Gregory Michael

Author of Chloe’s Kingdom: The Koin Vault Heist & Chloe’s Kingdom: The Lost Colony

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

CHLOE'S KINGDOM is #1 on Amazon! 🚀 Not from winning a competition—but for standing up for free speech. Doing the right thing feels good.

To my new readers, I can't wait for your thoughts & reviews! Oh, and did I mention there’s a raccoon? 🦝

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

Typical reader reaction when they get to the big heist in Chloe’s Kingdom

[John A. Douglas @J0hnADouglas]

🚨COVER REVEAL🚨

In an era of deconstructed heroes and gray morals, we’ve never needed an altruistic, unapologetic hero more than now.

So, that’s what I wrote.

The Lionheart: Icon of Justice is a second starter book in the Age of Adventures.

Zelda in the comment below

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@EJFisch This was my ‘fall asleep’ show for a five years. So good

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@BarrettJ @J0hnADouglas That’s awesome

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

How about a Sunday comic featuring Mojito from Chloe’s Kingdom? 🦝🌯

This is just one of the many heists this little raccoon has pulled off.

Stealing a burrito from a bodega vent is impressive…

But it’s nothing compared to the biggest score aboard the Kingdom: the Koin Vault.

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@BWilsonAuthor Never heard of it

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@ryanpatrickauth There’s nothing… I’ve tried them all, too

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

Made this with @grok for Chloe’s Kingdom 🚀

Awesome way for indie authors on a budget to make marketing materials.

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

Instagram is unbearable. That is all.

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@BWilsonAuthor Going to need to clear my schedule for this one. But yeah, it’s awful.

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

Oh gosh, where to begin…

[Bryan Wilson @BWilsonAuthor]

Serious question: when did our culture stop expecting common sense and decency from people, and start gravitating toward outrage and pure lies? Was it once social media became dominant? Social media directed by algorithms? Algorithms that over time became a form of...AI🤔

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@Waynefrankvmm Grab a copy of Chloe’s Kingdom! All formats available on Amazon 🚀

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

In 2014, I started writing fiction because I fell in love with stories.

Not books at first, but television and film. I was captivated by the way a great story could transport you somewhere else entirely. For a few hours, you weren't sitting on your couch or staring at a screen. You were standing beside the characters, feeling their victories, their heartbreaks, and their fears as if they were your own.

Some of those stories stayed with me for years. I would replay scenes in my head, think about the choices the characters made, and wonder how a writer had managed to make me care so deeply about people who didn't even exist.

That feeling changed my life. It was the reason I started writing.

Over the last decade, I've spent thousands of hours studying storytelling, writing novels, and chasing the same magic that first inspired me. Yet lately, I've found myself struggling to enjoy much of modern television and film. Not because I expect every story to reflect my own views, and certainly not because I believe stories should avoid difficult subjects. Some of the greatest stories ever told challenge assumptions, explore uncomfortable ideas, and force us to see the world through someone else's eyes.

What disappoints me is something different.

Too often, I find myself watching a story that feels less interested in telling a compelling narrative than in delivering a message. Characters stop behaving like real people and begin speaking as mouthpieces for whatever point the writers want to make. Conversations feel manufactured. Conflicts feel engineered. Entire scenes exist not because the story requires them, but because someone in a writer's room wanted to make sure the audience received a particular lesson.

The result isn't that I disagree with the story.

It's that I stop believing it.

Great storytelling has never depended on whether I agree with a character, a theme, or a worldview. Great storytelling works because it earns my investment. It creates believable people with understandable motivations and allows their choices to naturally reveal larger truths. The message grows from the story.

Today, it often feels like the process has been reversed. The message comes first, and the story is built around it.

As a writer, that makes me genuinely sad.

Stories deserve better than that.

When I sit down to write, I don't start with an ideology. I don't begin by asking what lesson I want readers to learn. I start with a character. I start with a problem. I start with a mystery that needs solving, a danger that needs confronting, or an impossible dream that someone is willing to risk everything to achieve.

I start by asking the same question that captivated me back in 2014: what would make someone care?

Because that's the heart of storytelling.

Not lectures. Not talking points. Not applause from people who already agree with you.

Connection.

That's why I've become increasingly drawn to independent creators. Indie authors, independent filmmakers, and small creative teams often don't have billion-dollar franchises to protect or committees weighing every creative decision. What they have is a story they're passionate about telling. They take risks. They create strange worlds, flawed heroes, and unexpected journeys because they love storytelling itself.

You can feel that passion on every page and in every frame.

Maybe that's what I miss most. The sense that the people creating a story are primarily concerned with telling the best story possible.

Stories are one of humanity's oldest forms of magic. They allow us to step into another life, another world, another perspective. But that magic is fragile. The moment the audience becomes aware of the writer's hand pushing every scene toward a predetermined conclusion, the illusion begins to break.

And once the illusion is broken, it's nearly impossible to get back.

[Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog]

I haven’t seen Obsession or Backrooms yet but I think it’s absolutely great that original films by new young filmmakers are dominating right now while Star Wars slop bombs. I’m guessing the next soulless Marvel bullshit will underperform too. People are tired of the slop. They want interesting original stories.

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

@EPICIND1E @Chronodendron Still can't get enough of this review! Grab a copy of Chloe's Kingdom!
https://t.co/J8RnkScSEI

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

"This is a confident, entertaining debut that balances humour, heart, and tension with ease. It’s the kind of book that sneaks up on you, exceeding expectations and leaving you wondering why you didn’t pick it up sooner. If you enjoy clever heists and ragtag crews with real emotional weight, Chloe’s Kingdom is well worth your time." -Susana Imaginário, Author of the Timelessness Series

[EPIC Indie @EPICIND1E]

New book review! Chloe's Kingdom by @_GregoryMichael - 'a confident, entertaining debut' review by @Chronodendron - https://t.co/HQ6iOOZTUc

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

Still time to snag Chloe's Kingdom for $0.99 with the @basedbooksale

Join the heist today 🚀

https://t.co/ilkM2RNaVw

[Daren Hatfield @hatfieldtweet]

Here's a direct link to the 99 cent sale for "Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street"!
https://t.co/q04UDDU2Lh

[Gregory Michael @_GregoryMichael]

Want to make an indie author's day?!

Chloe's Kingdom is only $0.99 on Kindle with the amazing @basedbooksale

Join the heist today 🚀
https://t.co/ilkM2RNaVw

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Yes