Hi to you guys! I'm really thrilled to host amazing guest, Anthony Paull author of romantic comedy called 'Desperation Lingers'. Are you ready to meet him and his book?
Interview with Anthony Paull
1. Tell us about Desperation Lingers, the heroine of your outrageous new novel!
AP: Well Desperation is a bold, bold Miami guidance counselor who's having the ultimate rocky roller coaster affair with the school principal Hector. He's putting her through the hot-cold cycle, sometimes manhandling her at the office, and that has her in a hot and heavy head spin. Desperation wants to be a teacher but Hector doesn't believe she can relate to the kids. To prove him wrong she begins teaching etiquette lessons to students from home. Meanwhile, she's drinking tons of martinis to cope with the invisible bruises of the past. At the beginning of the novel, she's larger-than-life and wonderfully broken. I wanted readers who have been in similar turbulent relationships to have a woman to root for, to overcome this man who loves playing good cop/bad cop with her emotions. I think everyone has been in that type of relationship. The highs are great but the lows are, well, nightmarish.
2. Desperation isn't the typical heroine. She has a rather large nose and says the most unspeakable things.
AP: Yes. I wanted to create a new type of heroine, one that isn't perfect. I see a lot of romance book covers with airbrushed women that are photoshopped to death. I find that somewhat damaging. Real women have imperfections and that's what makes them beautiful. Not every heroine needs be 25 yrs. old and 100 pounds. I like flawed characters with broken pieces and jarring pasts. I think the cracks in people create compelling stories. Desperation has a definite drinking issue and says the most random things. However, she's honest and hilarious. I think readers will laugh loudly as she finds her way. Humor, dark or light, is in all my pieces. I like my readers to leave with a smile and racing heartbeat 'til the finish.
3. Desperation is a departure from your first YA novel 'Outtakes of a Walking Mistake.' What made you switch gears?
AP: I write what I feel at the moment. I began writing Desperation when I was having problems with my boyfriend and she grew out of that. It was a dark period in my life but I find that those times birth the most compelling pieces of art. I wanted to write a darkness to light story in order to help myself out of the funk that I was in. I write a syndicated dating column (The Dating Diet) so people come to me with relationships issues on a daily basis. I began to see a common thread of men treating women with disrespect. There was no courting, just the expectation of sex. Desperation is in this type of relationship until she realizes she wants more.
4. So about that plunger on the cover? What is that about?
AP: Ha! It's actually a woman empowerment symbol. In the novel, Hector often clogs Desperation's toilet from eating spicy burritos. He refuses to spend the night after sex so she refuses to clean up after him, to plunge. She says the plunger 'separates the muck from the men.' She actually brings the plunger in the classroom when teaching the students how to demand respect from men in relationships. It's quite a hoot. 'Take the plunge' and read Desperation Lingers has become a mantra for the readers.
5. What do you hope readers take with them from this atypical romantic tale?
AP: I want people to feel good about themselves, their bodies, their lives. I think a lot of people struggle with their image because of all the 'perfect' people we see in magazines and the media. But the truth is, a lot of that is just a hoax to promote products that aren't going to make people happy anyway. I think everyone deserves love and to be treated with respect. I want readers to examine their own lives after reading this book and ultimately decide if they are being loved properly. I also want them to laugh their asses off along the way. It's honestly the best medicine for those who have suffered a broken heart.
About The Book:
Title: Desperation LingersAuthor: Anthony Paull
Desperation Lingers doesn't want to die! She simply wants to break the habit of living another disastrous day. A guidance counselor at a Miami second chance school, she longs to be a teacher but sends the students scattering like roaches, calling her beastly names. Principal Hector Rivera says she's too high society, unable to relate. His criticism would be easier to take if the two weren't having a rocky, not-so-private affair. Still reeling from a series of failed marriages can she prove to Hector -- everyone -- that she has what it takes to lead a class? Recruiting three unlikely students, she devises a secret plan to instruct Miami's greatest social misfits the one subject she knows best -- etiquette. But who's teaching whom? And in the end, to what depths will Desperation plunge to learn the truth about life, love, and being a lady?
A romance of hilarity in the most nontraditional sense!
You can watch book trailer here.
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