New Author Spotlight anf giveaway: Melissa Phillips

Posted January 25, 2015 by Laura in Spotlight / 3 Comments

melissa phillips

 

The Author

Melissa Phillips was born and raised in Rockford,IL. She lives with her wonderful husband of 10 years and her 2 awesome kids. If she doesn’t have her kindle in front of her, it’s because she’s writing. She is especially interested in a variety of romance novels.
Melissa has enjoyed writing short stories since she was young. Although she had always loved reading, she became an avid reader in her early thirties. At the age of 33, she finally picked that pen back up and started writing again.

 

Interview with Melissa

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

-Something about me: I’m 34 years old. I was born and raised in Rockford,IL. I’ve been married to my husband, David, for 12 years. We have 2 children together: Michael (14) and Sierra (8). We have also opened our home to our 2 nephews and 1 niece of whom we’ve had for the last 5 years.

List five adjectives to describe yourself.

-5 adjectives: sarcastic, funny (I can turn anything into a joke), helpful, I’m a hermit (rather stay home than go out with the friends) and I’m an extreme worrier. (I worry about everything. I even worry about worrying) LOL.

Name one funny trait you have, that you would like others to know.

-Funny trait: I love acting like a kid and I’m known for my pranks.

What made you want to become a writer?

I loved reading as a child and young teenager. I not only loved reading, but I loved writing my own stories as a child. When I was 15, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I had a brain malformation that was growing and started having seizures out of no where. I had brain surgery 6 months later and I lost a large amount of my speech and writing skills. As you may see in my writing, I don’t have a large amount of language skills. I gave up on my hobby of reading and never thought about trying to write. After over 15 years, I kept hearing everyone talk about 50 shades of Grey and I decided to try it out. I was hooked and realized I could do it again. It felt amazing to be able to read again and escape from reality. After a year of just writing, I decided to get the pen and paper back out and try out some of my writing skills. I’ve had a blast with it!

Do you have a day job as well?

Yes! I work full-time as a baker at a local grocery store. I’m the one who gets up early and bakes the fresh bread and donuts. I’m home early to spend my afternoons and evening with my kids and plenty of time to write and read.

Name 2 things you consider yourself to be very good at.

I’m a great cook and a “cool mom”

Name 2 things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

I’m a terrible dancer and not a very good housekeeper…. (but.. Hey, I’m honest).

When people look at me, they would never guess that I:When people look at me, they would never guess that I have epilepsy and at one time had a very hard time speaking. Now-a-days I talk too much. Another shocking thing about me is that I write romance novels with explicit language, but my Mom is a Pastor. She is also the first person to ever read my books. She is very honest and kind of covers her ears as she reads the naughty parts.

Tell us about your book.

Anna Thompson is a sweet and innocent young woman. She works for a teen center for underprivileged kids. She spends her time caring for these kids… until one day Cayden Williams enters into her life. He is gorgeous with a perfected body. He is a personal trainer who specializes in training professional boxers. He’s known for his skills in the ring. He’s also known for being one of the hottest and naughtiest bachelors in town.

Anna wants nothing to do with a man like Cayden. She knows he is nothing but Trouble! Cayden isn’t one to settle down to one woman, but when he meets Anna, all of his rules suddenly change. She is his new competition. A prize that his is determined to win. With his confident ways, Anna had no choice but to follow.

Anna is used to being the boring, plain girl that nobody seemed to bother for a date. Why would a man like Cayden, that could have any woman out there, want a woman like her? Was it all a cruel joke that he was playing or were there true feelings?

 

Where do you get your ideas?

A few of my ideas came from experiences in life. I’ve always been the plain Jane girl, that no one ever seemed to notice. I also spent a lot of time as a young adult/ older teenager working with underprivileged kids. My own children have been involved in some of the youth programs in town. As far as everything else is mainly from “dreams”. I’ve always been interested in the “fighting world” and the many gorgeous men involved in it.

Are experiences in the book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

I actually have a muse for my male character, Cayden, and I’ve spoken with him on face book but he said he’s unable to give me photos of him, but willing to help promote my book. Not sure if you’ve ever seen the Real World TV show on MTV, but last season they had a season named “Real World Ex-plosions”. One of the exes that came on was named Brian Williams Jr. He is a personal trainer and body builder. (May I add he is super hot.) He is the man that I pictured the whole time I was writing.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Growing up, as I said, I loved reading. My favorite series was the baby-sitters club. I think I owned every last book and I would read them over and over. Obviously those books didn’t really inspire me, but they inspired me to keep on reading. I loved the fact that the books were realistic.

Now-a-days I’m mainly interested in romance. My favorite series is Thoughtless by SC Stephens. (Awesome series…I love Kellan Kyle).

I love Disney movies so If you can be a Disney character, who would you be and why?

– As far as Disney characters… I have to say that I mentioned “Beauty and the Beast” in my book. Anna (Annabelle- which Cayden called her) is Belle the beauty and Cayden is “a beast”.

 

Author Links

 

Goodreads Amazon Author Page Facebook

excerpt

Here are a few excerpts from Trained to Damage.

ANNA’S POV:

   My eyes traveled from his chest to his large shoulders. He had a thick, black tattoo that traveled up his thick arm and under his tight-fit shirt. He had one hand reaching to the upper corner of the door frame, the other hand held a bottle of water that he was tossing back. When my eyes finally met his face, I noticed one of his eye brows was furrowed up as he noticed me taking him in. His startling blue eyes captured mine as they pierced right through me. He had to have been standing a few inches over six feet and pure muscle. His dark brown hair was gelled in a messy look that fit his face perfectly. His jaw line was covered lightly with a 5 o’clock shadow, yet trimmed neatly.

CAYDEN POV:

   –I scanned the crowd. Immediately, I found the big brown eyes that I just met minutes ago. Eyes that I will never forget. Eyes that spoke more than her words did. She was an angel. A body like a goddess. Tits and ass portioned just perfectly. Lips that naturally rounded to a pout and screamed my name. The way she looked at me when she had first turned towards me, her bottom lip was caught between her teeth as she took my body in. A body that I worked my ass off everyday and that I used every night

 

 CAYDEN’S POV:

    –I didn’t want all that mushy crap. I just wanted quick, no strings attached sex. However, Annabelle… I couldn’t do that to a girl like her. She was looking for a man that would love her. And well, I couldn’t give her that. So why the fuck was I sitting here, screwing with my head over this woman that wasn’t even meant for me.

 

ANNA’S POV:

   -Once we were completely in the room, he turned towards me, placing his hand on my arm. “Who’s the guy, Annabelle?” My name rolled off his tongue. I gave him a confused looked. “Who is he? Your boyfriend?”

   “Are you serious?” I snatched my arm from his hand and he pulled me back to him. Pulling my waist against him. His cold belt buckle tight against my bare abdomen.

   “Actually, I’m very serious.” He replied. His thick, calloused fingers pulled my chin up until my eyes met his. My breath caught from his stern voice.

Giveaway

 

For the chance to win one of two $5 Amazon gift cards go to Facebook and check out Melissa’s Author page. Show her some love. Tell Melissa what you thought about her excerts here.

About Laura

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3 responses to “New Author Spotlight anf giveaway: Melissa Phillips

  1. Renee

    Her book looks really great I love a good fighter book I went to show her some love but had to friend request her first so can’t post to try to enter for the gift cards till she accepts my fried request Thanks for spotlighting her I love discovering new authors

  2. Cheryl Hastings

    This looks great! I usually don’t read books with fighters, the just aren’t my thing, but I definitely am intrigued by this one 🙂

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