Just Erotic Romance Reviews

M &M Present Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth - two delectable authors in the erotic romance genre

Part 2

Can you tell us/do you know which book it was that gained you reader recognition?

Michelle: For me it was definitely Dragon Lords: The Barbarian Prince (book one, futuristic series). The response to this both reviewers and readers has been amazing. The DL's have won awards, the first book has been in the Fictionwise top 20 (mostly top 10) for over seven months now. It's truly amazing.

Mandy: Daughter of Darkness did it for me. Immortal Ops gave me a strong follow up.

With the ever increasing popularity of your individual books, and your collaborative stories, you must both receive a lot of mail from your readers. How does it feel to get fan mail?

Michelle: I love fan mail. I wish I'd get more, LOL. I love my readers. Hey, they read me, what's not to love?

Mandy: It sounds funny to admit this but every bit of mail from readers excites me as much as my first piece. I just wish I could get to them quicker. I always feel bad about the time it takes me to respond.

Did any of your past jobs, and experiences, help shape your writing style or chosen genre?

Michelle: I think everything a person writes comes from who they are. Our past is definitely a big part of that.

Mandy: Everything in my life has created my style. I'm very particular about protecting that style the idea of changing it makes me cringe. It represents who and what I am. A thirty year old woman, a mother, a wife, a girl who had nothing but a lot of love when I was little and who is damn proud of everything in my life.

I've found your stories to be gripping, complex, cover a broad spectrum of genres, but always erotically romantic. How do you keep your muse happy?

Michelle: I keep my husband happy ;)

Um, there have been a few times when the muse has run away from me, hung herself and then realized she was immortal and came trudging back. When she's having an 'episode' I call Mandy. Her muse is usually hanging by mine anyway.

Mandy: Yes. My muse needs pills to cut her sex drive in half to make her even close to normal. I let Michelle borrow her as needed. She usually sends her back right away scared of the toy she brought for show and tell. Baby.

Some of your books cover ménage a trios storylines. With the growing popularity in ménage a trios story themes, and the complex dynamics in such relationships, what inspires these stories for you?

Michelle: I've only written one short ménage story and I haven't contracted it yet and haven't really thought about contracting it. (Unless I'm forgetting something, lol) My preference (at the moment, lol) is monogamy. This question has to be for Mandy.

Mandy: LOL. I want it to be raining men. In truth, I think some people struggle to find exactly what they're looking for in life. It's so easy to stand on one side of the fence and dream about the other. In my writing, I like to offer people both in a way that makes them enjoy each side thoroughly but leave them uneasy as to whether or not they should commit to any of the offers before them. I know that makes little sense but that's why I do it. I like to get lost in the worlds I create and I want others too as well. I love giving in to things I would never dream to do in real life. I've been happily married for ten years now and he just smiles when he reads my work. He knows me well enough that he just takes me in stride.

How do you get inspired to write about such a broad spectrum of stories ranging from vampires, paranormal, contemporary, historical, and characters involved in such a variety of professions?

Michelle: Inspiration comes from everywhere. At the tattoo shop I get to meet a lot of different people from different walks of life and everyone has a story to tell. It's like that with the characters in my head. They're all different and they all have stories.

Mandy: Contemporary was the only genre I had to push myself to try. The rest just looked exciting so when I had a nice stockpile of my love, paranormals, I tried my hand at a few things.

Do the stories you write involve a lot of research? What approach do you take to researching your books?

Michelle: I love research. I over research and I'm addicted by buying research books.

Mandy: YES! Even the short ones that seemed as if Dr. Seuss stopped by to help me create names and so on. LOL. I'm a huge closest geek. I'll spend more hours basing names, locations of fictional worlds off variation and combinations of actual terms than I would if I just made something up. My first job was at one of the public libraries here and I've always respected all that they offer to the community. Prior to acquiring a large mass of my own material, I went there daily. My next stop is the library system online. They offer journal material for free and it's accurate. After that, it's author friends, family and so on. Last is internet itself.

I've noticed you both write about a variety of themes, exciting plots and sexy stories with some confident characters who have overcome adversity and are stronger for it. How do you keep up with all your ideas as you both seem to be prolific writers?

Michelle: Our ideas fight in our head. LOL. We have to be prolific to keep them all from rioting.

Mandy: More often than not a new character will spawn from a character I'm working on. It's an endless cycle. LOL.

Both of you have collaborated together to write the M & M Presents series of books. How did the M&M partnership commence? How did their writing relationship start?

Michelle: Mandy was the only person to show up to my self-help for neurotic work-a-holic authors seminar in my basement. I didn't know I was having one. Actually, come to think of it, she broke into a window dressed as Catwoman. Hmmm…

Mandy: Wonder Woman, geesh. LOL! We start off deciding if we want to do one co-authored long piece or do two individual short stories that are unified in some way. They give us a nice break from longer projects.

How do you both keep motivated? Especially as you have your individual writing to concentrate on, your individual books and the collaborative projects as well?

Michelle: It helps that we love doing it.

Mandy: It sure does. It also has been really helpful to develop a network of people going through the same things we are. It's nice to pick up the phone yell about something insane, hang up and know that she needs no explanation. She's going through it too. LOL.

How do you find the experience of pooling your knowledge and resources to collaborate together on projects that are so interesting and fast gaining reader popularity?

Michelle: I love working with Mandy. We both have our strong suits as far as knowledge and it makes for stories we couldn't write on our own - at least not without taking more time. It's also great because we use each other's knowledge for our individual books as well.

Mandy: Awe, she so wants to keep getting to answer questions first. Suck up! LOL. I love working with Michelle too. *big hug* No, I won't stop touching your butt.

Our resource library didn't just double as we began to work together it tripled. Where I'm weak, she's strong. One example of this is that I needed to describe the underwear a character would be in during a certain period of time. I called Michelle and instantly got an answer. Then for Christmas, she sent me reference material covering that. LOL. I think that was her way of telling me to stop calling her about thongs.

There are currently two in the series, All Hallow's Eve and Christmas. Do you have plans for more books in this series?

Michelle & Mandy: That is the M&M Presents series at NCP. We've talked about more, but it's more of a time thing.

Currently, we do have a joint projects in the work at EC. Pleasure Cruise should be released early next month. We also have a futuristic, Red Light Specialist (which will hopefully be a series) done.

Will they be centered on themes as the first two books?

Michelle: If we do more M&M Presents they will be centered on themes. That's how the series is set up.

Mandy: It was a neat way for us to do different types of themes.

Michelle, where did you get the idea to write the Dragon Lords series? These stories are simply HOT!

Michelle: Dragon Lords started as a short story with Morrigan and Ualan. Then, suffering from the first contract signing high, it grew into four big novels. From there it grew into the spin-off series, Lords of the Var (starting soon, NCP) about the enemy race of the Dragon Lords. I do have other series planned for this. Even Galaxy Playmates came about from the Lords of the Var's first book. I actually had that one done before GP. GP just happened to come out first.

Your four princes are very intriguing and sexy men. Not to mention the women they choose as their life mate. How did you come about creating such exciting characters for this series?

Michelle: It sounds strange, but they really just create themselves. I just laid out who they were and then just let them act according to their personalities.

The world you describe in Dragon Lords is fascinating. How did you come up with this concept?

Michelle: My futuristic worlds are possible because of how much time I spent studying all facets of history. I love history, love to read about it. I also love learning about different cultures. So, I just take what I like, tweak it and voila I have a world.

Prince Ualan and Morrigan, Prince Olek and Nadja, Prince Yusef and Olena and Prince Zoran and Pia are all well-rounded individuals and very believable characters. Did you base any of your characters on anyone you know?

Michelle: They each have parts of me in them. They are their own people and I may find influence from personalities I know, but it's not intentional. I don't do so well basing characters off of real people, at least not totally.

Your book The Perfect Prince, book 2 in the Dragon Lords series, has been a huge success and received rave reviews. In fact the Dragon Lords series has been very successful for you. How do you feel about such an exciting event?

Michelle: All the boys are doing well. I'm so proud of them! LOL. They were my first attempt at futuristics and what can I say? I'm floored.

Michelle, you mention that your first attempt was a historical romance as a result of your love of historicals. Have you published any of these books or do you plan to submit them for consideration to a publisher? If yes, can you tell us the title(s) or briefly outline them?

Michelle: I'd say I have 6 plus size straight historicals done, mostly Medieval and a couple Victorian, with several more laid out. *little scared to peek into the cyber attic* Um, there might even be a partial young adult novel up here... *shivers and closes door* Let's see, Maiden and the Monster (Contracted Ellora's Cave, Medieval Romance) is the only one of them I've contracted so far. It definitely has a slight paranormal 'feel' to it.

I really love the historical stories and should someday go through them to clean them up, but right now I have no big plans for them. I recently read through the first book, and though grammatically it needs help (I was 19 when I started it just to see if I could), the story line is great. Even then, I was leaning toward a paranormal or dark feel.

Michelle, you recently won the CAPA award for your book Mountain's Captive. How does it feel to have such recognition for your work? How did you feel at the time you were notified for the award?

Michelle: I'm still stunned. Mountain's Captive was one of those books I had laying around on my computer collecting cyber dust (there are a lot of those). One day I ran across it and thought, what the heck? Now it's doing well on Fictionwise and winning awards. I've actually got a ton of mail (yes, I know you started it, Mandy!) from people wanting a series from it.

Can you tell us a little about Mountain's Captive and how you were inspired to write this book?

Michelle: The story came about when I dialed the wrong number and got a really cranky old woman who yelled at me. I wish I had her number, I'd call back and let her yell at me again.

Mountain's Captive was my first published contemporary. Chloe Masters wakes up naked and 'well loved' *wink* in a Las Vegas hotel room with a hangover. She was supposed to have gotten married, but she dialed the wrong room. And if that isn't bad enough, she married the wrong guy. Now she has to track down the mysterious Montana mountain man, Everest Beaumont, and get him to sign divorce papers so she can marry Paul and complete the terms of her father's will.

Will there be other spin-off books from Mountain's Captive as this has proven such a success and a huge favorite with the readers?

Michelle: Oy. You to? Actually, people seem to want a continuation of that book as well as spin-off. So, who knows? I'll just say I wasn't, but now I'm thinking about it.

You've also contributed to anthologies, like Ghost Cats, where both your work has been included. Do you find that people are associating you two together despite that both of you have individual writing styles?

Michelle: We are associated with each other a lot, but I don't mind. *waiting to change answer based on what Mandy says* We had different fans who found the other M by reading the joints, so I think the projects have only helped us.

Mandy: LOL. At first it was different to have everyone either assume we were the same person or confuse us. Michelle does some fantastic work and if I'm gong to be confused with anyone, I'm honored it's her. (Go write that down, Michelle before I take it back).

You mention people often mistake you for the other. Yes, and I'm one of them! LOL. Have you considered doing any workshops together as well as your writing projects? To let people know you're two individuals who happen to also work on collaborative books?

Michelle: Mandy and I hold workshops every weekend in an undisclosed location. Nobody ever shows up. LOL. Seriously, we've never thought about it, but now that you stuck that in Mandy's head - ah, just great, I'm going to be doing a workshop someday. LOL.

Mandy: Hmm, workshops. Michelle, this could be fun. You could teach them to hide in the closest and I could teach them to…OUCH! What do you mean I can't say that here? This is JERR, they embrace...OUCH...oooo, okay. I forgot it's outlawed in ten states. LOL. We never really gave workshops much thought. To be honest, we (or at least I) don't have a clue how you'd even do one. LOL.

Do you think the workshops would be an avenue to distinguish yourselves to your readers but also highlight your sexy and unforgettable books?

Michelle: Anyone coming to listen to us talk about writing would be coming for a comedy act, I think. lol Um, Mandy, I'm passing this to you. What? Yes, yes, you can wear whatever you want at our workshop. No, you can't bring the props. Jeesh. Wait, what does that one do? *getting distracted to hesitantly peek into Mandy's toy box.*

Mandy: Let me get them all out of the dishwasher. The last group of ladies just got done learning the finer art of...ouch...stop, that cheek is now permanently purple. At this stage of the game, I can't imagine anyone coming to us for advice. I'd be the last person I want to. Wait, Michelle would be the last person I went to. ROFLMAO.

Will you also be writing in more anthologies together or is this up to your publisher?

Michelle: Mandy was the brains behind Ghost Cats. She put that baby together. Sometimes the publisher offers us an antho idea or, like with GC, we collaborate and do it on our own, sending them the pitch. If they like it we do it. Both of us kind of go with the flow on what to work on next. No anthos are planned, but it doesn't mean they aren't out there.

Mandy: *taps foot* Yes, what Ms. Anwers All the Questions Perfectly said.

To be continued...

Click here to read part 1 of the interview

Click here to read part 3 of the interview

Back to Interviews 2005