Michelle Richmond

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Born
Alabama, The United States
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Influences
Grace Paley, Graham Greene, Paul Auster, John Fante, Camilla Lackberg, ...more

Member Since
May 2007

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Thank you for stopping by! To read my serial novella, sign up for my newsletter at michellerichmond.substack.com

I also share books I love & glimpses into my writing life on TikTok: @michellerichmondwriter.

I grew up in Alabama and have lived in California for 20 years, with a two-year stint in Paris. My 2017 literary thriller, the Sunday Times bestseller THE MARRIAGE PACT, examines marriage under the extreme pressure of constant monitoring from a powerful organization called The Pact. The Pact promises to help couples have a happy, lasting marriage...but the punishments for breaking the rules are severe. THE MARRIAGE PACT is available in 31 languages.

My latest novel, THE WONDER TEST, a suburban suspense novel set in Silicon Valley (Grove Atl
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Michelle Richmond I love what Stephen King says in "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft." "Butt in the chair." Really, it's about sitting down and writing.

Because I'm al…more
I love what Stephen King says in "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft." "Butt in the chair." Really, it's about sitting down and writing.

Because I'm always working on a novel, and I'm always aware of a chapter or scene that needs to be either written or revised, I don't really struggle with writer's block. There's no sense of, "okay, what will I write today?"

I do, however, experience fair amounts of dread and distraction. Once I'm IN the chair, the challenge is to actually work on the novel-in-progress, rather than using the time to do other, non-novel work, like reading submissions (for the small press I run), responding to email, reading the news, etc. The news is a big pitfall for me!(less)
Michelle Richmond I'm writing a suspense novel set in a small Northern California town. That's all I can share at the moment, but I'm close to having a first draft!…moreI'm writing a suspense novel set in a small Northern California town. That's all I can share at the moment, but I'm close to having a first draft!(less)
Average rating: 3.57 · 56,320 ratings · 7,994 reviews · 32 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Marriage Pact

3.59 avg rating — 28,853 ratings — published 2017 — 63 editions
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The Year of Fog

3.47 avg rating — 16,584 ratings — published 2006 — 37 editions
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No One You Know

3.54 avg rating — 4,661 ratings — published 2008 — 24 editions
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The Wonder Test

3.92 avg rating — 3,619 ratings — published 2021 — 10 editions
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Golden State

3.58 avg rating — 1,739 ratings — published 2014 — 9 editions
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Dream of the Blue Room

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The Girl in the Fall-Away D...

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Day 49: The Missing Final C...

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More books by Michelle Richmond…

Notes on Memory and San Francisco’s Outer Lands

I WILL RETURN again and again to that moment. I will keep a notebook in which I record the details. There will be poorly done sketches, graphs of time and motion, page after page on which I attempt to recover the past. I will pretend that memory is reliable, that it does not erode as quickly …

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Published on July 26, 2025 09:25
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Troubling Love
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Michelle’s Recent Updates

Michelle rated a book it was amazing
NOVEL STARTER by Fiction Attic Press
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The Marriage Act by John Marrs
"Partway through this book I was niggled by some thoughts.
You know when you read something and it’s like a throwback in your mind where it reminds you of something?

This niggle continued until BANG! This idea was similar to The Marriage Pact
by Michell" Read more of this review »
The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond
" Thanks so much, Deb! "
Michelle and 1 other person liked Deb Conover's review of The Marriage Pact:
The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond
"ahhhhhh??????

What did I just read? This was an extremely intriguing story. Totally believable and wild. And it just ended and I want more. "
Michelle has read
The Wonder Test by Michelle Richmond
The Wonder Test
by Michelle Richmond (Goodreads Author)
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The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond
"Suspenseful! Couldn't put it down. It is well written and engrossing. I cringed at the level of psychological & physiological abuse that the couple endured. Unfortunately, there are hints of realism portrayed within these pages of actual cult practic" Read more of this review »
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Some Pleasant Daydream by Jiri Kajane
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Quotes by Michelle Richmond  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“We take pictures because we can't accept that everything passes, we can't accept that the repetition of a moment is an impossibility. We wage a monotonous war against our own impending deaths, against time that turns children into that other, lesser species: adults. We take pictures because we know we will forget. We will forget the week, the day, the hour. We will forget when we were happiest. We take pictures out of pride, a desire to have the best of ourselve preserved. We fear that we will die and others will not know we lived.”
Michelle Richmond, The Year of Fog

“...You find a way, somehow to get through the most horrible things, things you think would kill you. You find a way and you move through the days, one by one, in shock, in despair, but you move. The days pass, one after the other, and you go along with them - occasionally stunned, and not entirely relieved, to find that you are still alive.”
Michelle Richmond, The Year of Fog

“To be a writer you have to write -- and no academic degree is going to do the writing for you. ”
Michelle Richmond

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Next Best Boo...: Jacqueline's Reading List 2009 5 487 May 04, 2009 11:51AM  
“I never expected to find myself here, on the edge of the continent--childless, possibly jobless, with broken bones and a broken marriage, citizen of a broken country. But here I am, and I must make something of it. That's really the only choice one has: make something of it, or don't.”
Michelle Richmond, Golden State

17134 Coffee Club, with Michelle Richmond — 9 members — last activity Jun 29, 2009 10:39AM
Join New York Times bestselling author Michelle Richmond (THE YEAR OF FOG) on Wednesday, May 20, for coffee and conversation. Put on your favorite bre ...more
12416 Q&A with Michelle Richmond — 53 members — last activity Nov 16, 2011 10:02AM
New York Times bestselling novelist Michelle Richmond chats with readers about THE YEAR OF FOG and NO ONE YOU KNOW. The first meeting of this group ...more
31471 THE Group for Authors! — 12852 members — last activity Sep 09, 2025 12:00PM
This is a group for authors to discuss their craft, as well as publishing and book marketing.
30636 ModCloth's Shelf Life — 911 members — last activity Jun 14, 2016 12:49PM
ModCloth is always on the lookout for new and exciting books but we love reliving the classics, too. Everyone is welcome to share with us their thou ...more
14655 Opium's Literary Death Match — 61 members — last activity Feb 17, 2009 09:24AM
Opium’s Literary Death Match is a competitive, humor-centric reading series that features four readers (who represent print and online literary concer ...more
87982 52 weeks, 52 books — 1375 members — last activity Jan 27, 2025 05:21AM
This year, we'll read a book a week - an eclectic mix of bestsellers, finds, and old favourites. With an emphasis on fiction but some non-fiction too. ...more
18592 The Biblio File podcast with Nigel Beale — 154 members — last activity Sep 17, 2020 10:17PM
The Biblio File is a podcast ( http://thebibliofile.ca ) hosted by writer, broadcaster, bibliophile, Nigel Beale (http://nigelbeale.com ). Each episo ...more
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Comments (showing 1-6)    post a comment »
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message 6: by Sarah

Sarah Thanks for adding me!!


Bradley I hope you are having a good day! =)

http://www.cardshark.com/content/view...

Dreamsbane of Tamalor by Bradley James Simpson


Bobbie  Crawford Thanks for adding me Michelle :)


message 3: by Skip

Skip Cooper Hello Michelle,

Thanks for adding me to your friend's list. Have a great day!!!

-Norman


Daniel
Hi Michelle, I've added The Year of the Fog and 4 of your other books to my to-read list.


message 1: by Najma

Najma hi! i really like to be friends with you. Well hope to see you again online.PS: do you know an author named Kristi Wright????????????????????????



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