Michelle Renee Lane, Award-Winning Speculative Fiction Writer

Michelle Renee Lane writes dark speculative fiction about identity politics and women of color battling their inner demons while falling in love with monsters. Her work includes elements of fantasy, horror, romance, and occasionally erotica. Her short fiction appears in several anthologies. Her Bram Stoker Award nominated debut novel, Invisible Chains (2019), is available from Haverhill House Publishing. The Spanish language translation, Cadenas Invisibles (2022), is available from Dilatando Mentes Editorial.

Born and raised in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, Michelle spent countless hours of her youth obsessed with the occult and consumed by vampire fiction. She climbed into strangers’ cars, explored abandoned buildings seeking secret passageways to hidden worlds, taught herself to read Tarot cards, and consulted the dead with a Ouija board. Michelle’s first and subsequent heartbreaks have given her much material for her cautionary tales about the perils of falling in love with monsters. She holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

How to Support Me

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/michellereneelane
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Renee-Lane/e/B07Q7XSJR5

Publications

“Crossroads” (2019), Terror Politico: A Screaming World in Chaos, Scary Dairy Press
Invisible Chains (2019), Haverhill House Publishing
“Thus Do We Reach the Stars” (2019), The Monstrous Feminine: Dark Tales of Dangerous Women, Scary Dairy Press
“African Twilight” (2020), The Dystopian States of AMERICA: A Charity Anthology Benefiting the ACLU Foundation, Haverhill House Publishing
“Cicada Song” (2020), Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology Volume 2, Kandisha Press
“The Hag Stone” (2020), Dead Awake: 12 Tales of Darkness, Crimson Creek Press
“Hunger” (2020), Midnight & Indigo: 22 Speculative Stories by Black Women Writers, midnight & indigo
“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (2020), episode 1019 of The Wicked Library: Christmassacre 2020
“Josephine” (2021) The One That Got Away: Women of Horror Anthology Volume 3, Kandisha Press
“An Acid Trip Through Time” (2021), episode 1102 of The Wicked Library: A Collection of Dark Tales
“Am I Really a Horror Writer?” (2021) Writers Workshop of Horror 2, Hydra Publications
Cadenas Invisibles (2022) – Spanish Translation of Invisible Chains, Dilatando Mentes Editorial
A Marriage Made in Hell: Book 1: The Courtship of Nora Fagan (2022), Stardust Romance
In Trouble (2023), Omnium Gatherum

Awards & Nominations

2020 Bram Stoker Award Finalist, Debut Novel, Invisible Chains
2022 Inaugural Michael Knost “Wings” Award

Upcoming Events

StokerCon 2023, June 15 – 18, Pittsburgh, PA

Interviews

Interview: Michelle Renee Lane, Author of INVISIBLE CHAINS
7/8/2019
BREAKING THE INVISIBLE CHAINS, A FIVE MINUTES WITH MICHELLE R. LANE
7/10/2019
5 Questions for Michelle Renee Lane
7/22/2019
My Favorite Things with Michelle Renee Lane
7/22/2019
RELEASING INVISIBLE CHAINS: AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE RENEE LANE
8/7/2019
Interview: Michelle Renee Lane about Diversity, Race, New Orleans, and Her Book Invisible Chains
2/20/2020
Halloween Book Festival 2020 – Michelle Renee Lane
10/10/2020
The One That Got Away – Kandisha Press Vol 3. Interview with Michelle Renee Lane
2/4/2021
Black Heritage in Horror: Interview with Michelle Renee Lane
2/6/2022
A Discussion of Writing and Culture with Michelle Renee Lane
11/2/2022
Author Chats with Janette: Michelle Lane
5/1/2023

Reviews

Review: Invisible Chains by Michelle Renee Lane
8/14/2019
The Power of Women is More than Just Magic
11/17/2019
Invisible Chains by Michelle Renee Lane
11/20/2019
What We’ve Been Reading #31, Ladies of Horror Fiction
12/18/2019
Ben Walker’s Best Reads Of 2019
1/23/2020
A Crescent City Fright: Invisible Chains
1/26/2020
Invisible Chains by Michelle Renee Lane
4/12/2020

Courses, Panels, Presentations, Virtual Events & Workshops

Workshop (Online): Speculative Fiction Academy – Antagonists of Horror: Vampires
This 4-week course takes a deep dive into the evolution of vampires. Are they still scary?
Enroll today!
StoryFest 2020 – Beyond Stoker: Contemporary Visions of Vampires
9/15/2020
Salem Horror Fest Reading
10/1/2020
Multiverse 2020: Justice in the Machine
10/17/2020
Multiverse 2020: Horror as a Social Platform
10/18/2020
Multiverse 2020: Academic Presentation: “With This Ring, You’ll Be Dead: The Acceptance of Violence Against Female Protagonists in Romantic Vampire Fiction”
10/18/2020

Scream Queens: The History and Future of Women in Horror
10/20/2020
Pittsburgh HWA Halloween Reading
10/24/2020
“Women in Horror: Expanding the Horror Canon”, with Jewelle Gomez, University of Pittsburgh Library System Horror Studies Webinar Series
4/6/2021
Horror and Romance (Con-Tinual Panel Room, Ep. 62)
5/11/2021
In Your Write Mind 2021: Women Writing Dark Fantasy and Horror
7/8/2021
In Your Write Mind 2021: Presentation: “Are Vampires Still Scary?”
7/9/2021
Multiverse 2021: Eroticism and Horror
10/15/2021
Multiverse 2021: Girls Rule 3.0!
10/16/2021
Multiverse 2021: From Matriarch to Mary Sue
10/16/2021
Multiverse 2021: Academic Presentations: “Are Vampires Still Scary?”
10/16/2021
Multiverse 2021: Othering in Horror
10/16/2021
Multiverse 2021: Horror Realism
10/17/2021
Con-Tinual panel “Women in Horror”
3/22/2022
StokerCon 2022: Creating Short Fiction: Creating Fully Realized Compelling Stories in 5,000 Words or Less
5/13/2022
StokerCon 2022: Finding Your Scooby Gang: Building a Network and Professional Relationships in Horror Publishing
5/14/2022
StokerCon 2022: When Character Collides with Plot: The Use of Moral Dilemma in Fiction (Moderator)
5/14/2022
Healing Through Writing Horror Fiction: Wellness Series Workshop (for PAAR)
9/21/2022 & 10/5/2022
Multiverse 2022: Breaking the Curse of Bias
10/14/2022
Multiverse 2022: 50 Shades of Fantasy (18+)
10/14/2022
Multiverse 2022: Sensitivity Readers: What Are They & When Do You Need Them?
10/15/2022
Multiverse 2022: Subgenres of Horror
10/15/2022
Multiverse 2022: Hannibal Enthusiasts UNITE!
10/15/2022
Virtual StokerCon 2023 Panel: Horror through a Southern Gothic Lens
5/8/2023
StokerCon 2023: You Can’t Get There From Here: Tales of Weird Pittsburgh
6/15/2023
StokerCon 2023: Dread and Desire
6/16/2023