I am super excited for today’s interview because my next guest is the fabulous Maz Maddox who’s here to talk about her writing, her influences and DINOSAURS! Can you tell I’m excited?
So let’s get started! Welcome Maz…
First things first, please introduce yourself!
Where to begin!
I guess we’ll start with the standard bits: Hi, my name is Maz and I’m addicted to Stucky, Ineffable husbands, m/m romance novels and dinosaurs. It will be shocking to no one that I’m also an m/m romance author! I love to write fun, action packed romances with boys falling in love. My speciality is shifter romances, but I plan on branching out into other fun paranormal goodness in the future.
I have two cats named Winx and Jinx, recently moved far, far north after being in Texas my whole life, and am a happily married pansexual mess. Glad to be here!
Tell us a little bit about your writing style.
I try to make my stories like a fun action movie dipped in humor with romance cream filling (haha, yeah I giggled too). I grew up loving action movies and 90s cartoons, and fell deeply in love with the genre by reading Charlie Cochet, Jex Lane and Abigail Roux.
My goal is to be as charming as Charlie, with worlds as rich as Jex’s, funny as Alice Winters (I am aware that’s impossible but I’m going to try damnit) and as gripping and exciting as Roux or Tal Baurer. I want readers to not just enjoy a fantastic love story but to escape into the worlds I create. I love world building and developing lore, cultures and more with my series.
Describe your books in only three words.
Wild, fun, exciting.
What’s your next book about and when is it coming out?
My next book coming out is actually the first book in a brand new series. This one is a little different than my previous Stallion Ridge series, as it’s modern day and set on earth.
Best part?
They’re dinosaur shifters!!
Smash & Grab is the first book in the new RELIC series, and is about a nerdy paleontologist who gets caught up in a cartel fossil theft attempt. A very cocky punk rock knight in spiky armor saves him and they have to escape the bad ass cartel gunmen chasing them.
This book is fun as hell and I had a blast writing it. It also tackles a very real subject close to my heart, which is illegal fossil smuggling and black market dealings. Each one of the RELIC team has their own story of love and taking down some shady fossil business.
And of course, each guy is a different dinosaur. 😉
It’s set to release in July 2020, so stay tuned!!
Out of all your books, which one are you most proud of?
Oh, lord. That’s a tough question.
I guess realistically it would be my first novel, Heartache & Hoofbeats, even though I know I’ve changed a lot in my style and voice since it was published. If it wasn’t for that first release, I probably wouldn’t have started down the path of being an author.
Personally though, I’m very proud of book #5 of my Stallion Ridge series, titled Runes, Ruin & Redemption because it was my first attempt at writing a poly relationship. I also have a character in the story that is three people in one body (they are Chimera, so they have three heads in their shifted form) and that character was so unique and fun. I really loved how they turned out, and I love Elliot, Lucas and Seb’s relationship so much.
What or who (or both) has influenced you most as a writer?
I touched on this a bit in a previous question, but it’s a healthy mix of authors who really influenced who I wanted to be as an author: Charlie Cochet, Jex Lane, Alice Winters, Abigail Roux and Tal Baurer. I also really love the world building Patrick Rothfuss has done and adore his characters to death.
What inspired you to start writing?
I am truly lucky to have an amazing group of people in my life.
My husband was the one that really gave me my final push. I was standing in the kitchen telling him that I kind of wanted to start writing with publishing in mind and thought it was silly. He shrugged and said, “It’s not silly. I think you should try it.”
Had he blown the question off, or not been supportive, I probably would have let it fizzle. But I didn’t. And here I am. <3
What’s your writing process like? Do you have a typical “writing day”?
So, here’s the thing. I’m actually answering this questionnaire instead of writing because I am not reliable about being consistent. I love writing, love telling stories and dreaming up new, wonderful adventures, but Jebus I am a flighty bitch.
Normally my writing routine is morning or afternoon when I should actually be doing my day job stuff (SSSH. Don’t be a snitch), but sometimes it gets shoved to the evening. And sometimes those evenings get overtaken by cooking and screaming at my cats.
My process is get words in when I can, celebrate the victories, don’t beat myself up when life gets in the way, and whine to my alpha reader/editor when I get stuck. Add a pinch of daydreaming, talking to myself, and a heap of coffee and you get my normal writing day.
What comes first for you – the plot or the characters?
Yes.
Sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s the other. I have a whole shelter of amazing characters without plots who need forever homes, and a dusty storyboard of plots without people in them. Every once in and while, I can place one with the other and they make a lovely story together, but sometimes they just sit in separate areas in my brain and MOCK ME.
What’s a book that you wish you’d written?
Jex Lane’s Beautiful Monster series is so good, so rich with lore and the characters are epic. I have yet to recommend the book to someone and they not love it to pieces.
If you could only write one trope for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Enemies to lovers is always, always so fucking good, dude. The build up, the sass, the hate-to-love-you-but-yet-KISS-ME thing…it’s perfect. I love it forever.
What would be your three desert island books?
How to be a Normal Person by TJ Klune, Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux, Captive by Jex Lane.
If one of your books could be made into a movie/TV series, which would you choose and who would you cast?
Heartache & Hoofbeats for sure and…I have no idea about cast. I’m shit with stuff like that. I’d make my editor pick lol!!
What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Do you have a secret passion or hobby that we don’t know about?
I’m really into science and paleontology, so I’m usually reading up on that. I’m also kinda into making cool, super punky jackets with studs, patches, pins and maybe paint. We’ll see how it goes.
Finally, what’s your favourite dinosaur?
DinosaurS — I have multiple favorites:
- Allosaurus (true king of the Jurassic)
- Carnotaurus (horns, little arms, smoosh face)
- Regaliceratops (dazzling crest, kick ass nickname — Hell Boy)
- Borealopelta (mummified, Candian nodosaur!)
- Yutyrannus (fuzzy tyrannosaur with preserved feather impressions)
- Brachiosaurus (childhood favorite and big boi.)
- Pachyrhinosaurus (cutey McCutey face)
MAZ MADDOX is the odd lovechild between a unicorn, dinosaur and vampire. The outcome is a human-like figure who inherited aspects of all three. She is a champion of logic and science, adores beauty and whimsy, and has a slight streak of darkness that dances the line of genius and insanity.
Residing in the frozen tundra of the north, Maz spends her time with her two cats and a husband who she adores, and is constantly demanding that science gives her a pocket sized triceratops. The efforts of these demands have yet to be fulfilled.
When she’s not pining over the lack of chihuahua sized ornithischia, she’s a writer who loves crafting adventures tales sprinkled with humor, a hefty helping of romance, and topped with a happy ending.
You can find her on BookBub, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and her website. You can also join her Facebook Group, Maddox’s Saloon.
