Talli Roland - The Hating Game

One of the nicest of writers I’ve ever met, I was thrilled that Talli Roland agreed to pop over for a little chat.

“When Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she’s confident she’ll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she’s perfected from years of her love ‘em and leave ‘em dating strategy.

After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it’s revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes.

Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?”

One of the few novels I’ve read on my Kindle and then added to my ‘wishlist’ for a print copy. With a sassy female lead, The Hating Game is an utterly impressive debut!

Asking Talli…

Great title! Where did you get your inspiration to write this novel? Thank you! Dare I admit my inspiration came from reality TV and The Daily Mail? I’ve always been fascinated by what happens behind the scenes of ‘reality TV’ and whether editors manipulate the audience towards certain voting outcomes. So, I asked myself: what would happen if you put one highly ambitious, tough woman desperate for money on a show run by a team of producers whose only interest is getting the highest ratings possible – and The Hating Game was born!

How long did The Hating Game take to write? Once I had the basic plot structure in place, it took about six weeks to write the first draft – and then another two to three months to redraft and line edit. My favourite part of The Hating Game was coming up with the game-show structure. It was great fun to develop my own TV show!

Writers often find redrafting and self-editing difficult. Can you offer any words of wisdom? Redrafting is the toughest part of the process for me, because it’s where I need to rein in tangents I end up going down in my first draft, and try to make sense of my drivel. Creating a credible character journey does my head in sometimes! My only bit of advice would be to focus on one thing at a time – don’t try to change everything in one go. Leave the grammar and sentence structure until the end once you’re happy with character development and plot structure. And don’t give up on it! It will get better.

Who do you feel would be your ideal reader? My ideal reader would be someone who enjoys characters with a bit of snark to them, and who doesn’t take themselves or what they’re reading too seriously.

What do you plan to write next? I’m working on Watching Willow Watts, 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 decides to embrace 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? The novel is due out in November from Prospera Publishing.

Can you offer any tips for people wanting to be published? 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!

What are you currently reading? I just started Tamsyn Murray’s young adult novel My So-Called Afterlife. It’s a great read so far and I love the way Tamsyn balances darker issues with humour and wit.

If you weren’t a (fabulous) writer, what would you like to be (when you grow up)? God, I don’t know! I’ve already exhausted so many options – teaching, journalism, recruiting, public relations… maybe a professional wine/ cupcake taster?

And, finally, (with the skillful smoothness of the finest of interviewers) do you in any way know Simon Cowell? Do my dreams count? If so, I know him very well (snicker!). I wish I did know Simon Cowell, high-waisted trousers and all.

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About the author: Talli Roland has three loves in her life: rom coms, coffee and wine. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Despite training as a journalist, Talli soon found she preferred making up her own stories – complete with happy endings. The Hating Game is her first novel and she is currently working on her second, Watching Willow Watts. Talli blogs here and can be found on Twitter here.