Genre:  Romantic Comedy

Format: ebook, Paperback

Buy:  Neurotically Yours: A Novel

Smart, attractive, and ambitious, thirty-seven-year-old Dara Harrison is, nonetheless, still single–and on sabbatical from dating. Ironically Los Angeles’ most renowned relationship advice columnist, Dara has become a Southland sensation with her “tell-it-like-it-is” approach to the mating game.

Parlaying her success into a new business, Dara launches a revolutionary dating service geared for the perennially single and romantically challenged. Its no-holds-barred theme soon makes the company a roaring success, even catapulting Dara onto the national talk show scene–until, of course, it all backfires.

With her company under threat and a publicity stunt gone haywire, Dara is forced to join the ranks of her lonely heart clientele, and suddenly realizes that saving the business she cherishes, means facing her lifelong fears–and maybe even falling in love again.

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to an author friend of mine, Bonnie Trachtenberg.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Bonnie better over the past seven months in an online group.  Welcome Bonnie!

1.  What inspired you to write a story about a 37 year old (on a dating hiatus) who opens a dating service?  It sounds very intriguing and ripe with conflict!

Well, I spent two decades out on the dating scene until I finally met my husband, Mitchell, so if anyone knows what dating hell is, it’s me! I’ve taken a few dating hiatuses in my life and so I know what can cause a person to need one. In fact, I had such a wealth of crazy dating stories bottled up inside my head (from myself and from friends) that I knew I’d have to detail them in a book someday. Neurotically Yours is the perfect venue, a romantic comedy about perennially single people still looking for love. The dating service idea was born out of my own frustration in wanting to weed out all the Mr. Wrongs in my life without having to waste precious time. My protagonist, Dara, takes this idea to a bit of an extreme, though, which of course takes the story into very intriguing territory!

2.  Was there a reason why you chose to write about someone in their late 30’s?

Yes. I believe that it’s around that time that a woman who is still single (and doesn’t really want to be) has to come face to face with who she is and why her life is where it is. When you are approaching forty, it’s easy to go into panic mode. Until that time, I think it’s easy to get caught up in the whole dating whirlwind and not feel the need to examine your life too seriously yet.

3.  Do you find it easy or difficult to write humor?

For some reason I find it very easy. I think it’s because my mind works that way on a normal, daily basis. I’m always reaching back in my mind for the funny line in hopes of making my family and friends laugh. Life can be too tough to take otherwise. I think levity is a survival technique. Many of the people I’ve admired most in life are the ones who can make me laugh, so I think I aspire to do the same for others.

4.  Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I think the underlying message in Neurotically Yours is to not let past wrongs done to you destroy your happiness. It’s more important to appreciate the love that surrounds you every day, and always keep your heart open to it.

5.  Is anything in this book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

As I mentioned above, many of the things in the book are anecdotes from my life. I did no outside research (other than conversations with friends). The story is fully from my own experiences (and some of theirs) as well as my own, obviously vivid imagination. However, I took things to a “what if” level, delving into the conflict and hilarity that might ensue.

6.  What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

I don’t know if I have a favorite chapter, but my favorite part to write were the dialogues between the book’s three main characters. I think dialogue and character development are my strong suits, and I love sitting down and hearing their witty banter flow while I transfer it onto the page.

7.  What is the most challenging part of being an indie author?  What’s the most rewarding?

The most challenging part is the sheer number of hours that an indie author needs to spend marketing their book. (Although traditionally published authors are finding they need to put in the hours too, as traditional publishers will usually not help on that front). I could work at my computer every week, 24/7, and still find plenty of marketing left to do. There’s only so much time a person has in their life to actually live it, and it’s easy to let social marketing eat up much of that time. I also don’t feel I have a head for business, so I’m grateful for the advice from other indie authors and from my husband who is a very smart entrepreneur.

The most rewarding part of being an indie author is keeping complete artistic and monetary control over your book! There’s a lot to be said for not being at the mercy of publishers. You don’t know how many books you’ve sold with them until many months later, and you cannot control your price or what is done with your book to help market it. When you are a true indie (not dealing with a POD publisher either) you can make those decisions yourself. And quite frankly, if I’m doing all the marketing myself, why should I give a large percentage of my hard earned dollars to a publisher? I love being indie and intend on staying that way.

8.  Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I’d like to say thank you for buying my books! I hope you really enjoy them and I’d love to hear from you. I can be contacted on my website, where you’ll also find lots more information on me and my work. I also hope you’ll check out my relationship advice column In Search of a Happy Ending: http://loveahappyending.com/editor-bonnie-trachtenberg/

Bonnie Trachtenberg is the award-winning, bestselling author of Wedlocked: A Novel and Neurotically Yours: A Novel. She writes a monthly relationship and advice column for LoveaHappyEnding.com. Bonnie was senior writer and copy chief at Book-of-the-Month Club and has written seven children’s book adaptations. She has also written for three newspapers and penned countless magazine articles. She lives on Long Island with her husband, four cats and a dog.

Visit Bonnie at her website: http://www.BonnieTrachtenberg.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter.