M. J. Rose

M.J. Rose, is the international bestselling author of ten novels: LIP SERVICE, IN FIDELITY, FLESH TONES, SHEET MUSIC, LYING IN BED, THE HALO EFFECT, THE DELILAH COMPLEX, THE VENUS FIX, THE REINCARNATIONIST and THE MEMORIST.

Rose is also the co-author with Angela Adair Hoy of HOW TO PUBLISH AND PROMOTE ONLINE, and with Doug Clegg of BUZZ YOUR BOOK.

She is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She runs two popular blogs: Buzz, Balls & Hype and Backstory.

Getting published has been an adventure for Rose who self-published LIP SERVICE late in 1998 after several traditional publishers turned it down. Editors had loved it, but didn't know how to position it or market it since it didn't fit into any one genre.

Frustrated, but curious and convinced that there was a readership for her work, she set up a web site where readers could download her book for $9.95 and began to seriously market the novel on the Internet.

After selling over 2500 copies (in both electronic and trade paper format) Lip Service became the first e-book and the first self-published novel chosen by the LiteraryGuild/Doubleday Book Club as well as being the first e-book to go on to be published by a mainstream New York publishing house.

Rose has been profiled in Time magazine, Forbes, The New York Times, Business 2.0, Working Woman, Newsweek and New York Magazine.

Rose has appeared on "The Today Show," Fox News, "The Jim Lehrer News Hour" and features on her have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, including USA Today, Stern, L'Official, Poets and Writers and Publishers Weekly.

Rose graduated from Syracuse University and spent the '80s in advertising. She was the Creative Director of Rosenfeld Sirowitz and Lawson and she has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

She lives in Connecticut with Doug Scofield, a composer, and their very spoiled dog, Winka.

Visit M. J. Rose’s two blogs, Buzz, Balls & Hype and Backstory. You may also visit www.Reincarnationist.org to find out more about THE REINCARNATIONIST.

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INTERVIEW

October 31, 2008

In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Joe Hartlaub, international bestselling author M. J. Rose recalls the specific event during a family vacation in Vienna that inspired the plot of her latest work of fiction, THE MEMORIST, and explains the role that music --- including the work of Beethoven, who is a central figure in the novel --- has played in her writing process. She also shares some of the favorite books she has read recently, discusses details about where the Phoenix Foundation series is headed and reveals which of her 10 novels is her favorite.

Bookreporter.com: I think that THE MEMORIST, your latest novel, is your best work to date. While a sequel to THE REINCARNATIONIST, it reads quite well as an independent work, focusing on the more mystical aspects of Ludwig van Beethoven's career and dealing once again with how the events of the past can directly and indirectly affect the future in unexpected ways. How did Beethoven come to be the focal point of your book?

M. J. Rose: Once upon a time, my husband and I went to Vienna on a vacation and fell in love. Not with each other --- we'd already done that --- but with the city.

Growing up in Manhattan, you don't bump into history on every street corner; mostly, you're bumping into other people or great shopping or eating experiences. In New York, you have to go out of your way to find 18th-century history, but it's still alive on every block in Vienna. There's so much of it that you are literally breathing it in. Arts and sciences have flourished here for centuries, and whatever your passion, you can visit museums, monuments and memorials to art, music, architecture, literature, philosophy and psychology.

And visit them we did, including seeing the homes of many famous people who'd once lived there. And since my husband is a musician, the trip turned out to be what I now jokingly call our Beethoven pilgrimage.

There are several of the great composer's residences in the city proper and its environs, and we visited every one of them, as well as churches, cafés and music halls he frequented. We walked the streets he walked, following the routes he took. We even spent one day wandering the woods he wandered during the summers he spent in Baden, a spa town an hour out of the city.

But, it was in the Heligenstadt house that the idea for THE MEMORIST was born.

The house at Probusgasse 6 is in a neighborhood called Heligenstadt at the bottom of the Kahlemberg, which in Beethoven's time was outside the city and filled with vineyards that are still growing there. And it was here, at the end of the summer of 1802, that the 31-year-old Beethoven wrote the heart-wrenching Testament to his two brothers, documenting his anguish at the onset of his terrible deafness.

The upstairs of this small apartment is open to the public, and we walked through the ordinary rooms where he lived. Wandering over to the window, I looked down at a simple courtyard where there was a single tree growing.

I stared at the gnarled, twisted trunk and the rich, healthy, verdant green leaves and realized that Beethoven must have once stood there and looked down at that same tree. Suddenly, the composer's ghost was standing there with me, looking out the window.

Later, I told my husband what I had been thinking, and he said, “You're going to write about that, aren't you?” Until that moment I hadn't even considered it, but after he said that, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

At home, I read several biographies about Beethoven, and in one I discovered the great composer had been fascinated with Eastern philosophy, which includes a strong belief in reincarnation. His own notebooks contain quotes with a number of passages from Bhagavad-Gita, as well as a quote from William Jones that was included in his Hymn to Narayena: We know this only, that we nothing know.

With that piece of information, the idea at the heart of my 10th novel revealed itself.

THE MEMORIST is not about Ludwig van Beethoven, though he does play a small part in it. Rather, it's a suspense novel about a woman on a search for her own ghosts. Still, it was Beethoven's spirit that inspired the book, and his everlasting gifts to us are at the heart of the mystery I attempted to unravel.

BRC: Music is the underlying force of THE MEMORIST. The story centers on a mysterious lost flute, once in the possession of Beethoven, which may well be one of the memory tools sought by the Phoenix Foundation. The flute is thought to bear an inscription that is actually a melody and may have the power to unlock past lives. Music is also a metaphor for the past and present, something that we share in a most intimate way with those who come before and after us. How does music figure into your work on a day-to-day basis? Do you generally listen to music while you write? Were there any particular recordings to which you listened while you were writing THE MEMORIST?

MJR: Yes, I do --- a different kind of music, it seems, for each book. I guess my answer is going to be a little bit expected here: I listened to all nine of Beethoven's symphonies while writing this. Over and over. And Doug Scofield's Mortal's Point of View (www.dougscofield.com).

BRC: Meer Logan, the woman haunted by shadow memories of a past life in THE MEMORIST, is perhaps the most intriguing character in the book. Her history as a patient of the Phoenix Foundation and the central role she plays in the hunt for the lost flute combine to make her one of your most interesting characters. The conclusion seems to almost beg for her return in a future novel. Will we be seeing more of her? If so, will she be working with the Phoenix Foundation or on her own?

MJR: Not in the foreseeable future. The way the series works is that each book is, at its heart, about a different memory tool and the people involved in the search for it --- or who have found it. Malachai Samuels and the Phoenix Foundation do play a role in the next book and will be in each one following to greater and lesser degrees.

BRC: In addition to the Phoenix Foundation series, are you working on any other novels at present?

MJR: I have an idea for another book, but it's just a dream now. I am in the middle of the third book in the series as I write this, and my head is full of that story.

BRC: You have been extremely generous in giving your time and talent to aspiring writers, especially considering that time spent helping others is time that you take away from your own work. How do you balance and schedule your time so that your own work is not neglected?

MJR: I don't do well. Everything seems to get neglected on any given day. But I try to write every day --- six days a week --- every afternoon from noon to six with a one-hour break around three. I manage about 75% of the time to pull that off and find I am working way too many nights. For instance, I am writing these answers at 8:30.

And thanks for your kind words.

BRC: What books have you read in the past six months that you would recommend to our readers?

MJR: Too many to list them all, but here are a few:

THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follet, MOSCOW RULES by Daniel Silva, THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE by Douglas Preston, A DARKER PLACE by Laurie R. King, and A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeline L'Engle, which I had never read growing up.

BRC: You have written a number of books in a variety of genres, fiction as well as nonfiction. What is your personal favorite of the books you have written?

MJR: My mother used to say --- I love all my children. There are different reasons I like different ones…but if I have to answer this, I'd say the one I'm currently writing is always the one I love the best because it has the most potential.

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INTERVIEW

September 7, 2007

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of nine novels, including LIP SERVICE and three titles in the Butterfield Institute series: THE HALO EFFECT, THE DELILAH COMPLEX and THE VENUS FIX. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Joe Hartlaub, Rose describes the personal experiences that prompted her to write her newest book, THE REINCARNATIONIST, and explains her inspiration behind some of the fictional elements present in the novel. She also discusses the idea of reincarnation and its effect on both the individual and on traditional organized religion, shares her thoughts on the difficulties most authors --- and readers --- face as a result of marketing, and reveals how audiobooks have helped her rediscover her love for reading.

Bookreporter.com: As one might glean from the title, your new novel THE REINCARNATIONIST concerns reincarnation and the rediscovery of the Memory Stones, which are reputed to be of aid to an individual in rediscovering their past lives. A number of the primary and secondary characters in the book also experience flashbacks of past lives, which both help and hinder them in the quest to recover the stones. When did you become interested in reincarnation? Did your own experiences, if any, with past-life recall inform your work on THE REINCARNATIONIST?

M.J. Rose: When I was three years old, I told my great grandfather things about his childhood in Russia that there was simply no way I could have known. He became convinced I was a reincarnation of someone in his past. Over time, after more incidents, my mother --- a very sane and logical woman --- also came to believe it.

So, reincarnation was an idea I grew up with, that my mom and I talked about and researched together. 

At some point, the idea to write a novel about the subject was just there, the way ideas seem to suddenly appear. And then for years, I flirted with the idea of writing a novel about someone like my mother, who started out skeptical but came to believe in reincarnation. But I kept putting it off, afraid that if I did people would think I was a “woo woo weirdo.”

A few years ago, on the exact anniversary of my mom’s death, my niece said some very provocative things to me about my mother --- things she really couldn’t have known. That's when the pestering idea to write this novel became an obsession. 

BRC: THE REINCARNATIONIST is a very different book for you. It combines divergent elements --- mystery, suspense, erotica and the supernatural --- utilized in your other novels, but ultimately it is in a class all by itself. How far along were you in writing the book before you realized that it was quite different from your others?

MJR: I knew right away because at least a third of the book takes place in the past, in Rome in 391 AD and in New York City, 1884. I’d never done historical research before, so from the start, this book required different skills I had to learn and work with. It’s been an amazing journey.

BRC: The Phoenix Foundation --- a research facility documenting childhood cases of past-life experiences --- plays a prominent role in THE REINCARNATIONIST. Does a real-world “Phoenix Foundation” with the same or a similar mission exist, under that name or another? If so, are you a member? And did the Foundation assist you with your research while you were writing the book?

MJR: There’s nothing I’ve come across that’s exactly like the Phoenix Foundation. But I was inspired by Dr. Ian Stevenson, who founded The Division of Perceptual Studies as a research unit of the Department of Psychiatric Medicine in 1967, and went on to do past-life regressions with over 3,000 children in his lifetime. Sadly, I never got to meet him but have read papers he’s written and a lot that’s been written about him. I’ve read 60 books about reincarnation in preparation for this novel, and have about 1,500 pages of research. In the back of THE REINCARNATIONIST, there’s a bibliography for people who want to read more on the subject.

BRC: The concept of “memory tools” and specifically “memory stones” is extremely intriguing. Do you believe that such instruments exist? Assuming they do, what effect do you believe it would have on science and on religion?

MJR: The concept of “memory tools” and “memory stones” are my invention, but they’re based on how the process of past-life regression works.

The way to reach back and discover your past lives is through deep mediation or hypnosis. So, it seemed to me that an object that would help you go into a deep meditative state would have what might seem like “magical” regressive properties to ancient cultures and would be revered. If they were found today, they would be incredibly valuable both as ancient artifact as well as instruments to help us prove reincarnation.

I think we have proved reincarnation, over and over. When you do the research and read the studies, there are so many objective stories about people --- especially children --- who know things about distant past lives that we can validate. In India and China and other countries where reincarnation is part of the basic belief system, there is no doubt about it. Also, if you read books like Deepak Chopra’s LIFE AFTER DEATH, he makes some brilliant correlations between psychics and reincarnation.

The big effect, though, has to do with how much power reincarnation gives to each man and each woman and how much is taken away from the traditional church. If reincarnation is real, then it's not up to anyone else to absolve you, forgive you, or tell you that you're going to heaven or hell.

The idea of reincarnation is that it's up to you to live your best life, do the right thing, honor your karma. The power comes back to us.

BRC: Archaeology plays a key role in THE REINCARNATIONIST. Your description of the archaeological dig that resulted in the discovery of the memory stones had an air of authenticity to it. Do you have a background in archaeology? Did you participate, even peripherally, in a dig while preparing for your work on THE REINCARNATIONIST?

MJR: I wish, but I did not. I always wanted to be an archaeologist --- along with wanting to be a painter and a writer when I was a kid --- so I’ve been reading about the subject, watching documentaries and visiting archaeological sites whenever I could.

BRC: One of my favorite vignettes in THE REINCARNATIONIST took place in the crypt at the church of Santa Maria della Concezione. It was a relatively short scene, but breathtaking in its description. Did you visit Rome, and the church, in the course of writing THE REINCARNATIONIST? Or did perhaps a visit to Rome provide the inspiration, at least in part, for writing the book?

MJR: I’ve been to Rome several times and have been fascinated by that church ever since I first saw it. I think I’ve been back three or four times. I knew one day I’d use it in a book, just never knew which book, until I started THE REINCARNATIONIST.

BRC: What are you working on now?

MJR: The next book in the series, THE MEMORIST, which involves the discovery of another memory tool.

BRC: Earlier we had commented indirectly about the variety of your fiction. Are there genres you would like to write in that you haven’t as yet?

MJR: When I was growing up, there were either good books or not such good books --- I didn’t know about genres. And honestly, that’s all I’ve ever tried to do: write good books. I think one of the problems right now for readers is how segmented books are and how many terrific books aren’t exposed to the full spectrum of readers because of the marketing that’s being done. For instance, what’s REBECCA by Daphne Du Maurier? Suspense? Romantic suspense? Mystery? General fiction? It gives me a headache, and I’m in the biz. I can’t imagine how crazy it must be for the readers who don’t realize how manipulated the system is.

But to specifically answer your question, there are stories I still want to write that I haven’t written, but genre isn’t something on my mind.

BRC: What do you like to read for pleasure? We also have heard that you are listening to a number of audiobooks. What can you share with readers about that experience?

MJR: I try to read widely. As you might guess from my answer to the genre question, it's not a question of genre as much as it is of quality. I do love psychological suspense --- DuMaurier, Ruth Rendell and Robert Goddard, to name a few. I also gravitate to fiction with intelligent, curious characters and stories that involve the arts/architecture/archaeology/history.

I was a reader way before I was a writer, and I used to read three or four books a week. When I started writing, I found that it affected my reading. I was reading as a writer too often, unable to just delight in the book the way I used to. I was missing what I loved so much. But then I discovered audiobooks. For the last 10 years, I’ve listened to about 50 books a year, and I’m a huge fan of the format. First, I can listen in places I could never read: walking the dog, on the elliptical machine, driving. And I can listen without being a writer. Somehow, because this involves listening, there’s a welcome disconnect for me between what I’m listening to and my own work.

BRC: You are involved in a number of projects that assist other authors in the publishing and marketing of their novels. How do you balance writing with these endeavors? How do you divide your work schedule on a typical day?

MJR: I have a company called AuthorBuzz.com, the first marketing service for authors. We also now work with a lot of publishers, too. I literally split my day --- I write for four or five hours, then work on the marketing for another four or five hours. I’ve tried to just write fiction, but I find that even if I have nothing else going on, I can’t work on a book more than five hours a day.

BRC: Lastly, Josh Ryder in THE REINCARNATIONIST performs a small magic trick involving a matchbook and a quarter. Is it a real trick? Do you know how to perform it, or are you limited to admiring it?

MJR: Both Josh and Malachai Samuels perform that trick, and no, I don’t know how to do it. When I was a kid, someone did it to me and I was obsessed with it for years. I hope that readers will find a lot of magic in the book: that it will make them wonder, and ultimately entertain them.

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INTERVIEW

July 7, 2006

Bookreporter.com's Carol Fitzgerald and Joe Hartlaub interviewed internationally bestselling author M. J. Rose about THE VENUS FIX, the third installment in her Butterfield Institute suspense/thriller series. Rose explains how she first became interested in the novel's topic --- Internet sex sites --- and reveals what she discovered while conducting her research. She also discusses the series's recurring theme of patient confidentiality, shares what's on her reading list, and divulges a few details about her future project.

Bookreporter.com: THE VENUS FIX deals with addiction to Internet sex sites, and raises a number of questions and concerns regarding the problems that such material creates with adolescents of both sexes, as well as the relationships between adults. What attracted you to this as a topic for a novel?

M. J. Rose: I was at a bookstore signing and a young teenage girl approached me to tell me how much she liked my work. We got to talking, and she told me about how she and all of her friends read the sexy parts in my novels. That led to her eventually telling me that she and her friends were having a hard time dealing with how deeply the guys at school were into Internet porn.

At that point, I was halfway through writing the second novel in the Dr. Morgan Snow series (THE DELILAH COMPLEX) and wasn't ready to think about the third, but I knew I was hearing about something that mattered.

I actually started researching the next day.

BRC: While researching the material for THE VENUS FIX, did you talk to anyone who is involved in the online sex industry? Did you interview individuals who have had ongoing difficulties as the result of an addiction to adult websites, either through their own use or that of a partner?

MJR: I have done research with women involved in the online sex industry and with dozens of teenagers before I started to write THE VENUS FIX, as well as several therapists, and adults addicted to Internet porn. I researched every group I wrote about in the book.

I've never written a novel before in which the research was as disturbing or as troublesome as it was this time. The implications of what I found out were far reaching, not in the least because no one seems to have any solutions other than to turn their backs and ignore the problem.

My goal with every novel is to thrill my readers and keep them turning the pages. But my mission is to find the dark, disturbing subjects that pain us and shine some light on them.

I hope I've done both with this one. The subject matter deserves it.

BRC: Butterflies figure prominently in this series, especially THE VENUS FIX. What significance does the butterfly have in your life? What made you choose to include butterflies in your work?

MJR: They have no significance in my own life, but rather in the life of my character, Morgan Snow. The Greek name for a butterfly is Psyche, and that same word means the soul. In addition, butterflies are a wonderful metaphor for metamorphosis, which is clearly part of any therapy.

I always look for the reality of my characters' lives --- objects, smells, sounds --- that are meaningful to them. Butterflies, in this series, helped me to create Morgan and bring her to life.

BRC: One theme that is constant throughout your Butterfield Institute novels is the issue of patient confidentiality. What do you think, personally? Is the standard of confidentiality too strict, presently appropriate, or not strict enough?

MJR: Even though I know how tough the standard is, how it can seem unfair and how it often makes life difficult for doctors, I think it is more important that patients are able to trust those in a position to help them. And besides --- if the law got too lax, there would be no books left to write in the Morgan Snow series.

BRC: Access of Internet sex sites by adolescents, such as what is depicted in THE VENUS FIX, seems to be a problem without a solution. Given the nature of the Internet, it is almost impossible to effectively monitor such sites; similarly, it is extremely difficult to restrict an adolescent from accessing them. Based on your research, what solution --- if any --- do you propose?

MJR: In my research, I found that the kids with the most involved parents had the fewest problems. I'm not talking about sitting in the room and not giving them freedom; I'm talking about spending real time with them and discussing what the dangers are out there --- being part of their lives. Some of the most well-adjusted kids had parents who took them online, showed them the sex sites, and let them see what they were talking about.

But if you are talking about actual solutions, I've heard about the potential for creating WWW2 for porn --- a separate part of the web. Don't ask me how it works, but it does sound like a possible solution. It wouldn't impinge on adult freedom of speech, but it would protect our kids.

BRC: You have also written a number of stand-alone works. Do you have any plans for an additional series, separate and apart from the Morgan Snow/Butterfield Institute books?

MJR: Yes, but I think it's bad luck to talk about it this far in advance. I hate to be cagey, but let's just say I have another series starting in September '07 that is very very different from everything I've ever done before. I guess I like seeing how far I can push myself. I'm also very lucky to have an editor and publisher who are all for me trying new things.

BRC: You began writing and publishing novels at a relatively late stage in your life. What prompted your shift in careers?

MJR: Quite honestly, I got bored. I'd reached the top rung on that ladder and wanted to try climbing another one.
 
BRC: Given that you work on a number of different projects --- novels, seminars on marketing, and a blog, among others --- do you find that you have to structure your writing time to include each project? What is your work schedule like?

MJR: Yes, I do need to structure my time. I work on my novels for four to six hours a day, from 1 PM to 5 PM every day, and then sometimes again after dinner. I don't try to write a word before then --- the mornings are for the gym and the marketing stuff. It seems to be working, except I find I'm working on Saturdays and Sundays too often and I don't think that's good for my soul.

I'm trying to make an effort to take a little more time off, and do a little less work outside of writing novels.

BRC: What author, if any, has had the most influence upon your work? And what do you read for pleasure?

MJR: Oh, that is such a hard question. I think I'm influenced by so much of what I read. The first author who'd had an impact on me was Ayn Rand, and my most recent influence is my friend Lisa Tucker, author of the amazing ONCE UPON A DAY.

For pleasure, I real a lot of suspense --- some of the highlights of the last few months were novels by Barry Eisler, Carol O'Connell, Lee Child, P. D. James, Daniel Silva, Jeffery Deaver, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Ruth Rendell, Laura Lippman, and Robert Goddard. 

My favorite book last year was THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.

I also reread classics over and over: Daphne du Maurier, John O'Hara, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and on and on and on.

BRC: What are you working on now and when can readers expect to see it? Also, what can you share with us about it?

MJR: I'm working on the new series I mentioned earlier. The first book will be out a little more than a year from now. And while it's suspense, it also has some historical elements in it. Cryptic, I know. I'm sorry. I'm superstitious about telling too much!

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INTERVIEW

July 8, 2004

Joe Hartlaub, Roberta O'Hara and Wiley Saichek of Bookreporter.com interview M.J. Rose, author of the new "Butterfield Institute" series. Rose discusses the first book, THE HALO EFFECT, which is about Dr. Morgan Snow, a therapist who works at a psychiatric therapy center for the treatment of sexual dysfunction. She explains her fascination with human sexuality and why it is a running theme in her novels, and relates how her initial desire to become a therapist led her to the complex, multi-dimensional fiction that she writes today.

BRC: THE HALO EFFECT is the first title in a series concerning The Butterfield Institute, a psychiatric therapy center for the treatment of sexual dysfunction. Is there a real-world model for the Butterfield Institute? What sparked the idea for the Butterfield Institute series of novels?

MJR: There have been, in the last 50 years, several institutes that have specialized in sex therapy; the one that is best known is the Kinsey Institute. But that's not what sparked the idea. I wrote about the Butterfield Institute in my first novel, LIP SERVICE, and my fascination with it stayed with me.

The idea for this series came to me while I was swimming the day before I was about to sell another very different idea to my publisher, Mira. Somehow in-between lap 3 and lap 4, the idea for Morgan Snow and her story was just there. I called my agent, Loretta Barrett, from the gym, still standing there dripping in my bathing suit, and told her I wanted to kill the other idea and sell a book about Morgan instead. She was as enthusiastic as I was and agreed.

Whatever did they put in the pool that day???

BRC: Is the title of this series a tribute of sorts to BUTTERFIELD 8, the classic John O'Hara novel?

MJR: No. When I was growing up, I lived in NYC and our phone number was Butterfield 8-7399. When I wrote my first novel, LIP SERVICE, which had a lot to do with phone sex, the choice of Butterfield was a personal joke that I figured only my parents and my sister would get. I do love John O'Hara's novels, by the way.

BRC: All of your previous novels were stand-alones. What made you decide to begin writing a series? In your opinion, what special challenges exist for writing a series that are not present when writing stand-alone novels? And vice-versa?

MJR: When I started working on the character of Dr. Morgan Snow, I kept a journal for her and made notes on her patients, in much the way a real-life therapist keeps notes on his or her patients. By the time I had done my research and was ready to start writing, I realized that I'd given Morgan too many patients to include in just one book. But I couldn't bear to just pick one and abandon the others. And so I realized I had just come up with a series.

I've read an insane number of series and knew that I didn't want to do one based only on Morgan forever --- but rather on the place where she works. My biggest influence was Lisa Scottoline --- not in tone, tenor or style as she's much lighter and brighter than me --- but the way she focuses her series on a law firm and how she alternates main characters who all work at the same law firm.

That's why this series is called "A Butterfield Institute Novel" instead of "A Dr. Morgan Snow Novel." In the first three books, Dr. Morgan Snow is the main character and the book is told from her point of view, but as the series goes forward I plan to write additional books from the points of view of other therapists at the Institute.

So far the challenge is not to tell the main character's whole story in the first book, but to keep focused on the fact that she has to evolve and grow from book to book. The other big challenge is not to retell too much of her story when writing book two --- so you don't bore the readers of the series --- but to tell enough so you don't confuse anyone who hasn't read the first in the series.

The best part is that I don't have to say good-bye to characters I've fallen in love with, which is something I've always had to do before. To stay with Morgan and Noah and Dulcie has been really wonderful.

BRC: It's often observed that people who are in the helping professions are themselves in need of healing or help in some way. This seems especially true of Dr. Morgan Snow, whose professional and personal conflicts provided some of the more interesting elements within THE HALO EFFECT. Will we see any of her conflicts resolved in future novels in the series?

MJR: Yes, Morgan has some issues with intimacy. (My research showed me that it is an issue for a fair number of therapists in real life. Also, it's not uncommon to find therapists who have become therapists because they'd rather help others than help themselves.)

As the series goes on, I think Morgan will deal with these issues more and more. She'll resolve some. And then have some setbacks. Or what fun would it be to read about her --- or write about her?

BRC: Was Morgan Snow based on anyone in particular?

MJR: No. But Dr. Nina Butterfield is --- she's a homage to the woman who helps me do the research for all of the Butterfield books, my self appointed godmother, dear friend and a fine therapist herself. In fact, the book is dedicated to her.

BRC: And what about Cleo Thane?

MJR: No. I spend a long time on my main characters, creating scrapbooks for them filled with all the mementos of their life. I give about three months to this process not writing a word, but finding my characters in the details of their histories.

It's really fun and a great way to procrastinate between novels.

BRC: The Diablo Club was one of the most intriguing elements of THE HALO EFFECT. The existence of such clubs has almost taken on the status of urban legend. Do you know whether such clubs exist?

MJR: Absolutely they do, in several different incarnations. The first one I heard about is in New York City, and a friend's husband had been taken there by a client. I even know where it is. He swears, by the way, that he didn't indulge.

Since then I've done more research to make sure the prices in my book were right.

BRC: Did you allow psychiatrists and police officials to read parts of THE HALO EFFECT during your writing process?

MJR: Yes, the therapist mentioned above who the book is dedicated to and a very fine criminal attorney who works in NYC have helped me with all my books. When need be, I also have a great ex-policeman who loves to help. I don't know what I'd do without the three of them.

BRC: Your prior work hasn't fit easily into any particular genre. Even THE HALO EFFECT, which is considered to be a suspense/thriller novel, contains strong elements of erotica and horror. Was there any particular impetus that inspired you to write a novel in the suspense/thriller genre?

MJR: I think THE HALO EFFECT is my first true suspense thriller. Or psychological thriller, which is a term I prefer. The others were put into that category because they fit there better than anywhere else, but I think the suspense elements of the others were very secondary, whereas in HALO it's much more central to the book.

I think all of my work is a response to a problem I have with so much fiction that I read. Too much of the so-called literary fiction that I pick up is too light on plot and bores me. Too much commercial fiction that I read is not as well written as it could be and the characters are too one-dimensional. I've always read a lot and get bored easily. I just try to write the kind of book I love to read: complicated, multi-dimensional, not easy to categorize.

BRC: You've stated that you decided to go back to school in the early 1990s to become a sex therapist, only to find out that this was a subject you really wished to explore in fiction. How soon after this did you begin writing your first novel? Has this story --- and the series --- been percolating for a while?

MJR: I'd already been writing when I decided I wanted to become a therapist. It was, in fact, a response to not being able to get my first two novels published and becoming really depressed and frustrated at the failure.

But what I thought was a desire to get a degree and help people turned out to be a desire to learn about a subject I wanted to write more about in fiction.

What is it like to explore your sexual self? What is it like to be willing to work on your sexual selves? And what is it like for a professional who devotes her life to helping people delve into those deepest recesses of themselves? Those were some of the things that came out of my research and experiences and that I examine in THE HALO EFFECT.

And yes, I think this series must have been simmering for a long time, considering what I was interested in in the '90s. But I didn't know it until I went swimming that day in 2002.

BRC: THE HALO EFFECT includes a preview of THE DELILAH COMPLEX, the next novel in The Butterfield Institute Series. Is the series open-ended at this point? And how far ahead have you plotted out the novels?

MJR: The second book is done and will be out in April 2005. The third is plotted --- only in my mind. I have to start working on it in a few weeks and will be out in January 2006. It's called THE VENUS FIX. And then if all goes well, there will be more.

BRC: Human sexuality is always at least a minor theme in your books. Why? What is it that you find so fascinating about the permutations of sexuality that draw you back to it over and over again?

MJR: William Faulkner said the only things worth writing about are the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself. And more than one critic has said that is what I write about. I'm flattered. But I also agree.

And when the heart is your subject matter, if you are true to your characters, you find yourself dealing with people's psychology and therefore their sexuality.

And so as sex is part of life, it is part of my novels.

Sexuality and sensuality are also better suited to being explored in literature, as opposed to other media, like TV and films. You can write about people touching each other and have the reader feel as if he or she is involved in an intimate way. If there is eroticism and sensuality in my novels, it can be better explored on the page than on the screen.

(Plus, it's all really fun to write about.)

BRC: Do you see yourself as a "woman's writer?"

MJR: No. I really dislike all the categories that the industry tries to inflict on us. I think some of my novels --- IN FIDELITY and SHEET MUSIC --- might appeal more to women. But I know LIP SERVICE and FLESH TONES reached a wide male audience, and I believe THE HALO EFFECT will too.

So far I've had as many male fan letters on the book as female.

BRC: At this time are there any plans to adapt THE HALO EFFECT to film?

MJR: Yes, I'm in discussion as we speak with someone who is very interested in representing it. But it's so tough. There are 17,000 novels written a year and only 400 movies made a year, and not all of those are based on novels. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

BRC: What are you working on now and when can readers expect to see it?

MJR: I'm doing the final edit on book two in the series, THE DELILAH COMPLEX, which will be out in April of 2005. And I'm just about to start writing THE VENUS FIX, the third book in the series, which will be out in January of 2006.

• Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.

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PAST INTERVIEW

June 28, 2002

M. J. Rose's third novel FLESH TONES is centered in the New York art world. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Roberta O'Hara, M. J. shares her thoughts on love, obsession, and the deeper meaning to be found in the reading experience.

BRC: The difference between love and obsession isn't always clear in FLESH TONES. How do you define love? How do you define obsession?

MJR: I think love is a noun that describes a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, or a verb that describes having that feeling.

But I think obsession is a storm that leaves you blind to reality, clouds your judgment and renders you almost helpless.

BRC: Do you think Slade and Genny were genuinely in love?

MJR: Oh yes.

BRC: Slade ends their affair the first time because he learns that Genny is a minor. This is your only real nod to the fact that she was underage and in a relationship that maybe she shouldn't have been in. Do you think she was too young for the relationship?

MJR: I think we currently think of 17-year-olds as much younger than we have ever thought of them before. Throughout history 17-year-olds have been old enough to marry and have children. Even in the 1970s, 17 was much older than it is today. When I was in high school in NYC in the '70s, I knew of several relationships between artists and photographers and young women Genny's age. No one even seemed to notice the age difference --- except perhaps the girl's parents.

BRC: How familiar are you with the New York art scene?

MJR: I was born in New York, and first began my involvement with art when I was six and took painting lessons on Saturday mornings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not a bad place to start out. Fourteen years later I graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I was supposed to be an artist but somehow wound up a writer. I am still an avid student of the arts and spend a lot of time at galleries and museums.

BRC: Do you have a favorite artist? Was there an artist you had in mind when creating Slade Gabriel?

MJR: From Georges de La Tour to Odd Nerdrum to Georgia O'Keefe to Vermeer --- I can't name just one favorite. Art is very important to me and so I'm always looking for and discovering new artists. If I had to give up looking at paintings or writing novels, I'd actually have a hard time making a decision.

And Slade wasn't based on anyone. He really was my own creation.

BRC: What was your inspiration for that intimate scene where Slade uses Genny as his canvas?

MJR: When I sit down to write, after the first three or four minutes of typing, I go into a deeper state of concentration where I'm not really aware of the computer or my hands but, rather, I am literally seeing my novel unfolding like a movie, and I am merely describing what I am seeing. Slade just did that to Genny. And I just wrote down what he did.

BRC: The sex scenes in your books are both erotic and sensual. How do you feel about writing these scenes?

MJR: As a reader first, and an author second, I'm all too aware of how much easier it is to sit down and watch TV or rent a movie than it is to read a book. Television is passive entertainment that requires so little effort on the viewer's part: even if you're watching a wonderful movie --- you're just watching. But as a reader you're required to become more involved and devote more attention --- and if the book is good you're glad to. So I think it's part of my job as an author to make sure the reading experience isn't just more work for my readers, but is more rewarding and offers something you just can't get on a screen.

If there is eroticism and sensuality in my novels it is because it is in our experience as human beings. And, I believe, it's an area of our lives that can be explored in fiction in a deeper and less prurient way than on any TV or movie screen. And it's there because I write what I want to read.

BRC: What is your opinion of assisted suicide?

MJR: I think we should be allowed a kind way to end our own lives, if that is what we choose to do.

BRC: Your first novel, LIP SERVICE, was originally self-published on the web before getting picked up by a NY publisher? Why did you chose to go that route?

MJR: I had a wonderful agent --- my agent still --- who had taken me on, but ultimately couldn't sell my first novel. While she had editors who loved it, they felt the book crossed too many genres (mystery, erotica and psychological thriller) which presented a difficult marketing problem.

At that point, having just left advertising, I felt that by using the Internet, I could market my book and find my audience ,so I self published LIP SERVICE. It did so well, it was picked up by the very same publishing community that had rejected it two years before.

BRC: Do you recommend self-publishing for first-time authors in the present market?

MJR: The present market is much more crowded in 2002 than it was in 1998. For one thing, print on demand has become so affordable that there are over 70,000 self-published books available online now. And I still think getting an agent and being published by a publishing house is preferable --- especially in fiction.

I only recommend going the self-publishing route for fiction if you have tried the traditional route and failed. Don't self-publish because your Mom or your sister like your novel. Make sure you get objective professionals --- agents, editors --- to express interest.

BRC: What authors do you read?

MJR: My list of favorite authors is about as long and varied as my list of favorite books. I read mostly authors who are no longer alive --- I'm less afraid of being influenced by them. But some contemporary authors who I do read include: A.S. Byatt, Salley Vickers, Michael Didbin, Carol O'Connell, Katharine Weber, P.D. James, Philip Roth, Patrick McGrath, Mark Slazman, Margaret George, and Michael Chabon.

And at least one author a month who I discover through the Bookreporter. And I'm not just saying that. This site has introduced me to some wonderful writers.

BRC: What does M. J. stand for?

MJR: The M is for my first name Melisse. The rest is for my Mom, who always believed I'd get published but died the year before it happened. I took her name so she'd be part of all my books.

BRC: What's next for M. J. Rose?

MJR: Literally, I'm about to go walk the pooch - Winka. See: http://www.mjrose.com/contact/index.html

Other than that, I'm currently writing the screenplay for my first novel, LIP SERVICE, which should go into production in the fall of 2003. And I'm working on a new novel.

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PAST INTERVIEW

The Book Report Presents:
MJ ROSE'S EXCLUSIVE BOOK PARTY
Tuesday, May 16 at 10pm ET

For months, the name "MJ Rose" has been on the minds of millions. Her groundbreaking novel, LIP SERVICE was snapped up by the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild after the Internet buzz got too loud to ignore. Two weeks later Pocket Books bought the print rights for LIP SERVICE. It was recently added to Susie Bright's prestigious Best American Erotica 2001 list.And mention of Rose has popped up in the New York Times, Forbes, Time, Newsweek, Wired, Playboy, Esquire, Publishers Weekly and others.

What marathon remained? The race to conquer the e-world. So MJ's seduction continued. She quickly became a columnist for some of the most respected sites on the Internet, her books are now "e-reader ready." Clearly, a celebration was in order.So MJ and nearly 70 of her closest friends gathered at The Book Report (KEYWORD: TBR) to make some noise.

Marlene T: Good evening everyone and welcome to our first cyber book party, celebrating MJ Rose's release of the eBook LIP SERVICE.

Rocket eBooks: Hello I am really looking forward to this.

MJRoseAuthor: Where's the champagne?

Lady Druantia: MJ, right next to the chocolate covered LIP SERVICE books.

MJRoseAuthor: Chocolate covered books... I love it.

CPerona: I just love simonsays for letting us know about great books.

Marlene T: MJ, we're very happy to have you here with us this evening. Congratulations on your eBook!

CPerona: HEAR! HEAR!

Lady Druantia: Congrats MJ. Looking forward to reading it.

LBarBooks: At most New York book parties no one ever talks to the author.Looks like it might be happening here.

MJRoseAuthor: Its great to be here. I never got to have a real book party when LIP SERVICE first came out...so this is it.

Marlene T: Please lift your cyber champagne glasses and clink your mouse.



CKCF: Congrats MJ...

MJRoseAuthor: I'd like to thank you... don't all drink too fast.

Rocket eBooks: From all the Rocket eBooks

MJRoseAuthor: I'd like to introduce you all to one of the people who make LIP SERVICE happen --- my agent is here. Don't all send her IM's with your manuscripts til the chat is over.

GeminiBooksInc: Hey, wait, do I need to get my rocket out of the bedroom to share in the party?

Marketdiva: Hey MJ - you look mahvelous darling.What a charming little event....

MJRoseAuthor: Loretta Barrett --- aka LBarBooks --- take a bow.

.LBarBooks: MANY THANKS MANY THANKS IT HAS BEEN A BALL.

MJRoseAuthor: And I'd also like to thank Carol Fitzgerald of the Book Report for setting this party up.

CKCF: You are too kind....this is OUR pleasure. We have watched your success and are so proud of you.

MJRoseAuthor: So I suppose we should open the party to questions. Especially questions about eBooks.We have eBook specialists here.

KellyMilnerH: Or would be specialists, MJ.Hi ya!!

FassPR: How many people can fit in this room?

Marlene T: Fass, 100.

CPerona: Exactly what is an eBook?

MJRoseAuthor: Lets do the eBook questions first.Rocket?

Rocket eBooks: An eBook is a reading device that lets you read electronic text as easily as you read paper.

CKCF: Remember we are giving away FIFTY copies of MJ's eBook tonight.

JACNEED: Is an eBook the electronic file or the device, Rocket?

GeminiBooksInc:Uh, uh.An eBook is not a device. A book is a book is a book, regardless of packaging.But I still love my rocket eBook reader.

Rocket eBooks: MJ's book is a text that is read on an eBook.

Lady Druantia: How much are the rockets?

Jcampaniolo: $199.

Ebooknetguy: On eBookNet, we're careful to use eBook to mean content, and eBook Reading device when we mean hardware

MJRoseAuthor: Uh oh... we have a semantics issue.

PaulaJ31: Where do you envision the niche will be for eBooks?

MJRoseAuthor: I think that eBooks will practically replace what we now think of as throw away books for one. By that, I mean paperbacks. And the books that you don't necessarily want to own.

LauraVW: Excuse me, but I'm a latecomer and I just wanted to say congratulations to MJ.

Marketdiva: MJ --- I saw you were doing e-signatures on your book --- how does that happen?

FassPR: MJ --- I understand that your book has now come out in 6 different formats!

TheLeav: Hi Melisse, congratulations on your book party!You look smashing! This is Caroline, by the way.

Halobear1: Do you need a special device to read this book?

KellyMilnerH: MJ, Halo's question also fits into FassPR's comment about formats. Do you need an eBook to read LIP SERVICE?

MJRoseAuthor: There are several different ways to read an eBook --- on your computer, or on a rocket eBook reader, or on a palm pilot, or on a softlock book.And soon, Microsoft will be coming out with yet another way.One of the things I'm looking forward to is a simplification of all these formats.

CPerona: Ah, what's a SoftLock?

SLCK Cust Care: SoftLock.com allows people to read the eBook in PDF format on their PC.

JACNEED: CP, SoftLock is a company that offers immediate downloads of MJ's (and other books) directly to your computer.

CKCF: I love my Rocket.I heard a great suggestion from one of our readers...she said she took her teenage son to a movie... and read her Rocket Book while the kids watched the show. Ingenious!!

FassPR: CKCF, why do you love your rocket books so much?

CKCF: I can carry more than one book at once...and I can read when everyone
else is sleeping

KellyMilnerH: Marketdiva had a great question.How do you e-sign an eBook?

A StoryWeaver: Yes, I'd really like to know about e-signing also.

MJRoseAuthor: Ahhh... that was fun.Glassbooks did that and it is now on sale.What happened is I wrote an inscription and FedExed it to them.They scanned it and put it on the first page.So when you open the document its right there.

Ebcjamie1:: How very cool, MJ!

MJRoseAuthor: Yes it is very cool. An electronic autograph.

Ebooknetguy: An advantage of Glassbook's PDF format over HTML -- you can add any graphic you want.

KellyMilnerH: Kat91 wonders about contractual concerns and eBooks...what should an author be careful of?I mean, beyond electronic penmanship?

MJRoseAuthor: Right now, a lot.One of the issues is that there are so very many epublishing companies... big and small.The greatest issue is one of rights.If you go with an electronic publisher and sign away your print rights you might have problems getting a print publisher.Also many print publisher now want electronic rights too.The safest thing to do is to have a termination clause in your contract in case you hit the big time and Simon and Schuster wants to pick you up.

CKCF: Will your eBook also be translated into foreign languages?

FassPR: How is the world going to know about all the eBooks and print on demand books out there? I wonder how many are out there already.Have any stats come out?

KellyMilnerH: Good point, Fass, how WILL the world KNOW about these great eBooks?Is that up to the authors?

MJRoseAuthor: Good point... my biggest frustration now as a writer and as a journalist on this subject is that all the energy is going into finding and signing authors and very few people are figuring out ways to reach readers. This site - THE BOOK REPORT -- is one of the few that goes directly to readers. I hope more people take on this issue, and figure out how to reach readers.

Marketdiva: MJ --- you've probably just hit on a good new business for some smart marketing-types --- promoting new authors.

KellyMilnerH: And CKCF asked about foreign languages?Will LIP SERVICE ever be in French? German?

MJRoseAuthor: LIP SERVICE is going to be published in Germany, the Netherlands, France, England and Australia. And we are talking to Japan.

KellyMilnerH: WrytRyt, great question, will you promote the ebook the same way you've promoted other formats, MJ?

MJRoseAuthor: I think that I am... we're here aren't we?? :)

Gimpnslick: MJ --- ahem...the birthday girl has arrived.

KellyMilnerH: Birthday girl Gimpnslick?MJ, should we sing the BD song?Woohoo, this IS a party.

MJRoseAuthor: Yes... virtual happy birthdays... from us all.

KellyMilnerH: Gemini, did you think was most impressive about MJ?And MJ, what surprised you most about this explosion of yours?

GeminiBooksInc: I think the way MJ has taken control of her own success and made this work is, quite simply, awesome. Readers aren't likely to stumble onto eBooks.It is going to take a Herculean effort to bring this medium to the masses...MJ has started blazing the trail

CKCF: I remember reading the self-published version of LIP SERVICE.MJ tells me it's now worth a lot of money.

MJRoseAuthor: Why thank you... but you know what... it was just that I had no choice.If I didn't do it... it was not going to happen.

PaulaJ31: Is there a concern when dealing with ebooks that there will be technical difficulties such as Steven King's?

CKCF: I think the King problem was the TIME to download...not everyone at office on a T3.

MJRoseAuthor: Very frightening results.

Rocket eBooks: 450,000 copies in such a short time caused a lot of concern for the industry.It was quite a flood.We learned a lot.

KellyMilnerH: Rocket, do you see potential for newer authors like MJ?You must, you signed her.

Rocket eBooks: I think that authors like MJ are great first steps that show what we can do to make reading more and writing more accessible. Someone asked about eBook niches.When an electronic text can be read as easily as a paper text then eBooks can take off.

MJRoseAuthor: Oh the caterer just came with caviar and blinis.

LauraVW: Get out of my way, I've got to get to the caterer!

CKCF: Laura, passing the tray.....

LauraVW: I'm going to keep eating until MJ writes another good novel to get my mind off food and back on sex.

CKCF: MJ, if you could have self-published LIP SERVICE as an eBook first, would you have done it instead of paper?

MJRoseAuthor: I did self publish LIP SERVICE as an ebook first. Back then we called it an electronic download. A whole two years ago next month. And I sold 150 copies the first month. But I got so many requests for print books, I had to have some printed up.

Rocket eBooks: MJ's Books as Rocket Edition means that you can read it like you read a regular book anywhere --- even in a theater with your kids. I regret that I must take off. Congrats and thank all of you welcoming me,

KellyMilnerH: MJ, Fass wondered about the next book.What is it, and will you go the same route?eBook first?

Gimpnslick: MJ's being shy --- her next novel --- IN FIDELITY --- will be out next January...and it's terrific!

CPerona:Do we get any peeps at MJ's next ebook?

MJRoseAuthor: No, and yes. Next book is two books. A novel, IN FIDELITY, and it will be published by Pocket Books in January. At the same time St. Martins Press is publishingHOW TO PUBLISH AND PROMOTE ONLINE and they will release that as an ebook and print book at the same time.

KellyMilnerH: MJ, explain IN FIDELITY. What a great play on words.

MJRoseAuthor: IN FIDELITY is another adventure...a bit erotic and a bit suspenseful.It's about a woman who has to face her past and decide if she can afford to trust her instincts. The heroine is stronger than Julia in LIP SERVICE, and the heroine's husband is a great guy as opposed to Julia's husband who we can all boo.

FassPR:What is your new character's name?

MJRoseAuthor: The main character's name is Jordan Sloan.

JACNEED: Will IN FIDELITY be available to offer immediate download from my website, like I am with LIP SERVICE?

LBarBooks: What is really amazing is that we have had requests all over the world for the ebook as well as for the next novel.Both books are going to be published all over the world in text and online.

Ebooknetguy:MJ, you called it "the big time" to get published by a trade publisher like S&S.Do you see epublishing mainly as a stepping stone to getting published in print?

KellyMilnerH: Ebooknetguy makes a good point, if S&S is the big time, are ebooks stepping stones?

MJRoseAuthor: It can be a great stepping stone... it was for me.But now that the new books will be in e and text at the same time, I see them reaching different audiences and just being another format to make things easier.

KellyMilnerH: lol Gimp just mentioned "phat." What about that Publisher's Weekly and "Phat," MJ? What WAS that?

MJRoseAuthor: "Phat" is a cool word for "hot" or great.

KellyMilnerH: Speaking of Publishers Weekly, how DID you pull that off,MJ?

MJRoseAuthor: I just sent them an invite:)

KellyMilnerH: And POOF They PRINT IT??Like THAT happens everyday.

MJRoseAuthor: Yup... no one was more surprised than me.

KellyMilnerH: Okay, the short list.... Where HAVE you been "seen?"

MJRoseAuthor: Time Magazine,Newsweek...New York Magazine, The New York Times...

FassPR: The Today Show....

MJRoseAuthor: Stop me when you get bored...right, the Today Show, the Wall Street Journal...

CKCF:MJ, you are NOT boring.

Gimpnslick: Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine, Publishers Weekly (I'm never bored).

WHITTIES:Don't forget Forbes!

KellyMilnerH: Today Show Fass?MJ, how did THAT one go?Who "did" you on Today?

MJRoseAuthor: Is that enough?Katie Couric who was totally delightful and calmed me down. I was so nervous I said something stupid about my ex husband on national television.

KellyMilnerH: Eeeek...care to repeat it here?

MJRoseAuthor: Oh sure, this is a party, gossip is allowed right.

CluelessInHawaii: Allowed??It's a requirement!

MJRoseAuthor: She asked me that age-old question about whether or not my main character was based on me. I told her that she wasn't like me but I became like her because after I finished the book I looked at my marriage and realized it was bad and left my ex-husband... so his whole cover with all his friends...who he didn't quite tell that I had left... knew I'd walked.

Boatswain1595402: MJ --- do you think you have to have a strong, and forthright personality such as yours to be a successfully sell yourself promoting author? Or can anyone do it using your methods?

KellyMilnerH: Yowsa!Taking notes...MJ, any regrets about the massive
press?And Boatswain has a great one.Do you have to be MJ...feisty and tenacious...to be a success? Did I sum it up okay Boat?

Boatswain1595402: Yes, thanks much Kelly.

Ebooknetguy: KellyMilnerH's question was exactly what I was about to ask. Do you have to be a ceaseless promoter to succeed?

MJRoseAuthor: Not a regret about the whole thing. I don't know... I think you can be successful two ways.Either you are lucky enough to have a few important people who have read your book and loved it and talk about it and get a word of mouth campaign going... someone like Oprah, say, or else you have to get involved in your own promotion.I would have preferred Oprah... but hey... I'm not going to complain.

LBarBooks: Good night MJ and all

MJRoseAuthor: Goodnight Loretta.

KellyMilnerH: Kat91 wonders about agents and eBooks...are they essential (agents)?

MJRoseAuthor: Yes... I think agents are necessary and wonderful.I've read all my contracts,but I don't understand them.More than that, a good agent knows the people who buy the books...plus a good agent negotiates and talks money and that's no fun for the author to do.It's hard to play hardball that way.... I'd have taken the first offer I got.

KellyMilnerH: Kat91 has a follow up.How hard is it to find an agent VERSED in e-stuff?

MJRoseAuthor: It is getting easier and easier to find an agentversed in royalties because all the publishing companies now want electronic rights.The agents have to know how to handle this.

KellyMilnerH:Laura said something about royalties?

MJRoseAuthor: Hi Laura... I'm a fan of your books... can I tell everyone who you are?

LauraVW: Sure. A fan of yours.

MJRoseAuthor: Laura Van Wormer, a major fiction writer. A celeb in the crowd.

LauraVW:Who else would be asking where the bar is, but a writer?

MJRoseAuthor: We have another celeb too.

KellyMilnerH: Who MJ?Point and stare.

MJRoseAuthor: Leta Nolan Childers who is the author of an ebook that has sold over 16,000 copies which is a first for ebooks. Take a bow Leta.

Bstseller1: Hi ya, MJ.

MJRoseAuthor: And two other pioneers that I recognize. Lisa Schmitt who owns
Gemini an epublishing co.

GeminiBooksInc:wave!!

MJRoseAuthor: And I think that Marilyn Nesbitt who runs Diskus publishing is or was here too.

KellyMilnerH: MJ, do you see yourself as a pioneer?As Laura says, you really have broken new ground.

MJRoseAuthor: Along with a group of others, I think so. But I certainly never thought of it that way.I just had to get my book into the hands of readers.And I did it anyway I could.

LauraVW: MJ, it would have been so easy to give up.But you somehow realized that simply the wrong audience had read it on submission.

MJRoseAuthor: If I gave up I would have had a nervous breakdown. If I couldn't write I didn't want to live. And I couldn't keep writing without an audience.

PaulaJ31: MJ --- what has been the most enjoyable moment while promoting your book?

KellyMilnerH: Laura, you have that right...it WOULD be easy to give up sometimes.But MJ is a wonder.Paula had a great question, MJ.What HAS been the best part of all this?

MJRoseAuthor: The best moment has to be the Today show.That was really amazing. It was one year to the day that I started the web site to self publish the book and got laughed at by everyone on the planet and in the industry.

PaulaJ31: You are an inspiration to those of us writing, writing, writing, writing....Thanks!

GeminiBooksInc: Yeah, and look who's laughing now MJ.

Jackye205: Who would you like to star in the movie version of LIP SERVICE?

KellyMilnerH: Good, Jackye. MJ, who do you see as your LIP SERVICE "stars?"

MJRoseAuthor: Kristen Scott Thomas

Sir Staxx: MJ, how important do you feel self-promotion will be in the next decade? More or less than it is now?

MJRoseAuthor: In the next decade, I think that there will be so many titles unleashed on the public that it's going to be harder than ever for authors to promote books... and it will be more important than ever.WE authors desperately need help in figuring out how to get ourbooks to the reading public. Word of mouth is what sells books.And Oprah of course.But really, we need a way to use collaborative filtering and streaming media and all sorts of innovative goodies to help us promote. Most of all, we need creative ideas and platforms.

KellyMilnerH:Any new promotional fish floating around that head of yours?

MJRoseAuthor: My new idea has to do with the word free, but I'm not telling yet.

Sir Staxx: MJ, what are some areas you recommend keeping in mind during self-promo? What worked and didn't work for you?

KellyMilnerH: MJ, seriously, what's next for you?How do you TOP being MJ?

MJRoseAuthor: You know, right now I don't want to top being me... I finally have a career as a writer... it took me twelve years to get here.I just want to write more books.

KellyMilnerH:And Sir Staxx asked what promo steps worked BEST for you? GA

MJRoseAuthor: Sir Staxx... they would fill a book... indeed... they do. Not to be coy... but that is what my nonfiction book is all about. Out in January.

Jackye205: What book is that?

KellyMilnerH: Sir and Jackye, FYI, that book is HOW TO PUBLISH AND PROMOTE ONLINE coming January from St. Martin's Press.

GeminiBooksInc: MJ, question here. How important to you see off-line advertising to the future of ebooks?

MJRoseAuthor: Off line advertising. You know we should have a serious chat about this.Not party but a business of it all chat. I think we desperately need to educate the public about ebooks.Its amazing when you talk to the general public how confused they are about ebooks.

GeminiBooksInc: Confusion is understandable when even we, as an industry, can't figure out if ebooks are devices or content.

KellyMilnerH: WHITTIES brings up a good one...do you DO book festivals and
writers conferences MJ?

MJRoseAuthor: I've just started.One interesting thing about me and LIP...a lot of people just thought I was all hype and the book was junk.The literary world wasn't interested.Then Susie Bright chose LIP to include in Best American Erotica, putting me with Anne Rice, Marge Piercy, Nickolson Baker and Suddenly people are realizinghey there is a good book here.I need that word of mouth now.

KellyMilnerH: MJ, didn't PLAYBOY review LIP too? Favorably?A lot of big dogs are coming out inyour defense now, great.What did Susie Bright SAY about LIP SERVICE?

MJRoseAuthor: It's so funny, I love Susie... she won't say a word about LIP.She won't give me a quote or anything.

Boatswain1595402:How come?

KellyMilnerH: Yeah, Boatswain wonders WHY NOT?

MJRoseAuthor: She says she has a policy not too.She said her choosing speaks for itself. But she personally told me some great things.

KellyMilnerH: Shhh...we won't tell anyone....whisper...

MJRoseAuthor: Kelly, you are too much.No, I think it makes sense... as an editor I think she has to be careful.

KellyMilnerH:Okay, okay, I'll be good.

LauraVW: That may be a good thing, who knows? Would Susie B. play well in Bronxville or Grosse Point?

MJRoseAuthor: Yes and no Laura...and that's my problem... I need some mainstream readers press. I got so much business press and industry press.But I did just hear Esquire Magazine put LIP on a summer reading list.I'm waiting for more like that.

KellyMilnerH: I'd say Esquire is pretty mainstream.

LauraVW:That will come with the new books, I'm sure.Because, you see, it becomes clearer that you are a good writer.

MJRoseAuthor: Yes and I'm thrilled.

Boatswain1595402: Excellent news about Esquire! You didn't tell me.

MJRoseAuthor: Boatswain... I don't know who you are?

Boatswain1595402:Yes you do. hint: hlk.Or hk. you don't know my middle initial.

MJRoseAuthor: Ahhh... we have a person from the press in our midst.Now I do know HLK.

KellyMilnerH: HK...Hawkeye Keiller?

GeminiBooksInc: Harvey Keitel?

Boatswain1595402: I like that! Hawkeye! Can I have it?

KellyMilnerH: LOL. Boats, I was nice to you.Just remember that when I need a new assignment.

Sir Staxx: The Bad Lieutenant Himself

MJRoseAuthor: Boatswain is a terrific writer.

Boatswain1595402: you are TOO kind. Back to MJ's great books! or is our time up?

KNikas: Are you thinking of doing a serialized novel, MJ?

MJRoseAuthor: Yes I just did a serialized for Mightywords.It's called PRIVATE PLACES.It was fun,but I left the marketing up to them.Has anyone heard about it?

Boatswain1595402: No, what's it about?

GeminiBooksInc: I have...didn't get to read it though. Spend all my reading
time with submissions

MJRoseAuthor: It's about a woman who works for a company like American Express who uses her access to personal files to meet a man and get inside his life and turn it upside down.

Boatswain1595402: Dig that.

MJRoseAuthor: And almost get them both killed.

KellyMilnerH: MJ, has the response been good to the serialized novel?

MJRoseAuthor: It's strange.I thought they would do tons of promo, and as I said I left it up to them... kind of an experiment for me. And I learned a lot from that... no one promotes your book like you do. Except for Oprah... (think I have an Oprah fetish?)

KellyMilnerH: Do you worry you'll be tagged as a porno-eske writer when people call your work "erotic?"

MJRoseAuthor: Yes I worry about the porno thing... the new novel is a bigger book than LIP and should clear up any misconceptions... though all the books have their erotic since I think its part of life.

GeminiBooksInc:Can you put in a good word and get me in there with you when you make Oprah?

KellyMilnerH: LOL Have you seen the new Oprah magazine?

MJRoseAuthor: Have seen it and I think it is...very Oprah. Enough said. Though she has done more to get American women reading than anyone ever.

Kat91: Wouldn't it be cool if Op did a show on ebooks?

KellyMilnerH: Lordy, do you realize the time?An hour and a HALF has flown by and we're still bigger than 20.Woohoo, that's unheard of.MJ, you do draw.

MJRoseAuthor: Is it bigger than usual?

KellyMilnerH: After an hour and a half MJ? Lord yes. You just have that charm.

GeminiBooksInc: MJ, MJ, MJ.

JPriv26467: We are hanging on her words.

KellyMilnerH: You about ready to call it a night, your majesty?

MJRoseAuthor: Ah shucks... you all are making me blush!!! What a party!!!!!! Yes Kelly,queen of hosts... end this madness.

CKCF: YOU deserve it!

Lady Druantia: Congrats again MJ!

Boatswain1595402: Good show!

KSartori: Clap, clap, clap!

KellyMilnerH: MJ, you have been, as always, a delight.

CKCF: A complete cyber and otherwise star...clapping....

MJRoseAuthor: I just loved having you all here. And thanks so much for coming. And claps right back at you.Thanks Carol, Kelly, Marlene and every one of you.I'm touched and flattered you all came. We'll do it again for the next novel.The Book Report Rocks.

Marlene T: Night all.

PAST INTERVIEW

November 19, 1999

M. J. Rose, author of LIP SERVICE, had the unique experience of being a self-published author who broke all records by self-promoting her book online, and then wooing mainstream publishers. Find out the secrets of her success, hear firsthand advice about writing and self-publishing, her thoughts about the Internet and the way it's changing publishing, and the juicy details about her novel, LIP SERVICE. Narrated by a married woman who takes a secret job as a phone-fantasy therapist, LIP SERVICE is a steamy book about relationships, sex, therapy, and self-discovery. Join TBR Writer Jana Sicilano in this revealing and informative interview, skating back and forth over the line of sex and publishing.

TBR: Julia Sterling, the thirty-something wife of a prominent Manhattan psychotherapist is the main character in your novel LIP SERVICE. What is it about Julia that makes her so indicative of the empty life of the upper class in the 90s?

MJR: Julia has bought into the "perks syndrome" of many married women. The clothes, the apartment, the Hampton weekends, the idea of being part of a socially "in" couple. She pays lip service to the idea of being a good wife in exchange for a life style that has all the trimmings but little else. She's a truly good mother so it's not until her stepson goes off to college that she finally confronts the reality of her marriage.

TBR: Do you know anyone like her?

MJR: Unfortunately yes. But I have noticed in the last few years that many of those women are at last facing their empty marriages. Gone is the blatant denial I used to see. Many of the women I know are staying in those marriages --- but with their eyes open. That, at least, is a step forward.

TBR: How did you come up with LIP SERVICE's theme of "phone sex"?

MJR: LIP SERVICE is based on two separate incidents that coalesced in my head. The first took place while I was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I was accidentally patched into another guest's phone call and overheard a conversation between a famous male celebrity and a phone sex operator.

The second event happened about two months later. I was at a dinner party with a husband and wife who had a certain dynamic in their relationship that I found fascinating. He was very strong, charming, and full of bravado about his wife and his accomplishments, while she was reserved and quiet. Every time he talked about how wonderful she was, an uncomfortable expression appeared on her face. Both episodes stayed with me and became part of the foundation for this novel.

TBR: The "phone sex" company where your protagonist is researching her story is called The Butterfield Institute. Is this a direct homage of BUTTERFIELD 8 by John O'Hara, another era's sexually provocative bestseller?

MJR: Yes, I have a few of those homages in the book, some personal, some more obvious like the O'Hara reference. I loved O'Hara and consider him a master of characterization. FROM THE TERRACE is one of my all time twenty favorite books.
(I never have been able to whittle that list down to ten.)

TBR: The Butterfield Institute, at which Julia ends up working, caters to those seeking "phone sex therapy." Do you think that Freudian psychotherapy is a form of sexual storytelling in general --- you sit down with someone you don't know and divulge your fantasies in what you feel is a "safe" place?

MJR: I know Freudian analysis not designed to be sexual storytelling. And a truly experienced, gifted psychiatrist would not allow it to become that. But I know from my research that unfortunately many psychotherapists do allow it to take on that hue. It's a shame. Good therapy is invaluable to our development to becoming integrated, satisfied people.

TBR: What kind of research did you do before writing LIP SERVICE? Have you experienced phone sex first hand?

MJR: I did extensive research with two psychotherapists, a sex therapist, two New York City Police Detectives, a few phone sex operators and a botanist. Then I wrote the novel. When I was done, I decided I needed to double check the whole phone sex experience. One of the phone sex operators I had interviewed asked some of her regular clients if they would talk to me (free of charge) over the phone. A few said yes. So I did do phone sex, but for me it was research, pure and simple.

TBR: What do you think is the main obstacle to communication between the sexes in our lives today?

MJR: I think that men and women have very different erotic triggers and needs. Scientists postulate that through the survival of the fittest theory, men today are an evolution of those men who were the best at procreation. (Monogamy is a fairly new invention in the history of civilization.)

On the other hand, women are an evolution of the females who were the best nurtures. This translates into extremes.

Men are attracted to new and different women. Women are attracted to one man who they are emotionally connected to and see as the father of their children.

This further translates to men who are easily stimulated just by seeing a sexy woman, in person or in magazines or in videos. For women, pictures aren't erotic turn ons as much as stories about men they can imagine being with are.

Our hormones also make the two sexes operate differently.

Add the issues Susan Faludi, Susie Bright and Naomi Wolfe talk about and you have two species that are not sure of what roles they are playing in the mating game. Or any other game.

TBR: Your story about getting published is almost as interesting as your book! After you wrote LIP SERVICE, what steps did you take to publish it? What led you to self-publish? Can you tell us a little bit about this process?

MJR: When my agent submitted LIP SERVICE to the top publishing companies three years ago, all the editors loved the book, but the marketing departments were very nervous because it didn't fit into a particular category. So I sat with the book for a while. During that time, I got increasingly involved on the Internet. I realized that I could test market the novel as a download, and see what kind of response it generated. That initial testing generated such great feedback that I decided to self-publish it and sell it online.

TBR: As a self-published book, LIP SERVICE, received quite a buzz --- what did you do to create this?

MJR: From my advertising background, I knew how books were marketed and why women read certain types of books. I thought that one of the ways to approach those women and give them what they were looking for was on the web, especially because of the privacy factor.

I started with one web site, which was the Erotic Readers Association and I went to all their links, which led me to other links, and the process kept unfolding from there. I made lists of the sites that would be interested in either reviewing the book or having me write an article. In exchange, I would have a tag line at the end of the piece about LIP SERVICE. I also sent out approximately 100 books to various sites.

That's how the incredible word-of-mouth on LIP SERVICE began. Then I started selling the book on Amazon.com, where it became the highest-ranking small-press novel on its list. That's where Doubleday Direct editor, Erika Tsang discovered it. LIP SERVICE was the first self- published novel to become a featured alternate selection. That made the trades and my agent held an auction two weeks later. Since Pocket Books bought it, five other countries including England, France and Germany have bought rights.

TBR: How did you present the book to your publisher now, Pocket Books?

MJR: I didn't, my agent, Loretta Barrett did. Once Publisher's Weekly broke the news that a self-published novel had been bought by the book clubs, she started getting calls.

TBR: In retrospect, now that you have been both self-published and picked up by a major house, what do you think are the benefits and drawbacks to both?

MJR: There aren't any drawbacks to being published by a major house. As far as I'm concerned it's all benefits. Amy Pierpont, my editor, is wonderful to work with and improves my writing. She and Linda Marrow have made me feel like I have a home at Pocket.

The greatest drawback to being a self-published novelist is that you are all alone out there. No editors, no feedback. Plus you can't get your book into bricks and mortar stores where 80% of all books are still sold.

But the biggest problem (whether you are with a big press or self-published) is getting word of mouth. That takes time and is the only thing that sells books. Luckily women have been really liking the book and raving about it.

Give it two more years and I think the Internet, Print on Demand Books, and eBooks will have drastically changed the whole literary environment. The web is the greatest thing that has happened to books, authors and readers since Gutenburg.

TBR: Do you find that people in the publishing world respond differently when faced with a self-published book as opposed to a name brand published novel?

MJR: Self-published were the two dirties words in the book biz when I started all this two years ago. I even wrote an article that's up on my website wondering why independent filmmakers get applauded but self-published authors get laughed at. And boy did I get laughed at. In the article I suggested that what the book world needed was the Sundance Book Festival. And it looks like Microsoft just made that happen with the Frankfurt eBook Festival. Next year they are going to give away 100,000 dollars in prizes. And self-published eBooks are welcome.

I think as there are more and more success stories, self-publishing will become respected. Just last month Barnes and Noble purchased 49% of iUniverse.com. The ramifications of that are enormous. For a one-time fee of $100, self-published authors will be able to publish Print on Demand books through iUniverse.com. They estimate next year they will publish over 10,000 new titles.

You have to know B&N is going to be scouring those titles for discoveries of new authors they can sell in their stores. Bookstores as publishers? All bets are off on what is going to happen to publishing in the next decade.

TBR: What advice would you give to writers regarding self-publishing?

MJR: I get asked that so much that I just wrote a book to answer the question. THE $ECRETS OF OUR SUCCESS by M. J. Rose and Angela Adair-Hoy (publication date: Jan 2000). How to successfully publish and promote on the Web --- with over 500 links! Includes secrets from over 20 successful authors and publishers. You can find out more about it and preview it on my website www.mjrose.com

But a bit of advice would be --- don't give up hope and stay focused. It's hard work...but it can be done.

TBR: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

MJR: Yes, I never wanted to do anything else. And I never have. I started out as a copywriter at an ad agency and I've also written screenplays (I've had four optioned and one stolen).

I used to play a game with myself when I was feeling the most hopeless about my writing. "Okay, maybe this is a dopey career to pursue. I don't have to be a writer...I can be a..."

But I could never come up with anything I wanted to do besides write.

I love to be with people I care about, to shop, to garden, to shop, to cook, to watch movies, to stay at home and listen to music, to go to the beach, to swim, to shop...but as far as filling the day --- I just want to write.

TBR: What's your daily writing routine like? Do you have one?

MJR: When I'm working on a novel I write about seven hours a day. In two to three hour spurts. I start at the crack of dawn and cannot write once it turns dark.

Working from a chapter by chapter outline and a six inch thick folder of notes, I race through the first draft and don't reread a word until I reach the end.

The second draft (my favorite) is a leisurely line by line edit where I question every word. I love noodling and rewriting. I once spent a week on a paragraph and was in heaven.

I've learned more about being a writer from John Gardner's book, THE ART OF FICTION, than from any other person or source and I highly recommend itl

TBR: Can you tell us a little about your next project?

MJR: Well, I just finished a new novel for Pocket Books that will be released sometime in the year 2000. And early next year will be starting on another (I think it's bad luck to talk too much about future books.)

TBR: What are your plans for the millennium? Any exciting celebrations coming up for New Year's?

MJR: I bet my plans are quite unique. I'm going to be spending New Year's Eve with my boyfriend at the hospital. He's getting his brother's kidney for Christmas and we'll be watching the ball drop on TV from the hospital bed while he is recuperating from his kidney transplant operation. God willing!

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AUTHOR TALK

May 2003

For this special Bookreporter.com Author Talk feature, M.J. Rose, author of SHEET MUSIC and FLESH TONES, sat down and answered questions from her readers.

TPC: Has a loved one ever told you "stop acting like one of your characters?"

MJR: Yes. I have been told to stop being putting on a pickle puss like the teenage daughter in my second novel, IN FIDELITY.

Tana B: How do you start writing a book?

MJR: I don't write a word. For at least two or three months, I work on my main character's scrapbook. The very process of collecting her preferred poems, swatches of her favorite colors, and petals from the flowers she grows gives me time to find her.

Tana B: Are you disciplined, like Woody Allen (writing eight hours a day), or like Dick Cavett, who wanted to be disciplined like Woody Allen, but who said he'd drop a pencil, find an old New Yorker magazine and spend the rest of the day reading

MJR: I am disciplined but only because I really love writing so very much and am happiest when I'm lost in the dream that is unfolding on the page. About everything else I am very undisciplined. If only I could be as good about going to the gym as I am about sitting down at the computer. (Sigh.)

TPC: As an adolescent, were you more like Holden Caulfield or Jo March?

MJR: Jo March all the way.

Kat W: In SHEET MUSIC and others of your novels, Mother-Daughter relationships crop up in many of your books. Why is that?

MJR: I wanted to be a psychologist and who we are and how we got that way is endlessly fascinating to me. What my characters go through is not just a result of who they are today, but who their parents were and how that effected them. So much of our development as people has to do with our mothers and fathers. I think looking at all four of my novels there are two that have very strong mother-daughter themes --- SHEET MUSIC and IN FIDELITY. And two that have stronger father- daughter themes --- LIP SERVICE and FLESH TONES. I guess I'm due for a father & son book next.

Kat W: Your books discuss sex frankly and the erotic is never far from the surface in them. Would you talk about this aspect of your writing?

MJR: William Faulkner said the only things worth writing about are the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself. And more than one critic has said that is what I write about. I'm flattered. But I also agree.

And when the heart your subject matter, if you are true to your characters, you find your self dealing with people's psychology and therefore their sexuality. And so as sex is part of life it is part of my novels.

Sexuality and sensuality are also better suited to being explored in as opposed to other media. You can write about people touching each other and have the reader feel as if she o in a more intimate way without an actor's reality interfering.

(Plus, it's really fun to write about.)

Pumpernickel: Have any of your characters ever "disagreed" with you during the process of your writing?

MJR: Yes. And not only was it disconcerting, it was scary as hell. It was in a book that has never been published... and a character murdered a child. I was horrified. That came out of my mind? I didn't write for a week. In fact I went to a therapist to find out what was wrong with me that a fictitious person, I invented, turned on me and did something so despicable.

The therapist actually laughed and said: "Congratulations, you are a writer. Go home and write."

Lauren BL: Readers, including acquaintances of the author, occasionally confuse the actions and desires of the heroine to be those of the author herself. Have you ever run into any problems with this?

MJR: All the time. The most absurd was when my first novel was published, a friend of mine who went to college with me called me to tell me how angry she was at me because I never told her that I had a nervous breakdown in college. She said she couldn't believe she'd known me the whole time and never had noticed or known about.

"That's because I never had a nervous breakdown in college."

"But your main character had a nervous breakdown in college!"

Pumpernickel: Have you ever sort of taken it out on someone you do not like by transforming him or her more or less into a nasty character in any of your books?

MJR: I admit that I have done that. More than once. And its so satisfying, I'm sure I'll do it again. I also have done the opposite. In SHEET MUSIC, I transformed someone who I adore into one of the characters of the book. But I'll never say who's who.

TPC: If you rented a summer home on an island on which you were the only inhabitant, would it be worse to discover that there were only Henry James books on the shelves or Jerry Lewis movies by the TV?

MJR: Far worse to find there were only Jerry Lewis movies.

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