”If only I could have seen a bright future for myself—without the help of a fickle goddess. If only I had been strong enough to rise above the shadow’s darkness. If only I could have understood that beyond the vapor of those fallen stars, resides an entire universe brimming with magnificence. For dreamers to cast dreams into. Not just one ‘star light, star bright,’ but an entire brilliant universe waiting to nurture fragile dreams.” ~ Chapter 43

“Sefton carves out one woman’s fight for survival in this moving debut, following Arizona teenager Jade, whose desperate need for money propels her into “a life of despair and addiction.” …What makes her journey unique is Sefton’s skill at crafting her gradual transformation: visceral disgust at this new world, followed by a begrudging appreciation of the strength and community she discovers there, to the final wild, drugged mess it turns her into… Sefton triumphs with this riveting portrait of a broken girl desperate for the light…” ~ BookLife

Now available for purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or direct thru me

Reviews by: San Francisco Book Review, BookLife by Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews (Read by my daughter, artist Sammi Lee) 🎙️

Inspired by true events, my debut novel, Jade’s Broken Bridge (New Adult), will be released October 10th. 🍂

A bit about me… I am a veteran English teacher who left the classroom in 2019 to develop my own writing voice. A writer of poetry and poetic prose, I’ve since been published in various anthologies and platforms, including Piper Poetry Month Anthology through the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University and Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (Poetry Anthology).

Collaborating with my artist daughter during the pandemic, I published a series of illustrated poetry chapbooks, Being a Woman: Overcoming, Being a Woman: Becoming, and Being a Woman: Forthcoming. In 2020, I published a collection of poems to celebrate my one-year blog anniversary, My Inspired Life: A Poetic Journey. My titles, Her Coastal Cottage: Where Truth & Love Rise and Honeysuckle Heat, offer readers vivid poetic prose in novella length.

I enjoy sharing and connecting with readers and creatives on my writing and photography blog, TumbleweedSpirit, dancing with expressive women, and working with Sandra Marinella, the author of The Story You Need to Tell, co-facilitating narrative therapy workshops. My undergrad is in English with a Secondary Endorsement, and I hold a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University, and a Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies from Indiana University.

Thank you for visiting. I invite you to join me on my inspired journey where I capture and interpret what I see, hear, and feel around me. Warm regards. 🏜️ Michele Lee

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