Michelle Shocklee

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. As a woman of mixed heritage--her father's family is Hispanic and her mother's roots go back to Germany--she has always celebrated diversity and feels it's important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction.

Her NEW time-slip novel, UNDER THE TULIP TREE, set in 1930s & 1860s Nashville, is a story of unlikely friendship, reconciliation, and forgiveness. It is based on the Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives of 1936. After reading over 100 slave narratives, Michelle wanted to tell THAT story. The story of an FWP writer interviewing a former slave, hearing her story firsthand, and what the FWP writer learns through this experience. Many of the scenes in UNDER THE TULIP TREE are taken directly from the slave narratives themselves. Click the "Influences" link in my profile to read more about why the theme of forgiveness is important, even in fiction.

THE PLANTER'S DAUGHTER and THE WIDOW OF ROSE HILL, are historical sagas about redemption and righting past wrongs. Set on a Texas cotton plantation in the 1800s, you'll journey through the pages with flawed characters who ultimately find grace while coming face-to-face with the evils of slavery. No character is left unchanged by the end of each book. Readers say they can't put these books down!

With both her sons grown, she and her husband now make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about in her new book