By Amy Sowder
asowder@news-press.com

04/16/2008

Michelle Weston wove through the aisles of Barnes & Noble at Coconut Point.

Her eyes scanned the categories and alighted upon the desired spot. She beelined for a book and snatched it off the shelf.

"It's here!" she said, delighted.

Facing forward. All 318 pages of her own words.

"A Prophecy Forgotten" landed on the bookshelves March 2007.

It's a feat for a freshman author's book to remain on major bookseller shelves for more than a year, says Weston, a Naples author, radio talk show host and speaker.

Stores usually send books back to the publisher's warehouse after a year.

Corkscrew Elementary teacher Leon Tavares bought Weston's book after she spoke to fourth- and fifth-graders about what it takes to be a writer.

Tavares devoured the book in two days. The six copies at the school library are always checked out, he says.

"I think what comes out in her book is the systematic characterizations and the relations between them," says Tavares, 61. "I think the kids really start to feel for the characters - they become real to them. That's a sign of good literature."

The next book in Weston's Elysian Chronicles, "Out of the Shadows," is due out this summer.

The fantasy series chronicles the struggle of cherubian warrior Major Davian to fight the evil mornachts, uncover the conspiracy within his own kind and protect a little human boy who could be the answer to the Universe.

Think "City of Angels" meets "Lord of the Rings" meets "Terminator 2," her fans say on Amazon.com.

Although Archebooks publisher Robert Gelinas wouldn't provide exact sales numbers, he said in an e-mail that Weston has sold thousands of copies.

"In fact, it was reported to us that locally, at the Naples Barnes & Noble, it has outsold the last Harry Potter book," Gelinas said.

The author behind the book thrusts herself into the front lines of the industry.

Weston is quickly shaping herself into a marketing maven. She took the advice that an author's work should be 75 percent marketing and 25 percent writing.

Her seminars, workshops, writer's conferences and lectures keep her busy.

And once a week, she tosses out her takes on the latest fantasy and science fiction films on her internet radio show, "The Final Cut."

To plan her days better, the 31-year-old uses a day planner divided into 15-minute segments.

Weston's book career sparked with a fine arts class in college.

The professor assigned students to write an essay describing a piece of music.

Weston pictured a movie scenario and imagined an alternate world.

The professor was so entertained she said she couldn't wait for Weston's next essay.

Weston realized she might be on to something with this creative writing thing.

Even so, Weston graduated from University of South Florida with an accounting degree and worked for a real estate developer.

Her original plan had been to eventually go to law school, become a district attorney and work her way up government ranks to become president of the United States.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, she tried out for the FBI.

"I'm a big America person," Weston says.

But as her accounting job stress mounted, her husband Greg encouraged her to quit and start writing.

The fantasy genre was a natural choice for Weston.

As a child, she revered J. R. Tolkien's "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Ring" novels.

"My niche kind of came to me," she says. "I Forrest Gumped my way into it."

So Weston entered Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's "Project Greenlight" screenplay-writing contest.

She didn't win but instead learned a valuable writing lesson all good writers ascribe to: Show, don't tell.

Weston put that into practice as she created the fantasy world of Elysia for her first novel. She read books on writing and on getting published.

Then her chance arrived.

At a Naples Press Club Writers Conference, she had 15 minutes to convince Archebooks publishers they wanted her book.

"I don't recommend taking two espresso shots and a coffee," she says, laughing at the memory. "I shook literally for four hours."

An hour and 15 minutes later, the publisher requested her full manuscript.

She was as good as in.

Weston is more of a character-driven writer rather than plot-driven, she says.

"I had one character totally turn bad on me," she says as she describes her writing process. "I was like, 'Dude, what are you doing?' "

She doesn't outline her book beforehand but works like a "pantser."

"We write by the seats of our pants," Weston jokes.

Weston says her next book has more political strategy, terrorist attacks and shaken economies.

"A 'Prophecy Forgotten' is candy," she says. "The next one is a little darker."

Weston then paused before she softened her description of the coming book.

"It's not Steinbeck," she says. "It's not going to make you want to slit your wrists."