All About Angelique ~ by Angelique Migliore

Greetings, Dearest Readers!

Thanks to Originality by Design for the invitation to chat with you today. Chat to you maybe? At any rate, I was asked how I decided to be a writer, but I have a better story for you: How I decided I am a Romance writer.

As Fate would have it—and Fate is a tricky lady, is she not?—my
mother and my nana love(d) Romances. While pregnant with me, my mother read out loud to me the epic Historical Romance series about “Angelique” by SergeAnne Golon (a husband and wife team, Serge and Anne). They wrote fourteen books about Angelique with the fifteenth book unfinished when Anne died. Serge preceded her in death. Yes, this is from whom I was named, but I’ll come back to this.

Romance novels were readily available for me to pull off the shelf (without proper permission), and my mother read the epic, great ones: “Dr. Zhivago,” “Gone with the Wind,” “The Thorn Birds,” just to name a few. I’m pretty sure I sneaked “Interview with The Vampire” into my room when I was about eight years old, and I was hooked on reading!

While in my third year of French at high school, I was forced to journal every day. Never the lover of my own personal diaries, I instead rewrote Romeo and Juliet, en Français. Except that Romeo was a duck-billed platypus, and Juliet was a strawberry. It was a doomed, albeit deliciously sweet, relationship from the start. Although I wrote long before that, thus began my passionate affair with writing Love Stories. To this day, Shakespeare remains one of my true loves.

I also write some poetry. I post a daily poem on Twitter, usually in either haiku or tank form. My poetry tends to have Romance, Cosmic, or some affirming theme to them. Once upon a time, when I lived in South Korea, I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. I quickly scribbled down a three haiku stanza poem about having a broken heart, and promptly fell back to sleep forgetting all about it. It wasn’t until after I had risen and showered that I remembered it. Even then, I thought I was recalling a part of a dream, but there it was, on my nightstand. I even counted out the syllables and was shocked to have them perfectly in order.

In addition to poetry, matters of the heart have always obsessed me. Funny enough though, it took complaining to my critique partner about the characters in my first Mythological Fantasy trilogy (unpublished) for me to understand how very entwined with the Romance genre I was. The conversation went something like this:

Angelique threw up her hands in frustration. “What is wrong with my characters? All they want to do is kiss and ogle each other!”

“You mean like in a Romance novel?” Christy asked.

Angelique nodded her head vigorously. “Yes! Exactly like that!”

Christy stopped typing on her own manuscript. She cautiously reached for her chai, never breaking eye contact with Angelique. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe you’re a Romance writer?”

Angelique glared at her friend and critique partner. “Well, of course not. I’m writing a Fantasy.” Her eyes then searched the ceiling for invisible answers. “Where they just happen to fall in love and try not to kiss—Oh. My. Stars. I’m a Romance writer!”

Christy rolled her eyes. “I’ve been trying to tell you for ages. Maybe if you listened to me once in a while…”

I stopped my work on the Mythological Fantasy trilogy (which I will be going back to very soon to revamp them into Romances) and pursued the Contemporary Romance genre in full force.

“One Night in Portland,” my first Romance novella, published in
August of 2019 by Tirgearr publishing as part of their City Nights Series. “One Night in Tampa” is currently in the editing stages and should publish around January or February 2020. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m currently writing “One Night in Seoul,” and although it’s not under contract yet, I’m hopeful.

In addition to Romance novellas, I have also written two Op-eds for Frolic.media on Date Nights and Board Games. The first article was about the game “Parks,” and the second article was about the game “Fog of Love.” Stay tuned for more articles.

I believe I have found my place in the world as a Romance author. I have more Romances planned in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Contemporary (in various heat levels), and I truly can’t imagine doing anything else. Writing witty, charming, and resilient characters who find love in all the wrong places fulfills me more than anything else could.

And my ultimate dream in this landscape of love? I want to finish the fifteenth “Angelique” novel and bring closure to that series. Yes, it’s a pipe dream, but we all need something to strive for. You should be feeling very special right now, because I’ve never shared that pipe dream with anyone else. In the meantime, I will continue with my lovely characters.

Angelique Migliore
A bit more about me (also known as a bio): I’m ever the optimist. I
believe the best is yet to come, sharing a meal is the quickest route to peace, and love conquers all. Although I was born and raised in the paradise that is the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle, not traveling has never been an option for me. I have lived in all of the cities for which I’ve written a “One Night” story. 

I received my Bachelor’s degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the Conard N. Hilton College at the University of Houston, and my Master’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Thank you for reading and spending a few of your precious moments with me. Cheers!

Lastly, I love hearing from my readers; it brings me great joy! You can reach me by clicking on the links below.


6 comments:

  1. Angelique, wonderful having you as a guest today. A piece of my heart will alqays be wrapped with Portland. I wish you much success and know, someday, you will write book 15.

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    1. Thank you so much for the invitation, Grace! It was my honor. I'm so happy you enjoyed "One Night in Portland"! stay tuned...

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  2. Welcome, Angelique! Thank you for sharing your story with us.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much for taking the time to read about me. It was pleasure to write a little something for you.
      Cheers!

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  3. Great to have you as a guest on OBD. It sounds like you lots on stories to tell!

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  4. Thank you, Jacquolyn. I have so many ideas! Here's hoping I can nurture and harvest them properly. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

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