Romance at Heart Magazine Author Interview: Michelle Pillow

Interview with Michelle Pillow:

Hi Michelle! Welcome to the “we grille the author” Interview session of Romance at Heart. We enjoy discovering talented new authors, and New Concepts Publishing has provided us with quite a few. We hope that this interview will get us and our readers to know you better, and with that in mind…

- Please tell us about your latest book.

My next book releases Oct 16, 2007 from Virgin Books, called Along for the Ride. It’s part of Virgin’s USA launch, since they’ve been acquired by Random House. Book two in the Matthews Sisters series, this book can stand alone.

Detective Megan Matthews is cursed with always being right—of so she thinks. She loves her job, lives for it, to the point she has little else besides her sisters and parents. When photojournalist, Ryan Lucas, takes her picture taking down a serial killer, it makes it look as if she singlehandedly did all the work. The photo became famous, making Megan a symbol for the NYPD. She’s pretty, young, a detective and the photo inspires hope in a city that needs it. Megan isn’t pleased by the fame and blames Ryan for ruining her career. Ryan, desperate to get Megan’s attention, takes a job as a crime scene photographer for the chance to cross her path. But, the hostile Megan doesn’t seem to notice him. With the help of Megan’s meddling sister, the desperate Ryan finally comes up with a plan to get the detective to notice him. Only, blackmailing a cop into marriage is never a good idea.

- What can we expect from you in the future?

- Virgin has contracted the next book in the Matthews Sisters series, Recipe for Disaster, and has expressed an interest in the final two books of the series.

- At New Concepts, futuristic fans of the Dragon Lords, Lords of the Var, Zhang Dynasty series (part of my ongoing futuristic saga), will be seeing the next installment Space Lords starting very soon. Book one, Frost Maiden is contracted and turned in for edits.

- At Samhain, Realm Immortal 3: Stone Queen, comes out in print Oct 30, 2007. It’s part of the fantasy romance series I have there. I love this project and fans of the fantasy genre have been very enthusiastic about it..

- At Ellora’s Cave, I just contracted the last book in my Call of the Lycan series. I’m also working on the next Pleasure Cruise book with Mandy Roth.

- How do we find out about you and your books?

I keep an updated blog for up to the minute news— www.michellepillow.com/authorblog
Or on my website— www.michellepillow.com

To buy books: newconceptspublishing.com

- How may readers contact you?

michelle_pillow@yahoo.com I love emails so don’t be shy! Just make sure to put something in the subject line. I delete junk mail :)

- Do your fans' comments and letters influence you in any way?

I love fan mail. Whereas their comments don’t affect how a book will play out—the hero and heroine always decide that— they do help me gauge what readers want more of and what project I should work on next.

- How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?

I think little bits slip in here of there, but for the most part it’s all fiction. I have a highly active imagination and I happen to like telling stories of not only people falling in love, but of their other emotions and influences as well. I like to be scared and I like to write to scare people. Believe me, horror is best left to fiction. I don't long for it in real life, just as I don't long for a new hero--I have one already and I got no complaints! *winking at hubby*

Besides, in my opinion, if you only write what you experience, you're not a very good fiction writer. Fiction is a job that takes great imagination and all I can hope is that a few people like mine.

- Generally, how long does it take you to write a book?

I am fairly prolific. I finished the Dragon Lords series in two months. LOL, though I don't expect to keep that up. I was on a signed-the-first-contract high.

The Tribes of the Vampire books do tend to take me longer, since they are more involved. The last Tribes book that I was working on took me a couple months to finish.

- What is your writing routine?

I tend to write when the muse hits me and I stop when it stops. I don't have a special time of day or routine. I love to write so I try to never make it feel like a chore. Since publishing my first, The Mists of Midnight, I've been at the computer a lot more. But, I really do love it!

- Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?

LOL! The characters whisper their stories into my ear.

- Why did you decide to write romance novels?

I love people falling in love and happily-ever-afters. I like taking readers and myself on a journey, escaping the everyday world.

- What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels, do you find them difficult to write?

No, love scenes are just like any other aspect of my books. I like to make them pertinent to the plot. If they don’t need to be there, I don’t try to force them.

- Would you like to write a different genre than you do now, or sub-genre?

I tend to write in several now. I have a contemporary, historical paranormal, dark romance, futuristic paranormal, straight historical already written. Historical has been by far my favorite for years and is what I started with, but paranormal has been so much fun I think I’ll stick with it for awhile.

- How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing?

I write in many sub-gernes of romance—historical, contemporary, erotic, futuristic, paranormal, fantasy, dark paranormal. I love them all. Genre hopping is what keeps my head fresh and allows me to be prolific.

- What does your husband think of your writing?

I am very happy in real life and very much in love with my husband. It is that relationship that enables me to write well. If my home life wasn't so great, I would be too distracted to write.

- Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?

With my life, I have to go with the flow. I write daily and for long hours, but I have to deal with interruptions as they come. I own a business, have paperwork, phone calls, family, pets….

- What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels, do you find them difficult to write?

I used to struggle with erotic romance scenes, but quickly learned that’s what the public wants and that’s what sells. I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge. I still wouldn’t say my erotic is as erotic as what’s being done these days.

To be honest, I like the researching and writing other parts of the book better—fights, arguments, angst, obsession. That’s not to say I hate writing love scenes, I just like a good battle of the wills better, LOL.

- What kind of research do you do?

I love research. I have a huge collection of nonfiction and believe the more research you do, the better the book will be—even if all the notes don’t make it into the book. Research is one of the reasons I love being a writer.

- Who are some of your favorite authors?

There are a lot of great authors at NCP who I read—Mandy Roth, Jaycee Clark, Jaide Fox.

As for non-romance, I read a lot of classics—Steinbeck, Dumas, JF Cooper and many many more. I just read Travels with Charley by Steinbeck. It was a great book, very different than his others.

- Fill in the blank favorites -

Desert - Sahara
City - London
Season - Fall
Type of hero - Alpha
Type of heroine - Kickass.

- Are you a member of any author groups - RWA, critique groups, etc.?

I am a PAN member of RWA.

- How many books have you written, how many have been published?

With Along for the Ride in October 2007, I’ll have 34 books in print since my first ebook published in April 2004 (first print book was 2005). There are even more than that in ebooks—though some are “quickie” length. I have a few full length historicals similar in style to Maiden and the Monster (RT Reviewers Choice Award winner) that I have not actively submitted to anyone.

- After you've written your book and it's been published, do you ever buy it and/or read it?

I used to buy copies of my first ebooks, just out of excitement, and I do buy copies of all of my print books (if the company doesn’t automatically send some) for my collection. I generally don’t reread my books unless I’m writing another installment in the series and need to get into the mood. I think that someday, years from now, I will reread my “early works”.

- What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

So far? Winning the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for a historical romance I wrote pre-publication. I love the historical genre and when I first started that’s all I wanted to do. I put a lot into that book and to have it win was just a personal thrill.

- Are you in control of your characters or do they control you?

I create the world and set them down in it. Then, they just do what they’d do. I throw obstacles at them and let them react the way their character would make them react.

- If you weren't writing, what would you be doing?

I own a business, which actually allows me to have time to write full time. But, if not writing, I’d be focusing more on my photography. I worked as a freelancer for awhile and would love to get back into it.

- Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?

Do your research—research everything—the industry, other authors, books, your story.

Thanks so much for participating in our Romance at Heart interview. We will be looking for great things from you and from New Concepts Publishing.

Yours in good reading,
Rose!

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