I got the dish on Minxy-Milly when she let me do a Making Love 101 Q&A this past week. The Queen of Grunting and Mistress of Moaning took a few minutes to let me get inside her head where she revealed the inner doings of how she creates love in her novels. Apparently, and thankfully, it is not at all like shifter mating because if she tried to convince me that she wrote great books using pheromones, wine and doggy style I’d have called a foul and demanded pics!
Please get a seat and open your notebooks. Pay attention! There will be a quiz at the end of this class. =)
Milly Taiden’s Making Love 101:
What is it that you feel is the most important building blocks for a successful love story? What are some of the common flaws in storytelling that make love stories not work for you?
A successful love story should have realism. I don’t mean just with the characters. They should have flaws like any other person. I mean realism in how they speak and act. I am very hard core honest. So is my husband. What would normally be super romantic to some may not be how we do it. I bring in the fun stupid reality of how women and men think into my stories. It’s how I make love work.
All your lovers burn up the pages, I know you are also a very passionate person, when you begin developing a story and your characters, what is the process? Is it something that is fast and fiery or is it something that is very controlled and organized?
To be honest, writing is like a weird out of body experience. Not that I am taken over by aliens or anything. More like I’m watching everything but somehow able to write it in a way others can share in the story too. It’s fun. Sometimes I read parts of a story and say “I wrote that?”
The first novel I read of your’s was Scent of a Mate, the first in the Sassy Mates series. I love your paranormal books. When I read your contemporary romance novel, Their Second Chance, under the pen name April Angel, it was vastly different, in my opinion. It’s still you, but the somethin’ somethin’ is very different. What do you feel sets Milly Taiden books apart from April Angel books?
Milly Taiden is all about going above and beyond but keeping it real. April Angel’s Their Second Chance was a bit more toned down in the erotic part with a lot more romance and communication building. If you get a chance, read other April Angel books. LOL. I promise they’re just as sexy as Milly.
When you are creating a hero for a paranormal romance what is the vision in your mind that might make him different than a man in a contemporary romance you might write?
He has to have some sort of power a real man doesn’t. It’s what makes him so special in my eyes. It’s what will separate him from all the others in my reader’s mind.
If you HAD to pick, under penalty of never getting the hot salami express evah again, your three most favorite male and female characters you’ve created who would they be and what was it that you liked about them? oh that’s tough!
I think Nicole and Jake definitely. They’re sexy and dirty.
Jordan and Aric. They’re very real to me. And lots of fun.
Lili and Cade from Wynter’s Captive. They were a hoot. I loved those two.
In Sassy Mates you have been building up to the story of Ellie and Caleb and his taking over Rocco’s pack. The Black Meadow Pack has all this crap going down because of the research facility and Sophie’s discoveries. Alpha Project in Wolf Fever is along the same lines. All of this means that there is death and carnage everywhere. Why you so mad, Milly? Why do you want to piss off so many people and kill them in your books? =)
ROTFLMAO! You know what? I’m not mad LOL not really. I like writing stuff that keeps me entertained. The same stuff I like to read. I want to read action, romance, suspense and humor all rolled into one. It’s what I like and so it somehow ends up being what I write. Sometimes I am mad, though. LOL.
A big theme in many of your books is second chances. You don’t believe in burning bridges or turning your back on family or loved ones, unless they are pure evil. Is this a personal philosophy or do you feel it is just something that is a good plotline?
I guess it’s part of me. I might be a big bitch when it comes to telling it as I see it, but the truth is I love helping others. I stick to family and I’m really close to them. I believe in second chances, I just don’t believe in allowing people who want to destroy you to stay near you. It’s one thing to forgive and another to allow anyone to mess with your life.
Sam and Ry in Caged Heat have been “waiting” for one another in sorts while Sam thought she was getting on with her life. She was perfect amount of confusion and sex kitten… or perhaps puppy. This waiting thing is also another theme. Many of your characters meet their mates when they are young and don’t formalize their relationship for years. Is this a subliminal “sow your wild oats” or “it’s in the mail, baby”?
LOL! Well, I like romance with a bit of a back story. I love the idea that they knew they were in love but waited for the right time. Sometimes when you make hasty decisions in life, you might come to the realization that it’s not the right time in life for that. I’ve always been too old for my years since I was a kid. One of the things I knew not to do was rush into relationships. But when the hubs and I finally found each other, it was sort of a click that we both knew it was the right time in each of our lives.
What is the difference between how you structured love stories when you first began writing erotic novels and how you do it today?
LOL OMG!!! I don’t know. I think now I think about it a little more? I maybe go deeper into emotions but the reality is that I tried from the first to make emotional connections.
If someone who had never read any of your stories was to ask you to recommend them a book from each genre you have written what would be the list you would give them and why would you choose those books?
I think that for my Milly Taiden side I’d suggest Scent of a Mate. It’s fun and romantic with a massive dose of heat.
For my April Angel side I’d suggest Mr. Buff as he’s been a favorite of readers.
What is the ultimate love story ever told as far as you are concerned?
I think the boy child I fell in love with the moment I met his tiny brown gaze. He cried and my heart filled with enough love to flood Texas. It was then that I knew I could never write anything as deep as what I felt for that boy.
Thank you so much for being part of Making Love 101!
Thanks Ali! You rock!
Meet Milly Taiden:
Hi! I’m Milly Taiden (AKA April Angel). I love to write sexy stories. They’re usually either paranormal or contemporary with a large dose of heat. My paranormal stories can be anything from wolf-shifters (my favorites) to witches, demons and anything in between. My contemporaries are usually anything from soldiers to corporate romances.
I was born the prettiest part of the Caribbean known as the Dominican Republic. Currently, I live in New York City with my hubby, the bossy kiddo and our little dog “Needy Speedy”. Don’t ask.
I am addicted to shoe shopping, chocolate (but who isn’t, right?) and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee.
Come on over and visit me! I love to meet new readers!
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Milly Taiden’s Web Tracks:
Website | Facebook | Facebook Friend Page | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
Milly Taiden on All The Things Inbetween:
Book It – In News Today: Milly Taiden Gets Twice as Growly & Promises Double-Stuffed Goodness!
Makin’ The Love Monday – Scent of a Mate by Milly Taiden
Milly Taiden Books:
Twice the Growl Synopsis:
Paranormal Dating Agency Novel
Talia Barca needs a date. Badly. She uses the services of the Paranormal Dating Agency hoping for a decent guy to take to a family wedding. A wedding her ex-husband has wormed his way into as a guest.
Connor and Theron want Tally to complete their Alpha triad. She’s sexy, curvy and funny. But she’s human. And they’re not sure she’ll go for a relationship with two men at the same time.
As if deciding to give two men a shot wasn’t difficult enough, Tally will also need to deal with a threat from the pack. She’ll either prove she’s strong enough to be an Alpha mate or find herself at the mercy of a vicious opponent.
Purchase Twice The Growl:
Geek Bearing Gifts Synopsis:
Paranormal Dating Agency Novel
Nita Islas wants to find love. She’s tired of the superficial relationships and is ready to give true romance a try. She uses the Paranormal Dating Agency and hopes they can help her where all others have failed. What she didn’t expect was to find her date flat on his back in nothing more than a towel.
Ky Stone has been in love with curvy and funny Nita since they were in High School. When she moved away, she took his heart with her. Then one day Ky wakes up to find her leaning over him. He’s sure he’s died and gone to heaven. He has no idea what she’s doing there, but he’s sure as hell not letting her leave.
Fate, meddling family and the PDA have brought them together again. The chemistry between them is explosive. But there’s problems with Ky’s neighboring clan and he’s keeping secrets from Nita. He needs to find a way to open up to her or lies and unexpected danger could tear them apart…forever.
Reader Warning: This book contains lots of scorching sex (dirty, dirty, dirty sex), adult language (hanky panky with no dirty talk is no fun), and violence. If this is not the kind of stuff you like to read, skip this book. However, if you like dirty, raunchy sex with a hot bear on one curvy sarcastic girl, then this is right up your alley. Enjoy!
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