So pleased to be part of the Blog Tour for Guilty Pleasures today. I reviewed the newest release from Ms Cardiga a few weeks ago and today she was kind enough to do an interview.
About
the Book
Tell
us a bit about your novel.
Briefly:
a red-hot narcissistic compulsively healthy-living control freak -
Lance Packhard - who happens to be a bankrupt sex-therapist
(writing a book called “Sensual Secrets of a Sexual Surrogate”) gets hired to
impregnate a woman who just loves food. Millie Deafly. She’s not
interested in men, let alone someone like our hero. So in order to get close to
her, he gets himself hired as an assistant to the Chef at Guilty Pleasures - a
dinner club belonging to our heroine - and her partner, Serge. Serge used to be
a prostitute in Istanbul, a fluffer in skin-flicks in Vegas and is
now a Master Chef in London. He’s also a homosexual black dwarf with major
personality/sensitivity issues. Every night a new set of crazy guests come to
the Guilty Pleasures to pig out, and poor Lance (as his alter-ego, a geeky but
sexy Will) finds himself sucked in to a riotous world of eccentricity and
sensuality quite unlike anything he’s ever experienced. He suddenly finds
himself falling madly in love with his “subject”… and about to be outed as an
impostor! If you want to know how it ends, read the book! (It’s really funny)
Every chapter opens with “advice” from Lance’s how-not-to book, and closes with
excerpts from Millie’s diary. I had an obscene amount of fun writing this book.
I hope my readers enjoy reading it.
What
gave you the idea for Guilty Pleasures? How long did it take
you to write?
One night
we had a Girl’s Only dinner at a friend’s place. We had something Mexican I’d
made, I believe; and lots of wine. Lots. Lovely red wine, which led
to confession time; so these wonderful, bright, successful, stunningly beautiful
women started talking about their sex lives. And they weren’t getting any
“Satisfaction” as Mick might say. So I got home and suddenly Lance showed up
and says: “Hello! I’m Lance Packhard, Pubic Detective Extraordinaire!
Looking for a lost Orgasm? Call me! Satisfaction guaranteed!” THEN Serge pushed
him aside. “This arsehole doesn’t know WHAT he’s talking about! You wanna know
about sensuality, desire and passion for life? You talk to ME! I was -and still
am - the absolute BEST in the business! Lemme tell you a story…” And that is
how it happened. I wrote a chapter a day, for about three months. That was it.
I was taking dictation...
Which
character was your favourite to create? Why?
I
didn't CREATE him. He just showed up! I LOVED living with Serge inside my head.
He is funny and fierce and loyal. A survivor. A wonderful character. I had a
hard time keeping him in his place. He wanted to take over the whole book! Only
way to get him to behave was to promise him he would get his OWN book...He's
still here, waiting!
If
you were asked to make a soundtrack for Guilty Pleasures, what
songs would be on it? There is a soundtrack to it! I love
music and it keeps creeping up in the story! I would use a lot of James
songs for Millie: Laid, She's a Star; Waltzing Along; oh and Cure: Love Cats;
but her "shattered song" would be "Someone That Cannot
Love" by a brill singer called David Fonseca. Lance is a Neil
Diamond fan so a lot of his scenes would go thata way; Lance's broke
up song would be "Creep". Serge would be snazzy, cheeky and jazzy;
Hendricks is Goth...
If
your book was turned into a movie, who would you choose to play the leading
characters?
Oh
that is HARD! Millie would be Adele...Sensuous, so utterly lovely! Lance/Will
would be Diogo Morgado (he can do cocky sex appeal AND geeky
vulnerable and he is so gorgeous).I don't think I could convince Morgan Freeman
to do an entire movie on his knees, so Serge would be Peter Dinklage,
he is AMAZING; he forces me to interrupt writing so I can watch him in Game of
Thrones..
What’s
your writing process like?
I don't
really have one, really. The characters write themselves. The story tells
itself to me. I'm listen, I write it down. I'm just as astonished at how things
turn out as anyone else. The characters just show up, push me around, tell
their story and then leave...
About
the author
What
is a normal day for you? Take us through your usual routine.
I
have a pare-pubescent pre-teen girl? I don't DO normal.
My usual routine
starts at 7:00, I go to work (day-job, starving writers etc).
I
take a train along the shore, and then a long walk by a sea wall to the office.
(My desk is separated from the ocean by a 12 foot high picture window and a 5
meter wide quay, it's what keeps me sane). So I work, I go home at the end of
the day, 18:00 train ride. Get home, make dinner; the usual gripes: "Mom!
YOU RUIN MY LIFE!"; I put in another three hours on the keyboard, and
usually try to be in bed by 24:00...
When
you’re not writing, what else do you like to do?
Oh
I love reading, and drawing, and painting and cooking. I love music too, I love
singing (badly and loudly!)... And I love writing. I do it even when I'm not
doing it, if you know what i mean.
Tell
us about the day you found out Guilty Pleasures was going to
be published. How did you react?
After
about a year of sending the manuscript to agents and publishers, I got used to
receiving these e-mails that said: "WE LOVED YOUR STORY! I killed myself
laughing, the Acquisitions Department loved the concept; however...It is not
our Genre.Don't give up, it's a GREAT story!" Everyone laughed, everyone
loved, nobody published...HUNDREDS of lovely encouraging "no"'s. So
one day I saw another e-mail, I clicked on it. I read it. I didn't understand a
single word it said. So I read it again. And again. It was weird. I just
couldn't understand. My daughter came over and said: "Mom, why are you
crying?" And I was. So I told her, "I think someone wants to publish
the story, but I can't be sure." And she started crying too.
Is
there a certain book that has made a lasting impression on you?
Yes.
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird. It is so absolutely perfect. Also, the
Cout of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. It was my first "grownup
book". My Father gave it to me when I turned 7.
What
made you want to become a writer?
Oh
dear....You think people WANT to be writers??? It's not a choice, it's an
affliction, a compulsion. Stories possess and overwhelm you. You either let
them out or explode.
If
you were stranded on a desert island, what five things would you want to have
with you?
Chocolate,
lipstick, eyeliner, silk stockings, and a bold Knight on a quest...
What’s
next for Manuela Cardiga?
I
have absolutely no idea! I'm waiting for life to surprise me.
(there
is a novel harassing me, but I'm considering a restraining order)
Bonus
Questions
Favourite
movie/TV show/food/season? Favourite movie. JUST ONE? It's a Wonderful Life;
The Piano; Blade Runner; Breaking the Waves; When Harry Met
Sally; Black Cat White Cat; Dangerous Liaisons, just about anything
directed by Clint Eastwood or starring De Niro (I hate De Niro)...Sorry, there
are just too many.
TV
Show:
Game of Thrones(I dont watch TV. This is an exception)
Food? Are you kidding?
Don't ASK things like that!
Season
Summer. Autumn.
Winter. Spring.
Who
would you give the award to for best first kiss (in a movie)? The award goes to:
COLIN FIRTH! In anything. The man can kiss...(Did you see what he did in
"The Diary of Bridgit Jones"? He MADE that movie)
Sweet
or salty?Both.
Separately or together. Also spicy...
Worst
fear?I
wake up, and this is a dream.
Thanks, Manuela!
