Author Interview: M.L. White

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Friday Night Writes! As always, our goal is to shine a spotlight on members of the book community and introduce readers to awesome authors, narrators, event hosts, influencers, and more.

This week, we'd like to introduce our featured guest, author M.L. White. Sam will be leading the interview.

Thanks for joining us this week! Why don't we start by letting you introduce yourself?

I’m just a nineties girl who loves to write. I’m from a small town in Indiana, and I have a wonderful family and two fur babies. I grew up on a farm, riding horses and driving tractors, and I love the whole country lifestyle. I currently live in town and absolutely hate it, but one day I’ll get back to living in the country. In the meantime, I’ll just dive into whatever story I’m currently reading and enjoy that world for a bit.

Glad to have you here with us. You know, we're practically neighbors since our states share a border. I imagine the two of us will have some things in common. Why don't you tell our readers about some of your favorite things?

One of my favorite things is gaming. If I’m not writing, I’m usually gaming. I love playing on my PS5. Call of Duty, Split Fiction, and the Uncharted series are a few of my favorites. I actually named my kids after my favorite video game characters, so if that doesn’t tell you how much I love video games, I don’t know what will.

Nice, we're gamers in this household, too. I really need to upgrade my PlayStation. We have a PS4 around here, but the PS5 has some awesome games. Outside of writing and playing video games, is there anything you're truly passionate about?

Honestly, I give all my time to my family. I have two boys on the spectrum that need extra help, and I want to give them a happy childhood, so when I’m not writing or working, I’m with them. We travel to new locations, hit up the traditional kid activities like the zoo or the park, and take them to unique interactive places like the Children’s Museum. Like I put in my bio in all my books, they are my whole world and I love spending time with them.

I love to hear that. Family really is everything. So, obviously you're a writer. Did you always want to be an author?

No, not always. I’ve been writing and creating stories since I was twelve. Writing was a very private thing for me as a kid. I was too embarrassed to show anyone my work, and it was just something I did for me because I thought it was fun.

Oh, okay. What did you originally want to do when you grew up?

I actually always wanted to be a vet. I love animals and grew up on a farm, so I just wanted to be useful and help out.

That makes sense. It's what you knew, and animals are great. When did you realize you wanted to be an author?

For the last few years, I’ve been seriously pursuing writing as a career. Writing and creating stories was always just something I did for fun, but when I came up with the idea for Shifter, I realized I wanted to share that book with others. Once I started, I knew this was the career path for me.

Some stories really do change everything when they call to us. How cool! I know you said your family keeps you pretty busy, but do you have any hobbies outside of writing? Do you characters share them with you?

Bastian and his brothers enjoy camping and overlanding, which is my husband's hobby. I like to draw, which is something I gave to Emersyn. I add tidbits of my life into all the books, but life is so crazy that I don’t really have hobbies right now.

Honestly, me neither. Who has time for fun these days? Anyway, let's talk about your author career for a little bit. You said you started writing when you were young?

The first book I ever wrote was a superhero book, actually, and I began writing book two in high school before life got in the way and I had to put it aside. I still have that first book, and one day I’m going to rework it and publish it, just because it was the one to start it all.

That's awesome. The first thing I ever wrote will never see the light of day. LOL So, your first one was a superhero book, but what genres do you write in now?

I write fantasy romance, or romantasy, as I like to call it.

Nice! That's a pretty popular genre. Are you independently or traditionally published?

I’m independently published, and there are many reasons I chose this route. The biggest reason was that querying was depressing.

Oh, absolutely. Rejection letters sting, and so does being ghosted.

I know others will agree about how hard it is to even get a partial request, but it was killing my joy for writing. The exhaustion I felt just trying to get noticed, all the time I spent sending letters out only to receive form rejections... it sucked after a while. I didn’t want to give up my dream, though, so I decided to strike out on my own. Not to say I would never try traditional publishing, but I’ll let that happen on its own. I’m doing very well as an indie author, and I’m happy where I am.

Indie author life gives us a lot of freedom to pursue our goals that traditional publishing might not. I feel you there. What do you enjoy most about being an author?

The best thing about being an author is writing the stories! I love to write. Not only is it an escape for me, but it’s a chance for me to be creative and share all my ideas with the world. It’s a chance for me to push past my own shy nature and meet others who love to write as well.

Absolutely. We love the writing community around here. It makes the journey worthwhile. What do you like least about being an author?

I’m sure everyone says this, but I hate marketing. I’m just not good on camera at all, and finding the time to create posts can be difficult. It gets in the way of writing sometimes, but if I don’t make them, my book can get lost in the shuffle. Marketing is just a taxing thing for authors to do, and I can’t stand it. LOL

No kidding. It's a whole job on its own, and then to add writing on top? Oof. How do you handle the author/life balance?

I don’t. It’s chaos… Just kidding. It’s difficult but manageable to find the balance between regular life and author life. My family needs me during the day, so I find myself writing more often at night than any other time.

I post on my socials in the morning while I drink coffee, go about my day, and I work on marketing or book reviewing in between jobs in the evening. Once everyone goes to bed, then I write. I try to only juggle so much in a day and the rest gets pushed off to another day. I get what I can done and I don’t worry about the rest.

I find it helps when I can manage the chaos and make things a little bit predictable. Do you have any writing routines?

I listen to a playlist while I write. Many give me looks when I tell them this, but I can write and listen to music at the same time. It helps put me in the zone, and I feel like I’m able to dive further into the story then.

I really wish I could do that! It would help so much. I'm curious, what do you do to mentally recharge with all the chaos?

Breaks are important. When I’m under certain deadlines, it can be really easy to get burnt out. If that happens, then I just take a break and dive into reading again. I level out quickly that way.

Yes, reading is a great escape. I do that, too. What do you do when you encounter writer's block?

I bounce between books, actually. Usually just bouncing between the books I’m working on helps me stay in that creative bubble. I’m always writing more than one story at once, so when I start to feel fatigue or burn out, I jump to the other story for a while. It works well if I’m not on any deadlines.

That makes sense. How many things are you working on right now?

If you count the unpublished books in the Shifter and Realm series, I have six different series I’m working on, all in various stages of development.

I’m currently working on an Assassin series, which will be like Pirates of the Caribbean meets Assassin’s Creed. Then I have a zombie WIP that’s a cross between World War Z and Divergent. I have a romantasy mermaid story I’ve been working on off and on as well that is inspired by Ludo’s song, "Lake Pontchartrain," and finally a sort of an apocalyptic book based loosely on an idea of a world where people inherit tattoos that tells them who to marry or what their life should be, and when a tattoo appears on our MC that shows his future bride is about to die, he decides to try and find her to save her before the tattoo's message comes true.

I love that! It sounds pretty intense. Okay, those are your WIPs. Why don't you tell us a little about the books you've already published?

Currently, I have five books published in two series: my Nightlocke series and my Shifter series.

My Shifter series has books one through four already published, with seven more on the way. It’s my largest series so far, but it’s my favorite one, too. I love writing all things Shifter related, so it’s the story I tend to get the most ideas for. Fated mates, damsel in distress vibes, action and intrigue… Shifter is my romance series full of lovable characters that keep you on your toes.

Your shifter series sounds great! What about the other series?

Realm of Darkness, book one in my Nightlocke series, is my darker Beauty & the Beast-inspired story. It’s a shorter book for those who don’t like large overwhelming stories, and it’s full of shadow monsters and… ***drumroll*** .... dragons! This is my enemies-to-lovers story with slightly darker themes written in. Book two will be making its debut here soon, too.

That's awesome! I'm sure readers are going to love it. Where do you get your ideas?

Every story idea comes from a specific song. I have a playlist for every book I write, so that’s where I get the most inspiration from, and I always add a little bit of me or my family into my books. You’ll notice it more in the Shifter series, though. I’ve named many characters after my nieces and nephews, too, and I’ve put little things in that are special to my husband and I, like the silly way we still make pinky promises or the way we say "jinx" when we say something at the same time. I sprinkle bits of us in each and every book.

You guys are too cute. You said you have two separate series published right now. Do you prefer to write series or standalones, then?

I like them both, but I prefer to go to series more often. If I love the characters, then I don’t like leaving them after just one book. It’s hard for me to let go.

I totally get that. It's like they're real people. Do you have a favorite and least favorite character?

Most would assume Patrick from the Shifter Series would be my least favorite, but he’s actually not. There are reasons why he isn’t at the very bottom of the list, but it would spoil too much for those who haven’t read the series.

I'd say my least favorite character would have to be Calvin from the Shifter series. He’s the worst of the worst, in my opinion.

My favorite would have to be the Fenrir triplets from Shifter. Bastian, Elijah, and Cade are so dear to my heart. They are the most enjoyable characters to write about. I just love them.

I can tell the Shifter series really does have your heart. :) Which is your most popular book to date?

Definitely Shifter Awakened. It’s the start of my biggest series, so everyone is drawn to that one currently. Plus, the new covers are just amazing.

I've seen them! They're great. Very genre-fitting. You've being doing this for a little while now. Do you have any advice for authors who are just getting started?

I have so much advice I could give to avoid pitfalls or problems when becoming an indie author, but one piece of advice that was given to me by another author is that reviews are for readers.

You are going to meet people from all different backgrounds, likes, dislikes, and opinions. When you get a negative review, just shake it off. Very popular authors and books have negative reviews, too. Don’t take it personally. Just because one person doesn’t like it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great story or that you won’t find readers who love it, too. It’s their opinion, and that’s it. Leave the reviews alone and move on.

But I do have an entire page full of resources and helpful tips for writers on my website. I make mention of little things that could cause a whole mess of problems for those just starting out. I had many friends in the writing community that helped me when I first started, so I wanted to give back to others and pass that information along.

Check out M.L. White's resources for authors here!

See, this is exactly why the community we build is so important! Gatekeeping is for bullies. Okay, we've talked about who you are and about your writing journey so far. Let's move on to some fun stuff! We love to ask Evie's favorite question. What's your favorite dinosaur?

Umm… let’s see. Probably, a Velociraptor or Brachiosaurus.

Totally valid options. :) How many shoes do you own?

Too many to count. LOL

We hear that a lot! Haha Are you a clean or a messy person?

I’m a clean person. I don’t like clutter or mountains of mess. Plus, I hate feeling crumbs on my hardwood floor with my bare feet, so I like the house to be clean.

Yes! Those things drive me crazy, too! Do you collect anything besides books?

Coffee mugs, especially ones from Disney. Lately, I’ve been switching to tumblers and the fancy glasses to carry water around during the day, but usually I drift toward mugs.

I think we have an entire kitchen cabinet of mugs, too. LOL It's almost spooky season. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

I believe in the Doctor, but that’s it. And if you get that reference, we can be friends.

We get to stay friends, then. LOL I'm a David Tenant fan, myself. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Probably not fish fingers and custard...

I love anything coffee flavored. That tends to be what I lean toward more because it’s not too sweet.

Some sweet things can really be overwhelming. You write shifters; if you could be a shifter, what would your alternate form be?

I love this question. Definitely a wolf, but I’d be a mixer like my FMC, Shanely --- dual wolf and grizzly.

Oh, that sounds wicked! What are you interested in that most people aren't?

I like certain anime shows. I used to watch One Piece as a kid, and Code Lyoko was an all-time favorite. Most don’t recognize those shows, though. The live action One Piece on Netflix is amazing, too. They’re doing an awesome job with it.

My husband likes anime. I watch a few shows myself. :) Hmm, what's something about being an adult you thought would be awesome when you were a kid, but it actually kinda stinks?

All of it…

LOL I'm right there with you. What's a food you've never eaten but would love to try?

Raw sushi. I love sushi, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know how I’d like to eat raw fish. It always looks so delicious!

Okay, last one: What would you use to survive the zombie apocalypse?

I’ll survive the zombie apocalypse because of my husband, Daniel, and my 115 pound Mountain dog, Behr. With my brute of a dog and my husband’s insanely built truck, nothing will be getting to us. Daniel is prepared for most situations as it is. The zombie apocalypse will be nothing he can’t handle.

Sounds like you've got a great partner. :) Let's wrap things up! Where can our readers find you online?

You can find me in multiple places. I’m on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, my own website, and multiple social media sites. Here's the links to those. My handle for all my socials is @author_mlwhite.

• M. L. White's Website

• Amazon

• Barnes & Noble

• Twitter (X)

• Threads

• Instagram

• TikTok

Sweet! Do you have any planned events where readers can come meet you?

I have two events scheduled for the rest of the year. One will be at Fables Bookstore in Goshen, IN and the other will be the Enchanted Kingdom Fantasy Faire & Ball in South Bend, IN. I wish there were more, as the events I’ve gone to this year have been incredible! I have links to each place on my website.

Sounds great. And I heard you're offering something special for our readers?

I would like to offer a Special Book Box Giveaway with a signed copy of Realm of Darkness and other bookish goodies to a lucky reader who visits my website and signs up for my newsletter on August 29th!

The prize is only available to those in the U.S. due to shipping, sadly. Once the winner has been chosen, I’ll send an email within the week to confirm the details, and then the box will be on its way to the winner soon after!

That's very generous! I want to thank you one more time for joining us this week. It's been lovely to chat with you!

To all of our readers, thanks for spending some time with our guest author this week! We hope you've enjoyed this interview! In the meantime, be sure to follow M.L. White on her social media platforms so you can keep up to date with her journey. Building a better, stronger community is what Friday Night Writes is all about!

Be sure to join us next week when we talk to author Robert Collins, too!

See you soon!

The Friday Night Writes Crew

Evie Black & Samantha Moran

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