Interview with M.S. Wills a.k.a. Lily White

Two AMAZING books…one author??? How is it possible that M.S. Willis and Lily White are one in the same and can write two books so completely different?  Mean Girls Lyndsie and Lara got to “sit” down and chat with Melissa about just that.

Lyndsie:  Thank you so much for letting us interview you!  Our followers don’t know that after I read ‘Because of Ellison’ I was blown away and PMed you as soon as I finished it.  When you let me in on the little secret you were writing under a pen name and it was dark, I jumped on bored immediately and I’m so glad I did!!!  I cannot wait to have both these books signed and on my book shelf!!

Lara:  Hi Melissa!  Thank you so much for doing this with us!  You already know that Lyndsie is a big fan but you probably don’t know she’s why I’ve become one too.  If it hadn’t been for her I may never have had the experience I did with ‘Her Master’s Courtesan’; which was a high and low I rarely experience with a book.  I spent two weeks hung-over and struggling to formulate my review. So THANK YOU for that! LOL

Melissa:  Hi ladies! Thank you so much!! It makes me want to dance around to hear how you feel about my books!

Lara: Lets start with the obvious…How do you go from a sweet contemporary love story like ‘Because of Ellison’ to a dark and twisted unconventional love story like ‘Courtesan’ (originally released as ‘Her Master’s Courtesan’)?

Melissa: For me writing is more like storytelling. Every book, whether it’s dark, light, erotic, funny or whatever, is simply a story. It’s the process I use that makes it easy for me to switch gears and jump genres. When I write, it’s like a movie is playing in my head and I’m simply transcribing what I see. So switching between sweet contemporary and dark and twisted is as easy as grabbing the remote and flipping between a romantic comedy and a horror movie.

Lyndsie: You told me that BOE is a semi-true story, which I absolutely love! Can you tell us a little more about that and what it felt like to add parts of your life into BOE?

Melissa: Because of Ellison is based on my husband and I. Three months after my husband and I met, my father was diagnosed with cancer. During the two years that we dated back and forth, I dealt with my father’s progressing disease. The personalities of Hunter and Ellison are the same as my Husband and I. When my father passed and my mother passed from cancer nine months later, I pushed my husband away. Much like Hunter, he refused to walk away. He was the only person that stood by and refused to believe that I had everything handled. Much like Hunter, my husband turned his life around and always attributes that to having met me. Many of the scenes in the story are true and it was cathartic to write it out and relive it again now that I’m no longer in the moment. It wasn’t easy to write certain scenes and I cried like a baby, but I’m glad to have written them because they helped me deal with the past.

Lyndsie: Because I'm absolutely in love with BOE, can you tell me if there will there ever be any more added to this story…maybe a Christmas with Hunter and Ellison? *sigh* I need to re-read BOE now; just saying their names makes me miss them.

Melissa: LMAO. Like I said, it’s the story of how I met my husband, so any additional stories would only be scenes from our life. However, I’m not opposed to writing out a book of short stories. Trust me, there are some hilarious moments in my family that I think people would appreciate reading about. I do have another planned book that is based on an actual couple that I hope to release next year. I won’t say who the couple is at the moment, but I hope the book will be as real and inspirational as I tried to make Because of Ellison.

Lyndsie: Book two in the Masters Series will be coming out soon. Will it be a dark as Aiden? Will we get more of Aiden and Rebecca in this one?

Melissa: Her Master’s Teacher will be just as dark, if not darker than Her Master’s Courtesan. You will see Rebecca and Aiden in the book, so you will get an opportunity to find out what happened between them. In fact, in thinking over the plot, Her Master’s Teacher WILL be more dark than HMC. That’s a promise and a warning, LOL.

Lara:  There has been some major upset and controversy over the release of ‘Courtesan’, which has been pulled not once but twice from Amazon! Which by the way is COMPLETE BULLSHIT…just sayin’. Do you have any reservations or concerns about releasing the remaining books in the series through Amazon?

Melissa: I have no reservations about releasing on Amazon. I believe there is a group of people out there who are attempting to use Amazon’s policies as a means of attacking authors. However, I won’t be held back by a small group who is attempting to dictate what the majority can read. I’ll continue to fight and write and publish books in my style. Hopefully, with patience, we can get Amazon to change their policies about allowing false reports and get back to a place where readers can be trusted to pick and choose what they read.

Lara: Readers, more than ever, seem to want to get their hands on the incredible book that is HMC; what can we expect for its published future? If they are not Nooker Hookers or use sites like Smashwords how can they get their grabby hands on the mobi file or PB?

Melissa: I have found a way to print the paperbacks!!!! Pay attention to my Lily White fan page or friend page and I’ll soon be posting a sign up sheet for those who would like to order the paperback. I’ll also be building a page on my website at www.mswillisbooks.com from which people will be able to order the paperbacks of any of my M.S. Willis or Lily White books.

Lara: To close out before some rapid fire we want to know, when you aren’t writing what would your readers be most surprised to find you doing?

Melissa: During the summer, and much like Ellison, I’m outside – either hiking, or at the springs or the beach. I’m also an adrenaline junkie so every once in a while you’ll catch me jumping out of planes or doing other crazy stunts. During the winter, I’m inside playing video games. LOL. I’m somewhat of a junkie.

Rapid Fire

Beer, Cocktail or Hard Liquor

 Hard Liquor

Night Owl or Early Bird

Early Bird and Owl (needless to say, I’m exhausted)

Paperback or E-Format

Both have their good parts. You can snuggle with a paperback, but it’s easier to carry an ebook around. I can’t choose.

Favorite Movie Genre

Horror

Favorite Book

Seriously. You want me to limit myself to one? LMAO. I can’t. If I have to, all I can choose is a series. The Dark Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop. It’s amazing!

Okay now that the “vanilla” portion is out of the way…lets have some fun!

Cuffs, Whips or Chains…flogger, riding crop…well you get the picture

Cuffs – definitely cuffs….riding crop and a flogger.

Whip Cream, Honey or Chocolate Syrup

All three please.

Boxers, Briefs or Commando

Boxers.

Smooth Chest or Chest Hair

Chest

Alpha or Beta

Alpha

Mean Girls thank Melissa for taking the time to answer all our questions.  We hope you pick up a copy of ‘Because of Ellison’ and “Courtesan’ and fall in love with Melissa’s writing as we did!

When I was nineteen years old, I lived for sex, drugs and a good party. I had it all - good looks, a fast car and a hot girlfriend. Nothing in life was more important.

That was, until I met Ellison James….

Since the moment I first saw her she was a raging bull; tackling me in the mud and throwing out insults as fast as her tongue could form the sound.

She was snarky
She was rude
And she pissed me off like no other woman could.

I lived beside her for a summer and in the three months that I walked by her side...

She opened my eyes
She changed my life
And she made me a better man

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

What Mean Girl Lyndsie had to say about Because of Ellison:

"Have you ever read a book that you couldn’t speed read, you took your time, and when you finished you really had no other words than wow? That’s where I am right now with Because of Ellison. This book felt so real. You go through every emotion with the characters as you read, it was amazing." 

"If you are looking for something outside of the normal box, pick up this book. Hold on tight because it is an emotional roller coaster from the Prologue that had me thinking “What the heck did I get myself into” until the end that had me just in awe. This book is about REAL life, taking chances and living."

Check out Lyndsie's FULL review here ----> READ ME 

I am a Master.

You must know this fact to understand my story.

I capture women.

I break them down.

And I rebuild them.

If they are lucky, they are sold into the professional hands of another Master. If they are less fortunate, they are buried beneath the ground, never to be thought of again.

I lust for the control, I demand absolute submission and my body yearns to warp the minds of those I train.

Power is the only thing I’ll ever need and I am addicted to the feeling of ultimate control.

I am wealthy, good-looking, educated and charming.

And I am - in no way - a good man.

I do not want love.
I do not want kindness.

She thought she could change me by giving me the two things I knew I never wanted.

She was wrong.

Barnes & Noble

What Mean Girl Lyndsie had to say about Her Master's Courtesan aka Courtesan:

"It’s dark and twisted and it will mess with your head! I LOVED IT"

"There were times during the story that I was rooting for Aiden to change to become something besides the monster he portrays but then there was parts that I had pure hatred towards him and knew he was the monster he is made out to be."

"This is a book I will recommend to my friends who I know will enjoy it! It’s a mind fuck, so be ready!!"

Check out Lyndsie's FULL review here ----> READ ME

What Mean Girl Lara had to say about Her Master's Courtesan aka Courtesan:

"There are no romantic notions for Aiden of what could be with any of the women he kidnaps to train as a "slave" or "Courtesan"; there are no longings of a happily ever after, no "what if"s or "could be"s. This is also something he's explicitly clear about. And yet no matter how dark and twisty a story may be when it falls into any subgenre of romance you naturally assume that your Hero eventually dreams, longs and does all within his power to have those things with the heroine. In HMC, you'd be dangerously WRONG...and yet Aiden IS a Hero...a dark, twisted, fuck with your mind, break you, bend you and piece you back together by his will alone Hero."

"I was in tears and just couldn't go forward...It doesn't matter what your brain and heart tell you or that this is a work of fiction, you can't help but react; and not always in the way you would think you would."

"I will say that HMC does have a HEA...albeit untraditional. Lily did an amazing job captivating me and luring me into this twisted world of Masters and their slaves...It takes you out side your comfort zone, it throws the things that you know to be wrong in your face and makes you accept them, understand them and believe in the rules of the pleasure and pain game. That's pretty fucked up that an author can do that to you, but it's also an exceptional gift."

Check out Lara's FULL review here ----> READ ME
 

M.S. Willis is a romance novelist whose debut novel, Control, was released in 2013. Although currently writing in the romance genre, Willis has plans to expand her literary pursuits into multiple genres and has no fear conquering difficult subject matters in her writing. Willis is a native Floridian who is also a photographer and musician. When not absorbing herself in written, visual or musical expression, Willis is an adrenaline junkie, a ‘closet’ video game enthusiast, and an avid outdoors person and nature lover.

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Lily White is a dark writer who likes to dabble on the taboo side of eroticism.  Most of the time she can be found wandering around aimlessly while her mind is stuck in some twisted power play between two characters in her head. You may recognize her in public by the confused expression, random mumbling, and occasional giggle while thinking up a scene. Lily’s favorite things in life are reading, thinking about reading, buying books for reading….and writing. Her other secret pleasure is meeting with her plot editor in public to discuss her books and watching the shocked expressions of the people around her that don’t realize she’s talking about a book.  When Lily is not reading, writing, wandering or freaking out innocent bystanders, she’s sleeping.

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