Featured Interview With MV Ellis
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I moved from my hometown of London to Sydney after a steamy holiday romance with a sexy bass player in sultry Brazil. I have toured with said badass and several bands, in Australia and overseas, and draw from the things I saw and heard during those crazy times in my novels. Twelve years, two children and a dog later, and I’m still in Sydney, and still smitten.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
An avid reader for as long as I can remember, I always knew I’d write a book of my own someday. Finally, after a career spanning advertising, marketing, and social media, I was inspired to write Catching London drawing on my own experiences.
My love affair with romance started when at eleven I discovered a stash of my aunt’s books. After a summer holiday spent devouring them from cover to cover, I was hooked on bad boy heroes and smart heroines. I wrote my first novel in 2017, and it’s the first of many!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
As a romance writer, it probably goes without saying that I’m a romance lover.
The first romance novel I ever read was a now somewhat controversial YA classic by Liz Berry, called Easy Connection. In many ways, that book is where my road to becoming an author began. I read and reread it countless times, marvelling in the writing, the themes and the emotions it evoked in me. It’s out of print now, unfortunately, and somewhat of a collectors item, as copies are few and far between. However, somewhat serendipitously, as I submitted my final edit of Catching London to my publisher, I randomly stumbled across a copy on eBay here in Australia. It wasn’t cheap, but I had to have it – it seemed like to much of a good omen, and a fitting reward for my hard work!
The first adult romance novels were those I unearthed at my aunt’s house – they were by Virginia Andrews, Jilly Cooper, Jackie Collins and Danielle Steele – stalwarts of romance. I guess they were influential in introducing me to some of the main tropes and themes of the genre. Nowadays follow many contemporary writers and am a fan of anything with great dialogue, a badass hero, and a kickass heroine. I have just finished two great books by fellow Australian writing team Haley Jenner – their debut and sophomore novels – Archer and Jake. Reading time is scant right now, as I work towards the release of Catching London, but I’m eagerly awaiting Bennett, the third novel in their Leaves of a Maple series.
I have been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember, so there are too many favourites to name check them all, but I have to say that my first experience of being truly wowed by a book was Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I think I would have been 8 or 9 years old. To this day I’m still a die-hard Dickens fan. I couldn’t (and still can’t) get enough of the his vivid characterisations and skill at bringing the sights, sounds and feelings of Victorian Britain to life on the page.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Catching London is a smoking hot contemporary romance set in the sultry cities of New York and Paris.
The story follows sexy millionaire rocker Arlo Jones and stunning dancer-turned-photographer London Llwellyn. The two meet in unusual circumstances when Arlo finds London naked in his shower. Sparks fly instantly, and neither can ignore the chemistry they share, but their relationship is a rollercoaster ride from the get go.
Self-confessed womanizer Arlo lives the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle to its fullest, and is used to getting what he wants, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. However, despite her undeniable attraction to him, London isn’t in the market for his bad boy ways, no matter how unbelievably hot he is. In fact, a relationship with anyone at all is the last thing on her mind, least of all with a rock star like Arlo. Still reeling from the tragic death of her fiance some years previously, London is determined to rebuild her career, and she’s determined not to let a sexy distraction like Arlo Jones get in the way.
Although he’s a total badass, it’s clear that Arlo has finally met his match in London, and she refuses to give him an inch. Most of the time. The rest of the time she finds herself inexplicably and irrevocably drawn to him, as much as she tries to avoid him. Unfortunately for him, Arlos’ reputation precedes him. while he promises to always be there to catch her London, she’s not sure if she can trust him enough to let herself fall.
If you like your boys as hot as sin, your girls smart and sassy, and your romance hotter than hot, Catching London is the book for you.
I just LOVED writing this book, it was so much fun! I especially enjoyed crafting the dialogue between the central couple. Arlo, the lead male is rough and raw – he’s a musician, after all. Despite her delicate appearance, his love interest and the main protagonist of the noel, London is no wallflower. She gives as good as she gets, always ready with the pithy one-liners designed to put Arlo in his place. Their interactions simmer with sexual tension each and every time. I won’t lie, I fell in (and out of) love with Arlo several times along the way, and found myself really wanting him to get his happily ever after.
Although this is my first book, amazingly, once I sat down to commit this story to paper (it lived in my head for a long time before that), it pretty much wrote itself. I’m lucky that I had plenty of personal experiences to inspire my writing – which no doubt, made the job easier.
Fuelled by copious amounts of coffee, the vast majority of my writing takes place late at night. I write almost exclusively between 9pm and 3am, but have been known to stay up until dawn, or forgo sleep altogether to get the job done.
As a busy working mother of two small children, this has been the most effective (albeit tiring) way to ensure that I make time for writing. That being the case, sleep is in pretty short supply, so I’ve embraced the mantra “You can sleep when you’re dead.” So far, so good!
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