Looking at Michelle Eidem, you would never guess that she is the brains behind a half-dozen science fiction romance novels. Naturally beautiful in a sweater and jeans, her hair fashionably short and stylish, Eidem tells me about herself. The youngest of seven children, she grew up in Cherokee, Iowa. She later moved to Vermillion, SD where she attended the University of South Dakota to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Accounting. While working at Hy-Vee after completing college, she met her husband, Gary.

Eidem went on to work for the City of Vermillion’s Finance Office for 15 years while her husband Gary continued to work for Clay Union Electric. They have two children, their son works for the city of Beresford and their daughter attends school at South Dakota State University in Brookings. Just recently in January, Eidem decided to leave her job with the City of Vermillion to turn her writing into a full-time career.

Reading and writing have always been an interest to her growing up. Her mother, an avid reader always participating in the book of the month club, sparked her interest by often having several books readily available. Her writing started off on a small scale, as most do, with short stories being written out on loose-leaf, double-wide paper with a standard number two pencil.

Referring to herself as a “Trekkie,” she’s loved Star Trek from the beginning, and also enjoys science fiction, biographies and historical novels. She had never planned on writing her own books, it just transpired one day as she was watching a science fiction series. She didn’t like the ending and thought she could re-write it better.

 

“All I did was write lines. The lines built into paragraphs and paragraphs turned into chapters. I had about two of those before I started writing (Cassandra’s Challenge).”

Her novels fall into the genre of science fiction romance. Though some fellow writers suggested to her that sci-fi romance was the hardest field to write, she felt it was easy for her because she could make up her own world, not feeling confined by any boundaries.

“To me, that’s the easiest way to do it. I can make anything happen that I want.”

Many of the books Eidem reads are by other independent authors. Some of her favorites are also those that she admires the most. S.E. Smith, a fellow independent author whom Eidem has become friends with, helped guide her in her novel writing and publishing. Other independent authors that have been influential to her are J.A. Hornbuckle and Michelle Howard.

To date, Eidem, known to her readers under the author name M.K. Eidem, has written and self-published six novels as electronic books, or e-books. One book has been published as a paperback and she is working on developing one of her current novels into an audio book, which will be coming out soon.

Her books are part of two different series. Cassandra’s Challenge, her first book published in 2013 began the Imperial Series. This book is about tall, dark haired Cassandra, suddenly alone with her niece Victoria on Earth after their planet is attacked.

Grim, her next novel published in 2013, starts her second series, the Tornian series, about King Grim Vasteri, a warrior of the Tornian Empire. Grim is her best seller and is the only novel published in paperback.

Following Grim came Victoria’s Challenge, the second book in the Imperial series. Grim Holiday and Wray soon followed, both from the Tornian series. Love without Boundaries came next, part of the Tornian series with compilations of hers, J.A. Hornbuckle’s and Michelle Howard’s. She is currently working on another book from the Tornian series, Ynyr, featuring a different family from Grim and Wray.

When Eidem started writing Grim, she didn’t intend for it to be a series. “I got so much demand to know more about what was happening with the characters in it,” she explains. That’s how book two of the Tornian Series evolved; it was actually a prequel to Grim, giving a history of how the character Grim came into being.

Eidem understands that her readers want to learn more about characters in subsequent books, as that’s something she looks for when she is reading the works of other authors. “I like the continuation of a character in other books that let you know more about them,” she explains. “I don’t like loose ends.”

Eidem’s magic begins on her laptop, already having blazed through two of them and currently on her third one since she’s started writing novels. “It’s been a learning process,” she explains about the novel writing and publishing procedure. Most of it she learned along the way or was given guidance from fellow writers and friends Smith and Hornbuckle.

After many, many hours are put behind writing the story, she then sends it off to her international beta readers who proof-read her work and suggest corrections to be made. After she cycles through this process a few times and is satisfied with her novel, she continues with the next several steps that it takes to publish her e-book, the process taking several months to complete.

Eidem’s suggestion if you’re interested in writing a novel? “Just put one out there. Just jump. If you’ve got something to write, just write it. You’re going to learn from it one way or another.” Though it’s apparent she knows that not everyone likes her work, she just likes to write. “I write (science fiction romance) because it’s what I enjoy. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”

You can follow Eidem on Twitter, on Facebook under M.K. Eidem, or on her website at www.mkeidem.com.