Friday, August 3, 2007

Interview with Mandy M Roth

By Deanna Ashford


While at the RWA conference in Dallas I was lucky enough to meet Mandy M Roth. Not only is she delightful, charming and amusing company she is also an amazingly talented, popular and prolific writer.

Mandy lives in Ohio and has a busy life with her husband and three boys. She first started writing in 2003. Late one evening, when there was nothing on TV and she couldn’t sleep, she sat down at her computer and started to write. Four weeks later her first book Daughter of Darkness was finished. Now she has over 40 books, novellas and short stories to her credit. With all the demands of a family Mandy doesn’t get much time to write during the day, so she does most of her writing between 8pm and 3am. Not only am I jealous of her prolific output I also admire her stamina, I’m usually in bed by 11pm.

Despite her busy schedule, she has kindly taken time out to answer a few questions and give us an insight into her work

What first made you interested in writing in the erotic genre/ or how did you get started writing erotica?

It’s funny because when I started I wasn’t aware I was even writing erotic. I was writing what I wanted to read but couldn’t find in stores. It wasn’t until my publisher labelled my first book carnal that I became aware of the fact I was writing something erotic.

Which one of the books you have written is your favourite?

It’s really hard to pick just one. Each is special to me in its own way. If I have to narrow it down, I’d say the Daughter of Darkness series because it was my first.

Which book do you think is the hottest?

I’d have to go with Demonic Desires (coming soon) and from what is currently available the Cyber Sex stories. Watch, I’ll get reader email correcting me on which is the hottest. LOL

If you were to write a book entirely for yourself would it differ at all from your, published writing?

No, but only because when I started, three years ago, I wrote what I wanted to read. That hasn’t changed. I still write exactly what I enjoy reading.


If you had the chance to meet one of your erotic heroes which one would it be?

An erotic hero? Hmm, I’m not even sure what that is. Movies? Books? I could say Evan Stone who is one hell of an adult movie star but I think I’m going to go with Madonna. I know. I know. She doesn’t really qualify but in my book she does. Remember back to when the naked pictures of her came out and she simply said “so” to the press. Or how about the Sex Book she did? Yeah, she’s up there in women who embrace their sexuality for me.

I find the thought of writing with someone else fascinating. Have you a fixed way of working with Michelle or does it somehow just work out? Mandy often writes with another well known erotic romance writer Michelle M Pillow.

Working with Michelle Pillow is a joy. (Okay, now that Michelle read that part, let’s get to the nitty gritty… JK) We approach each project differently. For one we’ll pass it back and forth, each working on it a bit before handing back to the other. For other projects, we’ll establish upfront who is writing what parts and then in the end, we switch them to assure we’ve kept the continuity of the story.

Do you find writing easy or do you have to discipline yourself?

I find it hard to stop. I tend to write until the wee hours of the morning, glance at the clock and realize I need to be back up for the day in two hours.

Is there anything, with an erotic theme, that you wouldn’t write about?

There isn’t too much that makes me go “ewww”. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

I’m stepping into BDSM writing which will be new for me. I’m very excited about that and have high hopes that my readers will enjoy it as well. I’ve toyed with it in books before but have never actually centred a story around it.

Do you have a favourite erotic writer?

Let me first start off by saying that I read Barbarian Prize (by Deanna Ashford) and Deanna, it is a fabulous book! (Please note no money passed hands here!)You’ve moved to one of the top spots on my erotic authors list. I also enjoy reading Jaci Burton, Shayla Black, Jaid Black, Eden Bradley and Lora Leigh.

Are there any writers. TV programmes or movies that have sparked your interest enough to consider writing a book with a similar theme?

Not yet but I’ve had the opposite happen. I have a series called Immortal Ops that is about shape shifting military men. I received a call from a friend of mine telling me to go turn on the television because a show called THE UNIT was on. She mentioned how seeing it made her think of my books and she knew I’d enjoy it. She was right. I do enjoy the show.

Do you enjoy the marketing yourself, or do you just consider it an uncomfortable necessity?

I’m one of those freaks of nature who absolutely love it. My background, prior to writing, was in marketing and art so it just clicked for me. I often go off on marketing kicks to clear my mind when I’m stuck on a story. I also seem to suck everyone and anyone who is near me into the marketing fold too.

Is there anything you’d like to achieve that you haven’t done yet – be as free as you’d like here!

World domination. Okay, maybe not that but wouldn’t it be great to have me in charge for a day? I felt you cringe. *snicker*


For the moment, I’m living a dream so I won’t complain.


Thank you for having me!

Thanks so much for that Mandy and I should point out here one of Mandy’s stories is in the new edition of Black Lace Quickies which is now available in the UK and will be released in the US in November.

66 comments:

Portia Da Costa said...

What a smashing interview! Many thanks to both Mandy and Deanna...

And wow, yes, I'm totally in awe of your hard work and your prolific output too, Mandy. You are a powerhouse! I'm like Deanna, I'm usually ready to sleep at 11pm... I would love to have the energy and the discipline to be able to utilise extra hours like that. :)

See you in the Raven! ;)

Deanna said...

Thanks Portia,

Mandy really is a lovely person. I felt like I'd known here for ages even though we'd only just met.

Think of how much writing we'd both do if we could stay up like that!

Also, I admit I like to sit down in the evening and watch some of my favourite TV programmes.

Portia Da Costa said...

Hi Deanna

I look forward to meeting Mandy one of these days! She and Michelle are so nice and such fun online that I just know we'd get along in person. And so would you and I! :)

Yeah, I too like to do my writing during the day, and then devote myself to my beloved telly in the evenings... but oh, to have all that extra writing time, eh?

Anonymous said...

Portia,

It was the only time the house was quiet enough to work for me. I had to run with it. *grin*

And we LOVE having you at the Raven!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much Deanna for all your kind words. I loved getting to meet you. You're right, it did feel as if we'd known each other for years!

Deanna said...

Wow Mandy,

You must be up early. I don't know the time difference where you are but it must be at least 6 hours.

I'm beginning to think that you must be related to superwoman!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mandy,

Wow...book signings and now interviews as well...and you said you don't feel like a celebrity?! It was so great to meet you in Dallas, even if some of the genre discussions did go over my head a little! Let me know if you want the services of a wannabe stylist for your new chat show (there must be one in the works?)!

Love,
Kate 'Ashford' x

Janine Ashbless said...

Hey Mandy

I'm another asleep-by-midnight gal. Oh for the fairy gift of Insomnia! (Also the fairy gifts of Being Able to Turn the TV Off, Being Able Not to Eat Snackfood Just Because it's in the Cupboard, and Being Able to Remember Whether I Locked the Front Door.)

Your books look really interesting - do you have a link to a website where we could read an excerpt?

Deanna said...

Janine,

Being only a 'newbie' at this I did try to put up a link to mandy's website at www.mandyroth.com/ but surprise, suprise I don't think it worked.

On her site there are links to excerpts of all her books, but you've got so many to choose from it's difficult to make up your mind which one to read first.

Deanna said...

How many times have I driven off then had to drive back again to make sure the front door is shut. If you don't slam it shut, it has been known to come open. Then small dog decides to take off on a voyage of discovery. That's not counting the open invitation to thieves of course.

Isn't there a rule that if you eat all the snack food at once, and don't remember eating it then it doesn't put on weight?

Anonymous said...

KATE!

Good to see you here! I hope we can all get together again. RWA was tons of fun!

World domination is on my to do list. I'll be sure to call when I'm closer to my goal. *snicker*

N.J.Walters said...

Fabulous interview!

What a prolific writer! I'm in awe, Mandy. :-)

Anonymous said...

Janine,

I hear ya. I'd the the Fairy gift of a smaller arse. I set gifts out every night. Do they show? No. I think I gave them the wrong address or something.

My website is

www.mandyroth.com

My EC author page is
http://www.ellorascave.com/AuthorsBooks.asp?AuthorCode=MR

My Samhain Author page is
http://samhainpublishing.com/authors/mandy-roth

Anonymous said...

Thanks NJ *blush*

Portia Da Costa said...

I'd like the fairy gift of a smaller arse too! Plus the gift of having the energy and drive of a woman twenty years younger than me, but still with the accumulated wisdom [hah!] of a woman *my* age... ;)

Unknown said...

I'm crazy about all your books! You can tell your passionate about your writing. It shines through your stories!
Thanks for sharing your stories!
jamie

Anonymous said...

Aww, thanks, Jamie!

Anonymous said...

This is the kind of fairy gift I like!

Unknown said...

Mandy -

As a long time lurker on the Raven Newsletter, I have read several of your books and you are one of my favs! Just read A View to Kill and greatly enjoyed it.

Great interview and hope to see more like that!

DuShane

Anonymous said...

Mandy,
I'm so impressed and I feel like such a slacker. You're very disciplined. Great interview!

Anonymous said...

Mandy, it's way too early in the morning for you to be making me look like a slacker. *g*

Seriously, great interview. And The Unit is one of my all-time favorite shows. Love that Alpha brotherhood chemistry. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks DuShane! View to a Kill is one of my favorite covers. When the artist sent it me I was like... I have achieved nekkie man bottom.

Thanks again for your kind word and for stopping past!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Diane! Pfft, slacker? Hardly!

Anonymous said...

Shannon Stacey said "Love that Alpha brotherhood chemistry"

Oh, ME TOO! Plus, they aren't bad on the eyes either.

*wicked grin*

Thanks Shan!

Deanna said...

Love the cover, so sexy.

I want a naked man's bum on one of mine now!

I always thought that a nice tight butt was one of the most sexy parts of a man.

Anonymous said...

Me too, Deanna. I'm a "butt" gal. (that just can be taken so many ways)

I also love a man's shoulders. When you look at them from behind and see how broad they are. Makes me shiver.

Mmmm.... great hubby is at work all day. I'll be ready to pounce on him when he gets home.

Anonymous said...

Mandy's output of books always makes me feel like a slacker. She writes so darn fast.

Love you Mandy. Thank you for mentioning me! And great interview.

*waves to everyone*

Shanna Germain said...

Morning all!

Mandy, thanks for being willing to open your brain and let us see how the writing stuff works for you. I, too, am feeling like a slacker.

Perhaps someone could send the fairy godmother of "If you don't write 4,000 words today I'll tie you to the chair and..." Hmm, maybe that wouldn't work so well.

Let me rethink that. I get three chances to conjure the perfect fairy godmother, right?

s.

Lover of Books said...

Mandy, I find it interesting that you never even thought you were writing erotica. You are an amazing author and an inspiration. I love being part of the Raven! The more new authors, the more well rounded reader I become. :) I have one son that keeps me busy and I don't know how you write with 3. :)

Deanna said...

Shanna,

A fairy godfather with a tight butt might work better. Tying you to a chair would then provide a multitude of different options for him. Or you might prefer to tie him to a chair instead.

On thinking about it in that situation you would might not get those 4,000 words written that day. However, think about what you might then have to write about the following day!

Deanna said...

Mandy, you got me thinking.
Broad shoulders, muscular backs, rippling torsos, those flat hard stomachs!

I think I might have to write something now or alternatively explode!!!

Thanks to all of you who have visted so far and your great comments.

Deanna waves back :)

Janine Ashbless said...

Thanks for the links guys!
Fun fun fun!

Off to stalk a minotaur now.
Talk about broad shoulders...

Anonymous said...

Jaci and slacker? The words so do not fit!

Love ya too, babes! Thanks for stopping by!

Anonymous said...

Shanna,

I did this experiment that challenged me to write 1,000 words in the morning before I did anything else... before I checked email, the boards, any of that.

At first, it was hard to stick to. Then I realized it was perfect so I upped it to 2,000 and invited some of my writing buddies to join in and challenge themselves. It was just what I needed to work through a patch of not getting anything done.

Unknown said...

Mandy!!!

I loved the interview.

I must also confess that, although I am normally the early to bed type, I have yet to read a book of yours that I could go to sleep before finishing!

Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

Love of Books... would it be too weird if I were to tackle you and cover you in big wet kisses?

*grin*

Thank you so much!!!!!!!

The trick to three boys is "take no prisoners". There are days I feel more like I'm running a boot camp than a household.

Anonymous said...

Deanna Ashford said "Mandy, you got me thinking.
Broad shoulders, muscular backs, rippling torsos, those flat hard stomachs!

I think I might have to write something now or alternatively explode!!!"


YES! Get to writing, woman! And while you're at it, think you could write a Barbarian Prize II where Taranis sees the error of his ways and realizes he was destined to be with me.. erm... I mean a heroine named Mandy?

Alison Tyler said...

Awesome interview! Deanna, I liked this question the most...

If you had the chance to meet one of your erotic heroes which one would it be?

But maybe because every time I think of "erotic" and "hero" I think of Smut Girl, dressed in flowing red silk cape and knee-high sky blue boots...

Thanks very much for being on LB, Mandy, and for taking the time to answer questions!

Cheers,
Alison

*going off to look for her copy of Madonna's Sex Book. I know it's here somewhere!*

Anonymous said...

Mirandac said "I have yet to read a book of yours that I could go to sleep before finishing!"

Now I'll be grinning like a fool all day! THANKS!

Anonymous said...

Alison Tyler said "Awesome interview! Deanna, I liked this question the most..."

I totally agree. Deanna put together a fabulous set of questions. She should be proud of her Lust Bites debut!

I think of Smut Girl, dressed in flowing red silk cape and knee-high sky blue boots...

I'm a firm believer that once a year a day should be set aside for me to wear a cape and spandex.. oh, and not be picked on for it or scare anyone into an early grave.

Portia Da Costa said...

Aw, I want a pair of magnificent male buns on one of my covers now!

Shanna, you should have joined the Seventy Days of Sweat challenge... it's keeping me to 1000 words a day, more or less. And I have a domineering taskmaster on my blog, Mr Blue, who swears and waves his weapon* at me if I don't achieve my quota!

* that would be an UZI not his thing. :)

Angel said...

How incredibly prolific! That's an amazing amount of work for only a few years. And you did it with kids.

As a mom who cannot write worth a lick while my kids are in the house, I salute you!

Michelle Pillow said...

"Working with Michelle Pillow is a joy."

*glancing down a bruises* Yeah, um, 'joy' LMAO

Just kidding, Mandy knows I fear, er, *looking at que card* lubs, yeah lubs her. :D

I love Mandy's Daughter of Darkness books. Though I have a feeling she's going to stop taking my calls because I keep begging for more!

Deanna said...

Mandy,

Barbarian Prize Two is already running around in my head, along with a lot of other stories, I just wish they could come out a easily as your's do. My only excuse is that I'm a slow typist!

This time most of it will be set in Rome and the coliseum. Do you want to be Mandy the female gladiator? Or Mandy the rich Roman noblewoman who enslaves him and forces him to pleasure you? Or would you prefer another choice?

Deanna said...

Re questions,

I've got Janine to thank for a chunk of them. She was really great with her suggestions.

Any other lusties questions I've used, thanks for them too.

Michelle Pillow said...

Um, I can answer that--knowing Mandy...

Mandy the rich Roman noblewoman who enslaves THEM and forces THEM to pleasure you?

*running away before Mandy cyber slaps me*

She was telling me about the Barbarian Prize. Sounds awesome. It's on my shopping list next time I get to the bookstore! :)

Unknown said...

Hi Mandy, it's the other Kate you met in Dallas, the one with the feather boa, and red accessories-how could you forget me?
I'm totally in awe of your output-I have 3 boys (and a girlie) and I know how much work that is without even getting into finding time to write.
thanks for guest blogging!

Madeline Moore said...

Welcome to LB, Mandy. Deanna, thanks for bringing her to our blog for an entertaining day. I have to agree with the other bloggers here - your work ethic is impressive. And that is a LOT of stuff to have produced, given that you started after the end of the last century. Congratulations. I know I don't have to say this but I will - keep up the good work!

Deanna said...

Mandy,

For red accessories read cute, covetable red Louis Vuitton purse and matching wallet in US speak, or cute covetable red handbag and matching purse in UK speak. How could we forget them Kate?

Michelle just read Romancing the Recluse and loved it. Have been so busy doing revisions for Adam haven't yet got around to reading Along for the Ride but planning to do so in the next few days.

Was great to meet both you and Mandy in Dallas.

Anonymous said...

Michelle Pillow said "knowing Mandy...

Mandy the rich Roman noblewoman who enslaves THEM and forces THEM to pleasure you?

*running away before Mandy cyber slaps me*"


You know me well! LOL! Thanks for coming by!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Gwen! I don't get much in the way of writing done during daylight hours. I work late into the night and get up before everyone else to assure I get some quiet time.

Doesn't always work out for me. I swear they have a sixth sense about me wanting quiet time.

Anonymous said...

Kate! Of course I remember you! You're unforgettable.

Unknown said...

Unforgettable in a good way, right? Like the song?
:)

Unknown said...

Great interview! It's very cool to see that you enjoy the same authors I do.

Jen :)

Kara said...

Hi Mandy - From one 3am person to another. I am not a writer but definitely a reader. I get into a book and don't know when to quit. Must be the Ohio thing!!! Love all your books - keep 'em coming!!

Kara

Ally said...

What a great interview. Another bunch of books on my gotta buy and read list, that is now a mile long and growing.

I will definately be checking out your website Mandy. I already have it book marked and will get around to it at another time.

I am a late nighter too, rarely go to bed before 2 am, but then my kids are grown and I'm living single... I sleep in till 10 or 11am everyday. Such is the life.

I tip my hat to you, writing so much and raising a family, thats tough stuff.

My Grandkids are screaming for me to visit, so I'm off like a virgins dress on prom night.

Have a great weekend all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jen and Kara!!!!!

Marianne said...

Mandy is one of my all time favorite authors. All of her work is fantastic and they all have such unique and wonderful story lines. You can never go wrong getting one of her books!

Deanna said...

Well it is way past my bedtime.

Just wanted to thank Mandy for allowing me to interview her and for taking such an active part in the postings today.

Thanks you are a star!

Also thank you for everyone who contributed.

Deanna

Christina said...

Loved the interview! Great questions Deanna! Love your books Mandy!

Anonymous said...

Marianne and Christina,

Thank you VERY much!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for having me Lust Bites and for the great interview, Deanna!

((((hugs)))))

Cherie J said...

Great interview! I am new to your work but have loved what I read so far. You are a very talented writer Mandy.

Anonymous said...

Deanna & Mandy - great interview! :)

*waving at Kate* How've you been?

TeresaNoelleRoberts said...

Tuning in several days late, as usual (Busy weekend. That's my story and I'm sticking to it). It was so great to meet you at RWA. I'm especially in awe of your productivity now that I realize you have three kids. (Three cats are distracting enough for me.)

Anne Tourney said...

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Mandy at RWA, and I was so excited to read an interview with her here! She's not only an inventive, imaginative, sexy writer -- she's a warm and lovely person, with a great sense of humor. Thank you for giving us this insight into her creative world, Deanna.