Michelle Birbeck - The Last Keeper
Some Fun Facts About Me and My Book
by Michelle Birbeck
One of the things that creeps people out more than anything when I am writing is the fact that I can touch type. And I’m not talking looking at the screen whilst I write instead of at the keyboard, either. As a writer I have found it invaluable to be able to type with more than two fingers and whilst not looking at the keyboard. What gets people, however, is that I have this habit of carrying on typing when I’m not looking at the computer at all, and sometimes whilst even carrying on a conversation with someone.
Which brings me to another interesting fact about The Last Keeper. When I was writing the book, I included a sex scene or two. However, even after years of writing such scenes in various short stories and books, I still go bright as a tomato when doing so. I’ve found that closing my eyes whilst I’m writing them makes it much easier, and as such, all the sex scenes in all my books were written with my eyes closed. Unfortunately, I have yet to learn how to edit in the same way!
I’m surprised I haven’t died from too much blood to the brain, especially during the final editing rounds. Having deadlines to contend with, I was taking every opportunity I had, which included an evening with the parents-in-law. We’d had dinner, and were waiting until it was time to go to the drumming circle my husband attends. So there I was, sitting on my laptop, getting some edits done, and I had my screen set as it always is when editing: 165% Just as I came up to one of the more intimate parts of the book, my mother-in-law came and sat next to me and asked me what I was doing! Safe to say, my answer was brief and I skipped ahead a little until she wandered off. Thankfully, my family are pretty used to me being absorbed with writing and tend to leave me alone fairly quickly!
Throughout writing The Last Keeper there have been many times when I needed a bit of information, mainly in the form of historical research. A number of these times included phone calls to my mother. When I needed information on the cars and bikes of the seventies, she was the first person I thought of. The fact that I needed that information at one in the morning may have been a little strange, but the ensuing conversation was even more so! First it was what cars looked pretty from the seventies. Then it was what sort of motorbikes were available. After that it was a second phone call to check on what the driving licences were like. I think by two in the morning she might have been a little tired of all the questions.
So I started the next day with the rest of them! The one thing I do like about historical research is when it is a part of history where I know someone who lived through it, or know someone who’s already an expert. Books are fantastic, but getting it from the source is better still!
All in all, it’s been a fantastic journey from start to publication, and there are many stories I could share of my time writing the book, and editing it. But the most memorable of all has to be the day I got accepted for publication with The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Other than the email that was sat in my inbox, it was a pretty normal day. I’d sent off the manuscript a little while beforehand and was still trying not to check my emails every few minutes. Then it came in, and I spent a good few minutes staring at it before opening it. I’m sure that the whole street heard my cry of delight, and I’m pretty sure my phone company appreciated the extra income! First I jumped around the house for five minutes squealing with delight. Then I picked up the phone and called everyone I know, including my friend Alice in Germany. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited as that day. At least not until I held the book in my hands for the first time.
• Pub Date: May 3, 2012
• Publisher: The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House
• Format: Paperback/ebook
• Genre: Paranormal
Fifteen hundred years ago, Serenity Cardea took the life of the only vampire she ever regretted killing—Henry, her sister’s husband. With her sister brutally murdered, Serenity had little choice but to grant Henry the only request he had: death. Centuries later, Serenity is no closer to discovering who betrayed them or instigated the massacre of her brothers and sisters.
The vampires want dominance—over their food, the other races . . . the world. To get it, they’ve systematically hunted down and slaughtered the only ones standing in their way. The Keepers.
As a Keeper, Serenity is tasked with protecting the delicate balance between the creatures of the world: Vampire, Witch, Were, and Human. Her kind exists to ensure that no single race sways the balance, dooming the world to destruction.
They're on the brink of extinction, with no sign of return. Now only two remain, and Serenity’s last brother is facing death, leaving her standing alone against a never-ending tide of vampires, all wanting one thing: power.
Then she meets Ray Synclair, a history professor in training with a passion for centuries past, and the harsh reality of her limited time comes crashing down on her. He is her weakness. His mortality is the countdown on Serenity’s life, and with each passing second, it comes closer to the end, for both of them.
She must uncover the secrets of her people’s past and find out who betrayed them—and who is still doing so—before it’s too late.
Serenity’s days are numbered, and Ray will be drawn into a world of myth and legend, where just being alive is enough to get him hunted down.
Because the only way to kill a Keeper is to kill their partner . . .
Some Fun Facts About Me and My Book
by Michelle Birbeck
One of the things that creeps people out more than anything when I am writing is the fact that I can touch type. And I’m not talking looking at the screen whilst I write instead of at the keyboard, either. As a writer I have found it invaluable to be able to type with more than two fingers and whilst not looking at the keyboard. What gets people, however, is that I have this habit of carrying on typing when I’m not looking at the computer at all, and sometimes whilst even carrying on a conversation with someone.
Which brings me to another interesting fact about The Last Keeper. When I was writing the book, I included a sex scene or two. However, even after years of writing such scenes in various short stories and books, I still go bright as a tomato when doing so. I’ve found that closing my eyes whilst I’m writing them makes it much easier, and as such, all the sex scenes in all my books were written with my eyes closed. Unfortunately, I have yet to learn how to edit in the same way!
I’m surprised I haven’t died from too much blood to the brain, especially during the final editing rounds. Having deadlines to contend with, I was taking every opportunity I had, which included an evening with the parents-in-law. We’d had dinner, and were waiting until it was time to go to the drumming circle my husband attends. So there I was, sitting on my laptop, getting some edits done, and I had my screen set as it always is when editing: 165% Just as I came up to one of the more intimate parts of the book, my mother-in-law came and sat next to me and asked me what I was doing! Safe to say, my answer was brief and I skipped ahead a little until she wandered off. Thankfully, my family are pretty used to me being absorbed with writing and tend to leave me alone fairly quickly!
Throughout writing The Last Keeper there have been many times when I needed a bit of information, mainly in the form of historical research. A number of these times included phone calls to my mother. When I needed information on the cars and bikes of the seventies, she was the first person I thought of. The fact that I needed that information at one in the morning may have been a little strange, but the ensuing conversation was even more so! First it was what cars looked pretty from the seventies. Then it was what sort of motorbikes were available. After that it was a second phone call to check on what the driving licences were like. I think by two in the morning she might have been a little tired of all the questions.
So I started the next day with the rest of them! The one thing I do like about historical research is when it is a part of history where I know someone who lived through it, or know someone who’s already an expert. Books are fantastic, but getting it from the source is better still!
All in all, it’s been a fantastic journey from start to publication, and there are many stories I could share of my time writing the book, and editing it. But the most memorable of all has to be the day I got accepted for publication with The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Other than the email that was sat in my inbox, it was a pretty normal day. I’d sent off the manuscript a little while beforehand and was still trying not to check my emails every few minutes. Then it came in, and I spent a good few minutes staring at it before opening it. I’m sure that the whole street heard my cry of delight, and I’m pretty sure my phone company appreciated the extra income! First I jumped around the house for five minutes squealing with delight. Then I picked up the phone and called everyone I know, including my friend Alice in Germany. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited as that day. At least not until I held the book in my hands for the first time.
Michelle is 28 and has been writing and reading her whole life. Her earliest memory of books was when she was five and decided to try and teach her fish how to read, by putting her Beatrix Potter books in the fish tank with them. Since then her love of books has grown, and now she is writing her own, and looking forward to seeing them on her shelves, though they won’t be going anywhere near the fish tank. When she’s not writing, she’s out and about on her motorbike, or sat with her head in a book.
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