1. I hear you have a dog in your rock and roll romances.

Yes! It’s sometimes hard for rock and rollers on tour to have pets, but they can often use the stress release when they get home. In Rock And A Hard Place (Rock Hard series, book 6), this problem is solved because the dogs belong to hero’s love interest. The dogs are named Notorious D. O. G, Cujo, [and] Kill-Over (the hero’s name is Overkill, so by naming her biggest, ugliest dog Kill-Over, the female main character is getting a dig in).

Also in my latest book, Rock Bottom (Rock Hard series, book 9), the female main character, a roadie, has a pet that helps save the day.

2. Why did you add dogs to these books?

Whether it’s a rock and roll romance or not, I often add a pet to a book to make the character more likable. Whether you have pets or not in real life, I think all readers empathize with a character who loves their pet.

       

My husband, who is a professional musician, loves dogs. We adopted an older dog from an animal shelter, and he was a great help during COVID. My husband has a serious immune system disease and therefore hasn’t played any concerts since COVID started. We got a hypoallergenic pet, because his disease doesn’t allow pets otherwise. Our dog Cecil recently passed away at age 19.

3. What other books—such as your Playground series–have you written?

I’ve written 21 fiction books. I’ve written action/adventure with a heavy sensual romance focus, gay M/M stories, a trilogy with psychic elements, plus short stories, two cartoon shorts, movie screenplays, T.V. pilots, and non-fiction books. I wrote a sci/fi fantasy novella, which is high on the sexy heat level.

I’m currently focusing on movies, a young adult book, and a sci/fi fantasy novel. I used to work on one project at a time, but now I do a few at once.

Still, the Rock Hard series is my baby. I’m working on getting it made into a T.V. show.

Rock Hard series: https://bit.ly/MJRoberts-RHSeries

4. Tell us about your kudos or reviews.

Rock Hard won a gold medal from Literary Titans. They said, “This is a great story about relationships, love, loss and the power and importance of human connection.”

Book Review Directory said, “Rock Hard is ultimately a harmonious tale of friendship, family, and love. It is sensual, poignant, sweet, and seductive, anchored by strong leads and an even stronger supporting cast of characters.”

“Bad boy musicians not only find love but do the right thing in these sexy romances by M. J. Roberts that kept me turning pages late into the night!” — New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner

I’m very proud of these accolades and all the other reviews, because they get the books are sexy but they also have deeper underlining meaning.

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

A LOT!!! For example, I’m married to a semi-famous musician, and my Rock Hard series is all about musicians on tour. My characters have my same sense of humor. I’m funny and my books are funny, even the pets!

6. Tell us about your latest book. What motivated the story? Where did the idea come from?

I teach writing at a university, and I teach some deaf students. I don’t know of any romances starring deaf characters. I thought, what if a rock star who always uses his fame to impress women is paired up with a girl who is totally deaf and doesn’t know he exists? Then Rock On was born. I did a lot of research on the deaf community.

7. Why did you decide to write romance novels?

I always planned to write sci-fi books and movies. Once, I got really depressed, and all my roommate had was romance novels. I read her whole bookcase. After reading about 300 romance novels, I thought, I can do this.

8. If money were not an object, where would you most like to live?

I live in Hawaii now. It doesn’t get much better than that. If money were no object, I would live in a new exotic place a month at a time, about three times a year, and live in Hawaii when I wasn’t traveling.

9. Where do you like to write, and what’s your favorite break time snack?

My favorite place is on my lanai. My favorite break time snacks are strawberries and cold coffee with cocoa and vanilla in it.

10. Anything else you’d like to add?

I read a lot. I’m very grateful to other authors.

I love when I hear from a fan that they recommended a book to all their friends or posted about it. I also love when I hear from someone for whom English isn’t their first language and they let me know that they have fun reading my books over and over again to practice their English.

11. Where can readers learn more about your books and connect with you online?

People can check out more on my website: http://www.mjrobertswriter.com

(Eight of my books are also available in audiobook form.)

The Rock Hard series is available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited. You can get it here: Rock Hard series: https://bit.ly/MJRoberts-RHSeries

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjrobertswrites/

The best way to reach me is directly at mjrobertswriter@gmail.com I love to hear from fans.

 

From Marcia: M.J., thank you for being my May interviewee! I love discovering novels that feature dogs, and I look forward to reading your books!

 

MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!

Each month, I’ll randomly pick one commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!