pirate costume author

Michelle L. Whitney enjoying some creative play at a pirate pub crawl.

Michelle L. Whitney is a Maryland native and displaced Alaskan living on the outskirts of Baltimore City. As a survivor of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Michelle is no stranger to dealing with stress. During her years working in stressful, and sometimes toxic, environments, Michelle devised numerous ways to manage and release her stress.

Michelle was born a creative genius (really, I swear!). Okay, maybe not a genius, but definitely creative. She escaped a stressful 9-5 that was creative-adjacent, but lacked in actual creativity, to write her first nonfiction book, Stress Hacks: 166 Tips and Tricks to Free Yourself From Stress and Sleeplessness and Reclaim a Relaxed Life. She hopes that her experiences will help others struggling to survive the sometimes soul-crushing stress often inherent in modern life.

Michelle has also completed a rough draft of her first fiction novel, The Bitterness of Growing Things, which explores grief and the nature of solitude and celebrity with a thriller twist. The novel is in the midst of extensive rewrites.

As a creative person, Michelle enjoys writing, photography, and helping other creatives through the stresses that block free expression of their gifts. When she’s not writing, she does her best to serve her home’s two feline rulers and entertain her inner child with play, wonder, and the wearing of tiny hats.

Michelle blogs about managing life’s stresses and living creatively at survivingacreativelife.com. You can find her on Twitter @StressHacksBook and visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SurvivingACreativeLife. She can be reached at survivingacreativelife@gmail.com or michelle@michellelwhitney.com.

Here Are A Few Fun Random Things About Michelle

*some are real and some are not-you figure it out

  1. I want to be mummified after I die; it’s the only way I’ll ever be thin.
  2. Actually, I’d rather be burned on a large pyre set next to a river, or lake, or ocean… and the mourners could roast marshmallows and make smores. ‘Cause while life may be sweet, marshmallows are sweeter.
  3. The cocoa bean is a gift from the goddess.
  4. Photography reminds me to look at the world from different points of view.
  5. Wonder Lake in July at 1 AM can be the quietest and most beautiful place in the world.
  6. “Pod” is a warm & fuzzy word to me.
  7. The thought of ever corporeally evanescing gives me the chills.
  8. Mean fairies steal my important paperwork–that’s why I can never find it. I used to think they repeatedly stole the grate out of the bathtub drain and hid it in the library closet, but that turned out the be the cat.
  9. Nature photography, for me, is a form of worship.
  10. I agree with Cicero that a room without books is like a body without a soul.
  11. I hurt.
  12. What I miss most in the Megalopolis are the stars.
  13. I love being barefoot, except when I step on a slug.
  14. I can’t find my pruning shears. Maybe the fairies took them too.
  15. I believe that all candidates for public office, regardless of their political party or lack thereof, should be included in debates.
  16. I have an addiction–to dangly earrings.
  17. I love the dewy scent of lilacs.
  18. My grandmother made the best rolls in the world.
  19. I wish I had a tongue like a frog. Wouldn’t it be convenient to be able to reach out and grab things with it.
  20. All men look good in kilts. Short, tall, fat, skinny-you name it-all men look good in kilts.
  21. I hate my feet.
  22. I love the smell of a peach, but I’m not thrilled with the taste.
  23. Shopping at Wal Mart makes me feel guilty–like ‘Catholic’ guilty. So I avoid the place like the plague.
  24. I can’t stand fishy smells, yet I’m a Pisces.
  25. I want to visit every National Park in the United States. So far I’ve visited: Acadia, Assateague, Badlands, Cape Cod, Carlsbad Caverns, Crater Lake, Craters of the Moon, Death Valley, Denali, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Hawaii Volcanoes, Joshua Tree, Kenai Fjords, Kings Canyon, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest, Redwood, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia, Shenandoah, Wrangell-St. Elias, Yellowstone, and Yosemite.
  26. I have a wonderful sense of humor and I dearly love to laugh.
  27. I rarely pass up the opportunity to wear flowers in my hair.
Copyright © 2015 Michelle L. Whitney | All Rights Reserved