Please welcome M & M, Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth, to Fallen Angel Reviews. Pleasure Cruise, coming soon from Ellora’s Cave, is their latest endeavor together.


How did the dynamic duo of M & M begin?

Michelle: Well, Mandy took out this personal add looking for *ouch* oh, you want the politically correct version of the story…

Mandy: We became friends and found it was easy to bounce an idea or a problem off the other. From there, the RAVEN began. It was a bit of work at first. Our writing styles are very different, regardless what others think. After some initial practice and a full-story under our belt we learned to write seamlessly together while still continuing on individual projects. We’ve found a way to make are different styles merge when needed and not think twice about it. It’s a lot like using both hands to write and still have the ransom note be legible.

Ooo, we’re like a girl band. I want to be Scary spice. She is so Baby Spice. And, for the record, she took out the personal ad not me. LOL. I got a billboard.

Pleasure Cruise is coming soon from Ellora’s Cave, what can you tell us about it?

Michelle: Pleasure Cruise is one of our very first collaborative efforts. It’s very different than the other books we’ve written, but its fun to change things up a bit. Basically, it’s about two friends who are chosen by the powers that be as mates to supernatural beings, only they don’t know it.

Mandy: Yes, it is very different from our normal works but was extremely fun to do. Mixing it up every now and then keeps it fresh for us. PC takes meeting your soul mate and puts it in the hands of a paranormal travel agency. From there, anything is possible.

From the previous books you have written together, readers see you as a good team. How do you feel you compliment each other?

Michelle: Well, I’m the sane one, which helps. Which naturally means Mandy’s insane *batting Mandy’s hands away* and a pest, and had this fetish for muphfumupfhmffph…

Mandy: ROFLMO. Somehow we manage to switch gears to adjust to one another. If I’m cranky (very rare, Michelle is always cranky…ouch) then she’s calm. The reverse is true. So far, she’s talked me off three ledges, two bellhops and a partridge in a pear tree. I’ve only managed to get her to leave the lights on in her bedroom long enough to find her pajamas before she dives under the covers hoping no one saw her. LOL

How do you decide what to write? Where do the ideas come from?

Michelle: I give Mandy liquor and then just take notes. LOL. Actually, we usually just start talking on the phone, get to laughing and before we know it we’ve laid out 11 books. We both pretty much come up with ideas. One person will say something, the other person will add to it, back and forth like that. It’s also nice because we both like to genre hop and change our styles around.

Mandy: Yep. Give Michelle cold medicine and she’s a non-stop idea churin’ momma. I often send her letters that I have had sick people lick. It increases our productivity. And we aren’t letting me drink and suggest things for a while. I’m scary. LOL. She’s right though, it all ends up 50/50 in the end.

For readers who don’t know, what is The Raven?

Michelle: Raven is our free online story featuring our alter-egos Mandy and Michelle. It takes place in the Raven, a vampire and lycan bar. Occasionally we’ll interview authors, but lately we’ve just been rolling with the story. It’s got quite a following. Did I mention it’s free? Raven FREE story: http://www.ravenhappyhour.com/raven_reviews1.htm

Mandy: Ouch…yes, I’ll tell them it’s free. Uhh, Raven is FREE. Just in case you missed the above neurotic writer’s…ouch woman, pick a new cheek that one is turning purple.

So tell us, who wears the pants in this relationship? lol

Michelle: Mandy, but only because she beats me, lol. *whispering* I have to tell her that. I’m not even sure she wears pants, or clothes.

Mandy: It’s rather even. Michelle wears pajama bottoms and I wear leather pants. It’s important we do that or the scales of good and evil would tip dramatically paving the way for a family reunion. Our world domination ploy in its first stage now. *does counts voice* Mmmmuuuuwwwwhhhhaaa!

To date, what has been the most rewarding aspect of this writing duo?

Michelle: Our styles really seem to click and often when we go back and read something we don’t know who originally wrote it. It’s nice to be so in sync that way, especially if one of us gets blocked we can just tag it over. Or if someone is busy, the other person can be working.

Mandy: Stop answering all the questions with perfect answers! I’d like to get to play too. LOL. “Right you are, Michelle.” Falling in sync on demand has saved many of individual stories from being deleted out of frustration. *Raises hand.* I am so guilty of that. And the joint projects would never see the light of day if left up to just one of us.

What can fans expect to see from you in the future?

Michelle: We have several joint projects and solo projects planned. We just finished work on a new joint futuristic series, Red Light Specialists. We’ll announce more on our websites when we have details.

Mandy: We also both have books coming out with Virgin Publishing (out of London) and are very excited about it. We still break out into song…okay…I break out into song thinking about it. They’ll be available in PRINT only. Sorry to do that to all the loyal ebookers out there but we didn’t get a say.

We’ve got a good number of joint projects in the works as well as individual ones. I keep telling Michelle that the sky’s the limit. She keeps telling me to put more clothes on, I’m flashing people again.

Is there anything you’d like to add to this interview?

Michelle: Mandy’s addicted to pleather.

Mandy: Mmm, pleather. Oh, Michelle is allergic to sunlight.

Group Links:
Michelle’s Author Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/michellempillow
Mandy’s Author Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mandy_M_Roth
Raven Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Raven_Vampire_Nightclub/



Thank you Mandy and Michelle for joining us.

Thanks for having us!!

All of Mandy and Michelle’s books are available at New Concepts Publishing and soon with Ellora’s Cave. For all the latest happenings and what’s coming up from them, check out their websites: Michelle’s site, Mandy’s site.



Interviewed by:
Jaymi