour guest post!
Thanks Michelle for your guest post and this awesome giveaway!!
Thank you Michelle for your guest post and awesome giveaway. 🙂
Thank you for this guest post Michelle!! =)
Thank you Michelle for the guest post.
Thank you Michelle…
Thank you Michelle for the guest post and thank you for the giveaway.