1 ON 1: MICHELE FLETCHER

From Rags to Riches author, wife, and mother of three, Michele Fletcher tells a powerful  story loosely based on her life in her novel “Charge it to the Game.”  With the novel debuting #1 on Karibu's best seller list and her new publishing company, she has established herself as one of most powerful women in the urban entertainment after serving forty eight months in prison for one  of the biggest cases of credit card fraud in American history.

Let’s start with your childhood were did you grow up? I grew up in the Bedstuy section of Brooklyn, New York.

Tell us about your novel “Charge It to the Game,” and how did you prepare it? It’s my first novel, and I dedicated this novel to inspire young people to read and for women that get caught up in bad situations because they don’t think about the consequences of their actions. The lead character goes from one bad situation to another until she learns the game and takes it to another level. By no means, do I encourage her methods, but sometimes when you're in the middle of a situation,  you don't realize all of the options. You have to play the game from where you're at. I wrote this book while I was incarcerated for 48 months in prison for credit card fraud.

What made you decide to write a book loosely based on your life? My crime has captivated the American public as a whole and I needed something to heal. So I started writing in while I was in prison. I kept reflecting back to my journals. Although my offence bought my family and I an unwelcomed notoriety, writing this book landed me the opportunity to give feedback and answers to the community.

How close is the characters in your book to you, or relate to your life? Erica's fictional past is close to mine in a lot of ways because all she really wants is to  stand up for herself. She, like myself,  had an abusive childhood, as far as her father abusing her mom. I guess it was mental abuse. I didn’t talk to much about my personal experiences in the book because I didn’t want it to be an autobiography, but Erica's story is not to far from my own.

Now that you achieved success with your debut novel, what are your future plans? I’m working on my second novel and I’m launching my publishing company which is La’ Femme Fatale' Publishing. We have three authors signed already and we only been in business one year which I’m excited about. I want to do a lot of outreach and speaking engagements, and to help people learn that you can turn  a negative situation  into something positive once you take responsibility for your actions.

Name some of the authors that inspire you? Vicky Stringer, and Nicky Turner.

What has been the best and worst experiences as a writer? It’s easy to just write but when you're on crunch time getting it ready for print is a rush. Getting the book in order was the worst, but I guess you learn from your mistakes. This was the first novel under the company so we learned and and  now understand what is needed.

Do you have any advice to give to other aspiring writers? Stop thinking that it has to be in a book format, just write. If I did it on loose leaf paper, anybody can do it. Don’t give up on your first rejection, submit your ideas to ten ... twenty publishing companies. Continue until you get the answer you want because I believe everyone has something to say. Don’t just get discouraged by your first deal cause your deals get better and better as you go. 

  .- Sheree Campbell