Last November Talli Roland sent me a manuscript of her novel The Hating Game and I devoured it in a day! It was wonderful, and is an early contender for 2011′s Best Debut Novel, heck it’s even in the running for Best Book 2011! So I was super thrilled to do an interview with Talli, so here goes!

1. Tell us about your debut novel The Hating Game?

The Hating Game features Mattie Johns, a man-eating woman who decides to go on a dating game-show to win the prize money she desperately needs to save her recruitment business. She thinks she’ll sail through the show no problem… but little does she know the male contestants aren’t just anonymous strangers, they’re her very unhappy exes. Add in an ambitious executive producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end, and you have the recipe for lots of on- and off-screen drama!

2. We know you will be having a second book published, Watching Willow Watts, in November, can you tell us about that, too?

Watching Willow Watts is the story of a small-town girl who is catapulted to stardom when a YouTube video of her one-off Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits. Instantly, Willow’s small English village is overrun with fans flocking to see the ‘new Marilyn’. Egged on by the villagers — whose shops and businesses are cashing in — Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn’s legendary curves. But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village’s newfound fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

3. The Hating Game is undoubtedly based on the public’s culture of reality TV shows, but how did you come up with the show itself? I mean it’s awesome (in a totally car-crash-TV kinda way) and I’d love to know how it came about.

I love reality shows – they’re kind of like a modern-day Coliseum – so I already had plenty of ‘research’ under my belt. I knew I wanted to write a novel featuring the phenomenon of reality TV, but the show in my book had to be something different than what was out there. I conducted more research (yay!), and finally the idea of having my main character date her way through her exes came to mind. It had such great possibilities for conflict as well as character growth. Originally, I wanted to call it The Ex Factor (in homage to the lovely Simon Cowell) but sadly that title had been taken. I’m really happy with the title we did come up with, though; I love that it plays off The Dating Game.

4. Your second book features another very-now, very-modern plot when your title character Willow becomes a YouTube phenomenon, did you do much research on what it takes to become huge on YouTube or did you just wing it and write about how you think it could happen?

I’m really fascinated with how modern technology is transforming the lives of everyday people –in such a short period of time and seemingly random way! Every week, you hear about a YouTube video getting zillions of hits and making that person (or piano-playing cat) a star. You only have to look at Susan Boyle to see what an impact it can have! I researched the psychological effects of sudden fame by looking at cases like Susan’s, but no-one seems to know what it is that really makes one YouTube video go viral over another.

5. The e-book of The Hating Game came out in December and to help publicise it you decided to run a blog-splash, authors are very much getting into the spirit of coming up with fresh ideas to market their books (Gemma Burgess and her postcards for instance) so what made you decide to try and tackle the Amazon Kindle chart? And because our readers will want to know, just how successful were you? Will you be doing anything similar for Watching Willow Watts?

It only takes a few sales over a short period of time to rise in the rankings on Amazon Kindle. So, I thought how great it would be if I could get as many people as possible to buy my book on release day, and see how far up the rankings it could climb! I started my campaign about three months before my release day, and almost 500 people signed up. The results definitely exceeded my expectations: I got to number 24 on the bestseller list, and The Hating Game was number one in the Movers and Shakers chart on release day. So many wonderful bloggers and tweeters supported me, and I can’t say thank you enough! I’ll do something different for Watching Willow Watts – I just need to get my marketing thinking cap on!

6. Before writing fiction, you brought out some travel guides under your real name of Marsha Moore about what you can do in 24 hours in London, Paris and other destinations, what made you decide to start writing fiction?

I’d always dreamed of writing fiction, but as a journalist, writing non-fiction came more naturally. By the time I got the publishing deal to write the travel books, I’d already written four novels (which shall never see the light of day). Although non-fiction was never really my dream, I figured being published in any genre was a good first step. It taught me a lot about how the process works – not to mention the fun I had researching both the London and Paris guides! Croissant, anyway?

7. Marsha Moore, as I’ve said, is your real name and Talli is your pen name. Where did Talli Roland come from and why did you decide to write under a pen name?

Since I write fiction for the same press that publishes my travel guides (Prospera Publishing), we decided I’d use a pen name to draw a clear line between the two. It was SO much fun coming up with a pen name! Roland is my mum’s maiden name, and I wanted a first name that was playful and fun. I love writing under two names, although lately I feel a bit schizophrenic. It’s hard to balance my dual personas!

8. Mattie from The Hating Game is a brilliant character, I really loved her, is there anything of you in her or anyone you know?

I had so much fun writing Mattie, mainly because her thoughts are so direct and she certainly doesn’t pull any punches. But underneath her tough persona, she’s actually very vulnerable. I think everyone has an outer shell they use as protection. Mattie’s just happens to be a bit thicker than most!

9. What would it take to get you onto a reality show?

Oh, God! I’d much rather be a voyeur than a participant. Since I spend most of my days slobbing around in a fuzzy, chocolate-stained robe with unbrushed hair, being in the public eye 24-7 would definitely freak me out. However, if there was a chance of meeting Simon Cowell or Lord Sugar… well, it wouldn’t take too much convincing!

10. You’re published by Prospera Publishing, a fairly new publishing house, how did your book deal come around with them?

It was fairly straightforward. Since I already had a good working relationship with an editor there through my non-fiction work, I just pitched the first three chapters of The Hating Game plus the synopsis, and they loved it!

11. How did you do to celebrate when you found out you were going to be a published author?

Wine, wine, wine! It’s seen me through the good and the bad.

12. What books do you enjoy reading yourself?

I’m a big fan of chick lit. It’s what I’ve always enjoyed reading the most – particularly books with strong female protagonists. I think the trend is leaning more towards that type of woman and less towards cupcakes and high heels. And – as much as I love cupcakes and high heels – I think that’s a great thing.

13. Finally, what advice would you give to wannabe writers hoping to become a published author?

I know it sounds like a giant cliché, but don’t stop writing. Seek out help and advice from other writers, go to workshops and conferences if you can, but just keep writing! It’s the only way to improve. And a good glass of wine at the end of the day makes everything right again!

Thanks so much Talli!

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