Sunday 29 September 2013

Update on the second novel part 2 - The Flood has been delayed!

So earlier in the year I posted that I was hoping to have my second novel The Flood published in the summer. Well, as you can probably guess that hasn't quite happened, but...!

I am hoping to have it out by the end of the year. The aim is now to get it out in November to coincide with the announcement of the winner for the Shirley You Jest book awards which my debut novel The Drought has been shortlisted for.

So what can I tell you about The Flood? Well, it is a follow-up to The Drought, which is the hilarious dating disaster novel (details below of how you can download the eBook for free until November 1). Dan is back with his pals Rob, Jack, and Ollie, but instead of experiencing a sexual drought, the boys are challenging Dan to go in the opposite direction to experience a flood of women. After making a bet that he could pull four different girls in just a month, Dan is up to his old tricks again! There are new characters aplenty and just as many laughs.

In the meantime, make sure you keep checking the blog out and Like my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to be kept up to date with all the latest news about the upcoming book.

How to download The Drought for free
Visit ebook self-publishing and distribution platform Smashwords at the link below and use the code LF63C prior to check-out to receive your free download (valid until November 1, 2013): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/253635

Friday 20 September 2013

Press coverage in the Sutton Guardian

Sutton Guardian: Carshalton author celebrates comedy book award nomination
My favourite local reporter Sophia Sleigh was kind enough to give me a little mention on the Local Guardian website today. I have posted the article below but you can also read the original article by clicking here.

Carshalton author celebrates comedy book award nomination
by Sophia Sleigh

A book about a man's dating disasters has been shortlisted for a comedy book award.

The Drought, by Carshalton author Steven Scaffardi, has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards.

The book tells the story of one man’s quest to overcome a period of "sexual drought".

Mr Scaffardi is celebrating by giving people free downloads of the book until November 1.

He said: "I’m absolutely thrilled that The Drought has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards.

"The feedback from readers and reviewers over the last 12 months has been incredible so a free download seemed like a nice way of celebrating."

Visit Smashwords using the code LF63C.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Press Release: The Drought is shortlisted in the Shirley You Jest book awards: Celebrate with a FREE download of Steven Scaffardi’s hilarious lad lit novel

The hilarious lad lit dating disaster novel The Drought by Steven Scaffardi has been made available to download for FREE on the back of last months announcement that it had made the shortlist for the Shirley You Jest book awards.

 The Drought will be available to download on all ebook readers on Smashwords up until November 1, 2013 – the date when the winner of the Shirley You Jest book awards will be announced. Author Steven Scaffardi said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that The Drought has made the final four in the Shirley You Jest book awards!”

“The feedback from readers and reviewers over the last 12 months has been incredible so a free download seemed like a nice way of celebrating!”

 The Drought is the laugh-out-loud tale of one man's quest to overcome the throes of a sexual drought. After the stormy break-up with his girlfriend of three years, Dan Hilles is faced with the daunting task of throwing himself back into the life of a single man. With the help of his three best pals, Dan is desperate and determined to get his leg-over with hilarious consequences!

How to download The Drought for free
Visit ebook self-publishing and distribution platform Smashwords at the link below and use the code LF63C prior to check-out to receive your free download (valid until November 1, 2013): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/253635

About Shirley You Jest! 
Based out of the US, the Shirley You Jest book awards is the only comedy and humour indie book contest offering publicity-based awards. The Drought joins Murder on the First Day of Christmas by Billie Thomas, Baby Bumps by Amy Sprenger, and In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister in the final with the winner being announced on November 1, 2013.

Click the images below to view the full press release



Friday 6 September 2013

Lad Lit Book Reviews: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Lad Lit Book Reviews: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
I have not read nearly as many Nick Hornby books as I should, and why I waited so long to read High Fidelity is beyond me! This truly is lad lit at its finest and in the main character Rob Fleming I think I have a kindred spirit. I hope I’m not doing him an injustice by saying this, but he kind of reminds me a bit of Karl Pilkington in that throughout his narration he constantly says the things that everyone secretly thinks but rarely say out loud, or that he simply tells it like it is like a conversation you would have with a mate down the pub. But more on that later.

So what’s it all about? The whole story is told through Rob’s eyes; he’s in his 30s and life is not exactly moving at a 100 miles per hour. The record store that he owns isn’t a financial gold mine and he spends much of his time discussing his favourite ‘top five’ music lists with his employees Dick and Barry (who certainly deserve a special mention for the part they play in making the dynamic of this little trio so funny at times).

Rob has not had the best luck with women either and after the first chapter in which he details the five great ‘break-ups’ of his life, it doesn’t really come as a surprise when his current girlfriend Laura decides to give him the elbow for Ray (real name Ian) who lives upstairs. There are some brilliantly funny moments when Rob starts to have flashbacks at the times Laura and him would lay in bed listening to the passionate moans of pleasure coming from Ray’s bedroom, and of course like a lot of blokes in his situation, instead of facing the main problem of his break-up head-on, paranoia engulfs his own sexual ability, as Rob explains:

“I really don’t know why it matters so much. Ian could be better at talking than me, or cooking, or working, or housework, or saving money, or earning money, or spending money, or understanding books or films; he could be nicer than me, better-looking, more intelligent, cleaner, more generous-spirited, more helpful, a better human being in any way you care to mention... and I wouldn’t mind. Really. I accept and understand that you can’t be good at everything and I am tragically unskilled in some very important areas. But sex is different; knowing a successor is better in bed is impossible to take, and I don’t know why.”

While Laura is ambitious and determined, Rob is somewhat happy for things to carry on like they always have. At first he embraces the break-up; feeling that he was the one being held back somehow, but pretty soon reality strikes and Rob starts to wonder if he’ll ever find a woman who will be able to resist dropping him like a lead balloon. Of course, Rob comes up with the perfect plan to put a stop to this rut, but instead taking a hard look at the man in the mirror, he decides the best way to determine what his shortcomings are is to seek out his top five break-ups to ask their opinion.

Along the way Rob realises that he wants to win Laura back; he has to win Laura back but change doesn’t come easy and there are lots of laughs along the way at Rob’s expense.

And now on to those Karl Pilkington say-what-you-see moments. Here are a couple of my favourite Rob Fleming lines:

“Sometimes I got so bored of trying to touch her breasts that I would try to touch her between her legs, a gesture that had sort of self-parodying wit about it: it was like trying to borrow a fiver, getting turned down, and asking to borrow fifty quid instead.”

“I hate calling him T-Bone. It sets my teeth on edge, like when you have to ask for a Big Heap Buffalo Billburger, when all you want is a quarter pounder, or a Just Like Mom Used To Make, when all you want is a piece of apple pie.”

There are some other truly great lines in this book, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who is going to give this book a read. I personally really enjoyed it and the subject matter of love and break-ups is told from a perspective that I think both men and women will enjoy and appreciate.

http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-lad-lit-book-review.html