1. Thankyou so much for joining us at Chick Litaholic. I loved Confessions Of A Call Center Gal. What inspired you to write this novel? I'm a chick lit junkie and I've read countless of chick lit novels where the women all have fancy jobs, and they fancy men who hold fancy jobs. And I wanted to read about a woman I could relate to. A protagonist who is regular chick with a very ordinary job, who falls for a guy with an ordinary job. Although, the guy is anything but ordinary (I like to think).
And a reader who reviewed my book echoed my thoughts~ "So many traditional chick lit books tend to go off on a tangent to a life many of us will never have--Bond Street and Fifth Avenue are not a regular part of my routine."
Also, the story is essentially art imitating life. I’m an ex-call center gal myself and I served time in the trenches for several years. Suffice to say, my head was bursting with stories from the call center purgatory.
2. What are some of the worst jobs that you have ever had?
A call center gal and a waitress at a Chinese restaurant where customers would sometimes tip me 10 cents or .0001% instead of 15%3. You worked in a call centre, is any of the novel based on your real experiences? 100% of the book is based on real experiences as a call center gal.
4. Did you have a close circle of friends at the call centre, like Maddie does with Mika, Kars, Troung and Ingeberg? You bet-cha. I definitely had a tight knit circle of friends like Kars, Truong and Inge; otherwise I wouldn’t have survived as long as I had in the call center purgatory/Gulag camp. And Troung's character is based on a close friend of mine, and he seems to have legions of fans. And he's been whining that I never mention him in my interviews. So Truong, this one's for you . . . let's lock and loll. ;-)
5. Are you in any way like the character Maddie?I’d say about 50% of Maddy is me. Like Maddy, I love The Office, Gossip Girl, Chelsea Lately and I wish I could speak Gaelic. Also, I share Maddy's love for all things Anthropologie . . . I simple adore their vintage inspired dresses. I'm an Anthroholic!
6. What would be your dream cast? Maddy would be played by Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) and Zac Efron, Zac Levi or Henry Cavill would be cast as Mika—the Belgian stud. Rex Lee or Jo Koy as Truong Nguyen. Blake Lively as Ingeborg and Leighton Meester as Karsynn. Oh and definitely Sean Connery as Archie. I would DIE to have Sean Connery play a part.
7. Who are your favourite authors? Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes, Chelsea Handler and Paullina Simons who wrote The Bronze Horseman . . . hands down my fave book ever!
8. What do you like to do when your not writing? I enjoy chillaxin with my pooches and my kids, shopping, reading and eating Mexican food.
9. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors wanting to get published?
As the fabulous Sophie Kinsella once said, "Sometimes you don't need a goal in life, you don't need to know the big picture. You just need to know what you're going to do next!" So the same rule applies to writing . . . you don't need to know the big picture, just start writing and keep on writing and eventually, you'll have your book. 10. What did you do to celebrate becoming a published author? I went on a shopping spree at Anthropologie and J.Crew, and I gobbled up 5 bean burritos--in one day!
11. Whats next for you? YA chick lit. But the title is a secret. =)
Thanks again for everything and thanks for having me on your fab blog! You're a rock star!
Thanks to the wonderful Lisa Lim for answering all my questions. Don't forget you can follow Lisa Lim's blog here
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