23 Review Street Q&A with Steven Scaffardi

This author interview was originally posted on 23 Review Street on Sunday, May 1, 2016 as part of the #LadLitBlogTour

Hi Steven! Thank you so much for being on 23 Review Street today and for asking me to take part in your Lad Lit Blog Tour. I am thrilled to be able to ask you questions about your books and about being a part of the genre Lad Lit. So let get down to the questions!

You have written two books so far, The Drought and The Flood. Could you summarise what they are about?
Hey, it’s great to be here! Thank you for having me. Both books are part of the Sex, Love & Dating Disaster series. The first book, 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!

The Flood is the follow-up, but this time Dan has the opposite problem as he has too many women! After making a drunken bet with his three friends that he can date four women at the same time, his love life takes a rather complicated turn (especially when the four women he dates turn out to be a stalker, the office ice queen, his ex-girlfriend, and the one that got away).

There are more books being classed as Lad Lit now, what do you think makes a book part of the genre Lad Lit?
Lad lit is best known as the male equivalent of chick-lit, primarily written by men exploring relationships, emotions and day-to-day life experiences from the perspective of a male protagonist. Often told with humour, charm and wit, lad lit leaves many readers laughing out loud at the scenarios men get into.

Both The Drought and The Flood are part of the same series, do you have more planned for the future?
I certainly do! I’ve started working on some ideas for the third book in the series. The working title is The Pact and it follows Dan and his pals as they travel to Latvia in search of a girl that Dan’s best friend, Rob, dated. It’s a little bit different to the first two books, and is a bit of a tribute to The Bourbon Kid series of books in terms of the style and storyline. So far all I can say is that the boys get tangled up with a Russian mafia don, two karaoke loving corrupt cops, a pimp who is stuck in the 70s, two drag queens, a sleazy hotel boss and his weird wife, and a henchman known as Ray the Local. Watch this space!

I loved reading about Dan’s (the main character) love life and the troubles he experiences; do you have a particular favourite character to write about?
Jack is my favourite character. He is the best one to write because he knows no boundaries and always says and does the most outrageous things. He is full of one-liners and is a real cheeky-chappie. As part of the blog tour, Jack was recently interviewed. It’s been one of my favourite posts of the tour so far and you can read it here.

What would a day in a life of a Lad Lit writer be like?
I guess I can only speak for myself, but when I’m writing I try to spend 1-2 hours a day at the laptop. In terms of ideas, they come from everywhere – my own experiences, stories friends tell me, eavesdropping in on conversations on the train! I also find putting together a soundtrack for your book helps get the creative ideas flowing. I often go out jogging and play the ‘soundtrack’ to the book I’m currently working on and the ideas just start coming together. Other than that, you can normally find me playing with my daughter, who has recently just turned one, and is just about the cutest thing you have ever seen!

If you had to sum up your writing style in three words, what would they be?
Laugh out loud.

Thank you so much for joining me on 23 Review Street!
Thank you for having me!

Author Interview with Steven Scaffardi (taken from Chris Hill's blog)

This author interview was originally posted on Chris Hill's blog on Wednesday, April 27 as part of the #LadLitBlogTour 

A warm welcome today to lad-lit author Steven Scaffardi whose new book The Flood is out right now. Steven and I have both written novels which are romantic comedies from a male perspective plus we both have a background in newspaper journalism so it’s a real pleasure to have him along here today – welcome Steven.

Tell me about your journey as a writer – how you started and how you have developed?
Hey Chris, thanks for taking the time out to chat to me. I studied journalism at university and after graduating I freelanced for a while for various football magazines and lad mags, before becoming the sports editor for a local paper in Crawley.

After three years I switched careers, working in the media and marketing sector, but continued to enjoy writing in my personal time and eventually I wrote The Drought.

In terms of how I have developed my writing skills, I’d say that I try to make sure that each character has a true identity and individual personality. It doesn’t matter if they appear in one chapter or in all of the chapters I want to know exactly how they’d react in a certain situation. The more you know about your characters the easier it is to create the world around them.

How would you describe your work – it‘s themes and the important things about it?
I like to look at love, relationships and dating from the man’s point of view because I think we get it wrong so often that it’s funny! If chick lit is the perfect ‘after’ picture then lad lit is the not-so-perfect ‘before’ picture.

I have sat with my wife on countless occasions shouting at the TV when she has made me watch another one of her romcoms. I get that it’s escapism, but those films do men no favours whatsoever! They set the bar far too high – women watch these films or read chick lit books and expect to meet the perfect man. We’re far from perfect! It’s a fairly well-known fact that when it comes to dating, we’re pretty useless! I’m bringing the bar back down and doing men everywhere a huge favour. No need to thank me – it’s my pleasure!

I know you write in the lad lit genre, can you tell me a bit about the genre and what attracted you to it?
It is indeed lad lit although I am quite happy just labeling it comedy. It tackles relationships and dating from a male perspective. For me, the most important thing is to make people laugh. I used to do stand-up comedy and being able to make people laugh is the best thing in the world.

Let’s be quite frank here – my books are not going to change the world. It’s about a guy trying to get his leg over so he can put an end to his sexual drought! But every time I get a review that says the book had them in stitches or a reader contacts me to let me know that they laughed so hard they spat their tea out on a train, it gives me a lift.

I’m not quite at the sales numbers JK Rowling has achieved yet, but I’ve had people read The Drought from the UK to the US and from Malaysia to the UAE, and knowing that somewhere in all corners of the world someone has laughed at my words is awesome! It takes on a different meaning when I tell you that The Drought was loosely based on a period in my own life, which pretty much means that people on each continent are laughing at me but that’s a different story!

Tell me about your current book – what is it about and what makes it a great read?
I am just about to publish my second novel The Flood. It is a follow-up to The Drought and part of the Sex, Love & Dating Disasters series I am writing. From my point of view it was great fun writing it as I got to ‘work’ with a lot of the same characters again as I became quite fond of them the first time round.

I’m hoping this one will be equally if not funnier than The Drought. So far it has been getting some really good feedback on Goodreads with one reader saying: “Oh my gosh, laugh out LOUD funny! My roommate ran in the room asking what was so funny and when I told her, she laughed so hard she could no longer walk!”

Tell me about your journey to publication, who is your publisher or did you decide to self-publish and why?
I self-published with a company called Acorn Independent Press. They were super helpful and they’re really cool guys too. I tried going down the traditional publishing route after I had written The Drought but I didn’t get very far. This time round I didn’t approach and literary agents or publishers, for no other reason than I couldn’t quite bring myself to write so many submission letters again!

I’ve had quite a lot of fun getting to know readers across social media and Goodreads so I just decided to stick to what I know. I got inspired by other self-published authors like Nick Spalding (who also writes lad lit) who did amazing self-publishing his own books. And the anonymous author The Bourbon Kid series – which happens to be my favourite set of books at the moment – self-published and he has just sold the film rights to Hollywood. So as that 90s diva Gabrielle said, dreams can come true!

Where can I buy a copy of your book?
You can buy my books at Amazon. The eBook is just 99p and the paperback is £8.99. The Flood will be available on the Kindle from April 30 (you can pre-order now for 99p) and the paperback will be published on May 19. However, as a special treat over the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend, I am running a giveaway from April 28 to May 2 so you can download The Drought for free!

Where can we find out more about you?
You can find my at all the usual hot spots – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and on Goodreads. Plus you can follow me on my blog, and if you want to know more about lad lit make sure you follow the #LadLitBlogTour and #LadLitSunday hashtags.

#LadLitBlogTour Rewind! Interview with Chick Lit Goddess

This interview was originally posted on Chick Lit Goddess on Monday, April 25, 2016 as part of the #LadLitBlogTour

Describe yourself in five words: 
Husband, father, friend, sarcastic and imaginative.

Tell us about your writing/editing/publishing process?
I try to write between 1-2 hours a day, and maybe a little more at the weekends. Writing is not my day job so I have to juggle a few things around it, but I try to use those everyday experiences as inspiration. I think the funniest things in life are those actions or scenarios that everyone can relate to. For example, in my new book The Flood, there are three or four scenes set around the main character’s train journey to and from work, and it includes people and situations that most commuters see on a daily basis. The reaction to those scenes in the book from book bloggers I gave preview copies to has been brilliant, with many of them highlighting those parts as the funniest.

In terms of publishing and editing, I self-publish so I do a lot of it myself. I must have written over 30 drafts of The Flood, and in the end I had to just stop myself because you end up becoming too familiar with the story and then want to change it all. You have to know when to walk away and know that you’ve done the best job you can.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and why? 
Wow, that’s a hell of a question! I have a few favourite authors who I bet have some great stories to tell. People like Ben Mezrich who has written brilliant stories such as the birth of Facebook to the MIT students who took down Las Vegas casinos, or maybe Jeff Abbott or John Grisham who I admire greatly for being able to create such suspense within their writing. But I think the one author I’d love to meet is probably Stephen King. I think he has one of the most imaginative minds on the planet. He is known for writing horror stories, but he has written so many different types of genres. For example, two of my favourite films of all time – Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption – were both inspired by Stephen King stories.

Tell us about the genre, Lad Lit? 
Lad lit is the male equivalent to chick lit. It is books primarily written by men about men, or certainly from the male perspective. Like chick lit it traditionally focuses on subjects such as love, relationships, and dating. From a personal point of view, I think lad lit should always have humour at the heart of the story.

Hard/paperbacks or eBooks?
As much as I love to embrace new technology, you can’t beat the feeling of holding a book in your hands. I think eBooks are great and make so many different types of books accessible to people all over the world, but sit me on a beach with a good paperback and I’m as happy as can be.

What’s a typical day like for you? 
I work in the media and marketing sector and luckily I get to travel all over the world for my job, so each day is varied. But the two constants in my life are my amazing wife and our beautiful baby daughter. I make a lot of fun in my books about the differences between men and women, but I love those two little ladies more than life itself.

What are you reading? 
I’ve just finished reading a book called Milk-Blood by Adrian Simon. It’s an autobiography about a guy in Australia whose father was convicted of trafficking heroin and sentenced to 12 years in a Thai prison. He talks about the impact his father’s choices had on him as a young child, but what makes this book so good was that Adrian has led such an amazing life. It’s an incredible story.

Is the social media a help or a hinder? 
I’d definitely say it’s a help because it has allowed authors – particularly indie authors like myself – to have direct access to readers. But it can be very time consuming. Take Twitter for example – you are playing in a field of over 300m users. Where do you even begin to get through to the right people? But it makes it all worth it when you get a tweet out of the blue from someone halfway around the world that has some nice things to say about your book. It makes it all worth it.

Do you have any writing rituals?
One I have is that I like to create a music playlist for whatever book I happen to be working on. It’s a bit like a movie soundtrack and it helps me come up with ideas when I’m listening to it. I also like to give each character as much background as possible, even if they are just appearing in one chapter. The more you know about a character, the better prepared you are to write about how they would react in different situations, and makes them less two-dimensional.

What do you want people to take away from your books?
I want them to walk away with a smile, having laughed their way through the pages and not taken anything too seriously. Life is too short. Smile, laugh, chuckle. I used to do stand-up comedy and there is nothing quite like being able to make a room for of people laugh at the jokes and stories you have made up. I love it when readers contact me to tell me that my book has literally made them laugh out loud in public. It’s a great feeling.

Every author must have (a):
Perseverance. In abundance! I think you have to write for the love of it, and don’t expect people to read your book just because you have written one. Heck, you’ll be lucky if all of your friends even read your book! It’s tough trying to write, promote, and market your book all by yourself, so you’ll need to persevere at every corner.

What are you working on right now?
I have just finished my second novel The Flood, so I am trying to promote that but I am planning on a third book in the Sex, Love and Dating Disasters series. The working title is The Pact and all I can really say at this stage is that the boys travel to Latvia and encounter a bunch of gangsters, drag queens, pimps, corrupt cops and lots more. I’m looking forward to getting it down on paper!

Chat About Books interviews author Steven Scaffardi

This interview was originally posted on Chat About Books on Sunday, April 24, 2016 as part of the #LadLitBlogTour

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your books please?
Hi Kerry, I certainly can, and thank you for having me on your blog by the way. I’m a fairly standard thirty-something bloke (38 in case you really want to know – thirty-something just sounds a lot better than two years off 40!); a husband, father and ex-journalist. Oh and I used to do a bit of stand-up comedy as well.

I’ve written two books – both part of the Sex, Love & Dating Disasters series, which has often been called lad lit or chick lit for men. To be honest, as long as people laugh at my books, you can call it whatever you like!

The Drought was my first novel, chronicling the trials and tribulations of Dan Hilles as he attempts to re-enter the dating game after breaking up with his girlfriend of three years. The title of the book is a bit of a clue to how things turn out for poor Dan as he struggles to adjust back into the life of a single man.

The second novel is a follow-up to The Drought called The Flood. This time Dan finds himself with the opposite problem – having to juggle multiple women all at once after making a drunken bet with his friends that he could date four girls all at the same time. It doesn’t quite go according to plan for poor old Dan.

If I was to try and explain to someone what my books are like I would say The Inbetweeners meets Bridget Jones.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?
Sometimes I take personal experiences or those told to me by friends and exaggerate them for comedy value. Sometimes I unfortunately don’t have to exaggerate those experiences because my group of friends and I seem to have got ourselves into some fairly ridiculous scrapes over the years, although those days are all over now of course. We’re responsible adults now. Most of the time.

Other ideas just pop into my head at random times. I could be sitting on the train or out jogging and I’ll just see something or think of something and my mind takes over. I also find listening to music helps as different songs will remind me of certain things. I often create a playlist for the book I’m writing in the same way a movie has a soundtrack. I find that can really help fire up the one or two creative brain cells I have.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?
Yes, they are. The four main characters are based on friends or combinations of friends, although they have taken on a life of their own now. It helped at the start to base them on people I knew because I would immediately know how they would react in certain situations.

Maybe that’s why I’m so fond of the four main characters, because I know them so well, and they’re the main reason I wrote a follow-up and decided to create a series. I never set out to write a series but I love these characters so much that I just wanted to write about adventures about them.

How do you pick your character’s names?
I go through the same process a parent goes through when trying to name their unborn child. I just keep throwing names out there until one sticks.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?
I tend to cram it in where I can! My day job keeps me very busy and I have to travel around the world quite a lot, so I tend to take advantage of any long flights I might have to get lots of writing done. Other than that it’s maybe a couple of hours in the evening or on the weekends, although the arrival of my daughter 11 months ago has somewhat thrown a spanner in the works, because when the choice is between seeing that little smile and tapping away at the keypad, she has already got her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

Do you have a favourite author?
That’s a tough one. I’m a fan of other lad lit authors like Nick Hornby, Danny Wallace, Mike Gayle and Nick Spalding. I would pretty much pick up anything written by Ben Mezrich or Jeff Abbott, but right now I have a book crush on the anonymous author of The Bourbon Kid series. I love Quentin Tarantino films and this author is pretty much the Tarantino of the literary world. If you like that sort of thing, then go pick up a copy of The Book With No Name. You won’t be disappointed.

Were you a big reader as a child?
I wasn’t really, unless you count the Beano which I read religiously! I was too interested in going outside and playing. The funny thing is I loved to write stories as a kid. I remember when I was about seven I wrote a short story in class called The Time Machine with my own illustrations. My teacher thought it was so good she got the local library to put it in the children’s section. But it wasn’t until my late teens that I really discovered a love for reading and since then nothing has really changed.

When did you start to write?
As I mentioned, I enjoyed writing at school. Eventually I ended up studying journalism at university and I worked as a journalist for three years. But the writing bug never left me and like a lot of people, I always thought I had that one book inside me.

Five years ago that book came out of me, not literally, obviously, like a baby. That would be weird. But after always ‘thinking’ about it, I finally got around to just bloody ‘doing’ it and after three months The Drought was born.

Brilliant, I somehow made it sound like giving birth again.

What are you working on right now?
I have just finished my second novel The Flood. It is with the proofreader as we speak and as long as everything goes to plan, the eBook will be available on April 30 and the paperback will be published on May 19. You can actually pre-order the eBook now on Amazon for just 99p!

When can we look forward to a new release?
I’d love to say that I’ll have the third instalment of the Sex, Love & Dating Disasters series out by the end of the year, but that gorgeous little girl with the cutest little smile I mentioned earlier might just have a thing or two to say about that.

But the good news is I already have the outline for the third book planned. The working title is The Pact and sees the boys travel to Latvia where they bump into a number of unsavoury characters including a mafia don, a sleazy hotel boss and his strange wife, a pimp who works with two drag queens, a stripper, two corrupt cops and a henchman who calls himself Ray the Local. It’s a little bit different to the first two books, but it’s still lad lit and is (hopefully) going to be very funny.

How can readers keep in touch with you?
I normally arrange a little get together at mine the last Thursday of every month. All of my biggest fans turn up; Gary from number 32, old lad Linda, one-leg Dev, little Jimmy two-shoes, Big Babs and Tony the postman.

I’m kidding of course. Tony the postman hasn’t been over since the incident with the donkey. I told him it wasn’t my fault the donkey ended up in the shower with him, but he wouldn’t listen. Anyway, you or your good readers probably don’t want to hear about that.

Instead readers can keep in touch via my blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Amazon and on Goodreads. All the usual suspects really. I try to keep myself active on social media as much as possible, but not on the new ones all the kids are using these days like Snapchat. I finally realised that I’m getting old when the younger people in my office tell me about these social media platforms I’ve never heard of before. I’d only just got the hang of blogging and then vlogging was the new thing. I can’t keep up – just email me, it’s much easier!

Steven Scaffardi Author Interview (taken from Bookaholic Confessions)

This interview was originbally posted on Bookaholic Confessions on Friday, April 29, 2016 as part of the #LadLitBlogTour

Hi Steven, welcome to Bookaholic Confessions! Thank you so much for participating in this interview. Would you like to start by introducing yourself…?
Hi Holly, thanks for having me! Well as you know my name is Steven and I am the author of The Drought and The Flood; two comedy books about relationships from a man’s point of view, and both part of the Sex, Love & Dating Disasters series.

Can you tell us a bit about your debut novel The Drought (Sex, Love and Dating Disasters)?
I sure can! 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!

…And also about your follow-up to The Drought, The Flood (released April 2016)?
The Flood picks up where The Drought left off, although it’s written in a way that you don’t have to have read the first book to pick up the second. This time round Dan makes the mistake of making a bet with his best friends that he can juggle more than one girl at the same time, and a series of comical situations ensue as Dan buckles under the pressure of dating his ex-girlfriend, a stalker, the office ice queen, and the one that got away. It is available now to pre-order for just 99p (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flood-Love-Dating-Disasters-Book-ebook/dp/B01D1U7Z0I/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8). It will be released as an eBook on April 30 and the paperback will be available on May 19.

I am really looking forward to reading both books; they sound brilliant! I have to ask – are there elements of yourself in your lead character Dan Hilles or is he entirely fictional?
Unfortunately yes! The Drought is loosely based on a period in my life in my early 20s. I had just come out of a long-term relationship and had basically forgotten how to talk to girls and struggled getting myself into the dating game! Both books take stories from personal experiences or those of friends, and I sprinkle a large dose of exaggeration on top for comedy effect. It’s funny watching my wife read the books and then turn to me and say: “Please tell me this bit didn’t happen to you!”

Chick Lit Plus described your debut novel as ‘Chick Lit for Men’ I think chick lit novels written from a male perspective are such a great idea, but what’s it like writing for a genre that is dominated by female authors?
It’s hard in that you are going against the norm. Chick lit is normally written from the female point of view so (most of) the readers can relate. Plus they all tend to have a HEA ending. But lad lit is more like the frowned upon little brother of its more successful chick lit sibling. I think the biggest problem is that most readers are simply not familiar with lad lit or it has a bit of a stigma attached to it. But I’ve had lots of readers – male and female – read my books who have never picked up a lad lit novel before and told me how much they enjoyed it. As the series name suggests, it’s about the fun side of dating that doesn’t always go right, yet most people will admit they are the stories they remember the most.

The Drought (Sex, Love & Dating Disasters, #1)As well as being a writer you are also a stand-up comedian. Is it a profession that is as terrifying as you might imagine?
I haven’t actually done any stand-up comedy since 2012 – the day job took over I’m afraid, but when I used to do stand-up I can honestly say it was the best buzz I’ve ever had. Yes, the first time it was terrifying but once you start to find your rhythm and have a few jokes in your back pocket that will guarantee an odd laugh or two, it becomes less daunting. The nerves are always still there (the prospect of dying on stage is never far from your mind) but it becomes like a drug. The better you get at it, the more you look forward to getting up on stage. I miss it, but I had to find a way of paying the bills and unfortunately I wasn’t that funny so I had to stick with the 9-to-5.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I have always enjoyed being a storyteller and like most people I always thought I had a book in me, but it wasn’t until I was around 24 or 25 that I thought about it seriously. I studied journalism at university, wrote for a few magazines before becoming sports editor for a local paper. I quit journalism when I was around 27 because the money wasn’t great, but that love of writing and storytelling never went away.

What’s the best thing about writing comedies?
I think it’s the same thing as being a stand-up comedian – it’s being able to make people laugh. Seeing somebody laugh out loud because something you have said or written is hugely satisfying. I think it’s an incredibly difficult art that probably doesn’t get the credit it deserves. I have huge respect for stand-up comedians who go on stage and make people laugh for an hour. The longest set I ever did was 15 minutes and trying to come up with enough material to last 15 minutes was challenging enough let alone a whole hour. It is the same with writing a comedy novel. Writing 300+ pages of funny situations has its challenges, but so far, so good.

Who are your favourite authors and which type of books do you enjoy reading?
I like anything from my fellow lad lit authors to thriller and crime novels. My favourite authors at the moment are Danny Wallace, Jeff Abbott and Ben Mezrich, but my favourite book in recent times is the Bourbon Kid series. I can’t tell you the authors name because he is anonymous, but his novels are just brilliant. Imagine Quentin Tarantino in a supernatural world full of wonderful movie clichés. They are such good fun to read.

And finally – can you tell us a bit about what you’re up to at the moment?
I have only recently finished writing The Flood so I am busy trying to promote that at the moment, but I am already work on the framework for my third book. This is a bit of an exclusive for you as I haven’t told anyone else this yet. At the moment the working title is called The Pact and it is the third book in the Sex, Love & Dating Disasters series. This time round, Dan and his pals travel to Latvia and get themselves into all sorts of trouble with a bunch of gangsters, drag queens, pimps, cops and lots more. It’s a little bit different to the first two books, but I love writing about these characters so much that I’m hoping other people and fans of the series will like it too.

Check out this Jon Rance Q&A with me!

On April 22 of this year, lad lit author Jon Rance was kind enough to feature me on his website in a Q&A as part of the Lad Lit Blog Tour. Jon has since created and designed a new website (check it out here) so my Q&A will soon disappear from the big wide world of the web! But you can now read the interview here on my blog instead :)

Q&A WITH STEVEN SCAFFARDI

Hello,

I'm excited to have a new author on my blog today. Steven Scaffardi is just about to release his second comedy novel, 'The Flood' and so I thought I'd catch up with him and see what all the fuss is about.

Hi, Steven, welcome to my blog! It's good to have you over for a pint of lager and a packet of crisps. For the people out there who have never heard of Steven Scaffardi tell us a bit about yourself.

Cheers Jon, it's great to be here. For people who have never heard of Steven Scaffardi before, I am tall, athletic, and as good looking as David Beckham. I once dated Kelly Brook and Sofia Vergara at the same time, and believe it or not, I am the person who wrote the lyrics to Baby for Justin Bieber. And if that hasn't impressed you, I am also a lad lit author in my 30s desperately trying to recapture my youth on the pages of my two novels, The Drought and The Flood - both part of the Sex, Love and Dating Disasters series.

To promote your first book, The Drought, you ended up spending a year on the stand-up comedy circuit, what was that like? 

It was a great experience, full of the most eclectic mix of people I think I have ever met, from out of work actors to a six-foot blonde who graced the covers of lads mags, and 20 year veterans of the circuit who had never quite made it and hated the world for it, to people who had very messed up views about what they thought funny was! There is probably a book that could be written about some of those characters! I did it for a year and I managed to get to the final of the Golden Jester competition after about 50 gigs which wasn't too bad. Nothing quite beats the buzz of being up on that stage when you're having a good gig. The flip side of that, of course, is that it is the most awful place in the world to be when you have a bad gig. Apart from a South American prison perhaps.

I've always had the ambition to do a bit of stand-up at some point, any tips?

Do it! Someone once said to me that stand-up comedy is the best hobby you can ever have. You get to stand around in pubs all evening watching comedy! The best advice I can give is make sure you write a varied set because if you stick to one story or theme and it doesn't work, you have nowhere else to go. And don't be afraid to try different material. Open mic stand-up comedy audiences can be quite forgiving because they know you are new, so when something works keep it in, and when something bombs throw it out. Sooner or later you'll have a set that works.

How is it different writing stand-up comedy to writing a comedy novel?

With stand-up you don't really have time to build up to the joke like you might in a book. When you first start up in stand-up you are doing gigs where you have 5-10 minutes (at most) to do a set. It might not sound like a lot, but believe me - trying to find five minutes of material that is funny is really hard. I take my hat off to guys like Micky Flanagan and Kevin Bridges who put together an hour long show with laughs all the way through. With stand-up you are constantly looking for a quick punchline to keep the audience on side. They have turned up to have someone make them laugh after all. With a 5 minute set, you want to aim for a laugh at least every 20-30 seconds, but with a comedy novel you have more time to build things, even if the reader already knows where you’re going. In The Drought, you know from the very start that Dan is on a sexual drought. As a reader you know at each and every attempt to get his leg-over he will fail, but it doesn't matter. My job as the writer is to make sure that even when the reader knows Dan's latest attempt is doomed to failure, they are always thinking "But what if he does succeed this time?"

Your second novel, The Flood, is out now - congrats! - tell us a bit about it?

The Flood is the follow-up to The Drought, although you could quite easily pick up The Flood without having read The Drought. This time the main character, Dan, gets himself into more dating disasters when he makes a drunken bet with his friends that he could date four girls all at the same time. That challenge is hard enough as it is, but when the girls he ends up dating include a stalker, an ex-girlfriend, the office ice queen and the one that got away, Dan soon finds out that dating a flood of women is a lot harder that he thinks. He has eight weeks to juggle all four girls without them finding out about each other.

This is a question I've been asked a few times. Why do you write romantic comedy? What draws you to the genre?

It was a combination of two things. 1) My wife is a huge romcom fan and I have lost count of the amount of times I would shout out "But a man wouldn't do that!" watching one of those films. Let's be honest, men are not very good at romance. We rarely get those sort of things right, and even though we talk a good game, we're fairly hopeless at understanding the opposite sex so I wanted to tell a story from the male perspective. And 2) Most guys have stood around the pub talking rubbish about first dates and relationship experiences. More often than not, those stories are hilarious for all the wrong reasons. I started making notes of all the funny stories I'd heard, threw in a few of my own experiences, exaggerated them for comedy value, and that is pretty much how The Drought came about.

OK, here's the bit where you get to show us how good a salesman you are. Why should people buy your book?

Because (hopefully) they'll laugh lots! The best contemporary fiction, in my opinion, is the stuff you can relate to, and I try to do that with my books. I have a had a lot of male readers tell me how much they can relate to some of the stupid things Dan and his friends get up to, while most women are horrified (in a good way) to find out what men really think. I've been lucky to have some really great reviews on Goodreads and from book bloggers, and that probably carries more weight than anything I could tell you. Chick Lit Plus said of The Drought: "Steven Scaffardi's first novel is absolutely hilarious and will leave every reader, male or female, laughing out loud." Hopefully that might make one or two of your fans give it a go.

You describe yourself as writing lad-lit. What exactly is lad-lit and how does it compare to chick-lit?

Lad lit is best known as the male equivalent of chick-lit, primarily written by men exploring relationships, emotions and day-to-day life experiences from the perspective of a male protagonist. Often told with humour, charm and wit, lad lit leaves many readers laughing out loud at the scenarios men get into. My favourite lad lit analogy is this: If book genres were diets then lad lit would be the rather disheveled 'before' picture and chick lit would be the perfect 'after' image. Lad lit is like that car crash of a first date you went on or that person you went out with and still wonder years later "What was I thinking?" For me, the goal of chick lit is to get to that perfect happy ever after (HEA) ending, but lad lit does not always have to follow that pattern. In relationship terms, you have to get through a whole lot lad lit before you find your perfect chick lit!

What are your top five books by men about life, love and relationships? To get the ball rolling and to see if we're any different mine would be: Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, Tony Parsons, Man and Boy,  David Nicholls, Starter for Ten, Mike Gayle, My Legendary Girlfriend, and since I really can't include my own books and these are all better than mine anyway, The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. 

That's a pretty good list - I'm not sure I can beat that! High Fidelity and Man and Boy have to be in there, without question, and you couldn't have a top five list of books by men about relationships without Mike Gayle, although I'm going to opt for Seeing Other People. Another author I'm a big fan of is Danny Wallace and I really enjoyed Charlotte Street so I would put that one in there. The last spot is tough as you have other great authors in the genre like Matt Dunn and of course your good self (This Thirtysomething Life is next on my read list!) but I think I'll give a shout to Nick Spalding for his Life From... Both Sides because I think it's a great series of books.

What's next for Steven Scaffardi?

I am busy promoting The Flood as part of this Lad Lit Blog Tour right now, but I already have plans for the third instalment of the Sex, Love and Dating Disasters series. The working title is The Pact and this time Dan and his friends travel to Latvia in search of a girl who dated Dan's best friend Rob. It is a little bit different to the first two books in that the theme to this book is a bit of a tribute to one of my favourite books of all time The Book With No Name. It includes a whole host of unsavoury characters including a Russian mafia don, two drag queens, a pimp who is stuck in the 70s, a sleazy hotel boss and his strange wife, two karaoke loving corrupt cops wo worship Wham, and a henchman who goes by the name of Ray The Local. I'm hopeful of having it out by the end of the year, but we'll see.

Cheers Steven, I hope you enjoyed the pint and the crisps and thanks for answering my questions. One last question and it's the classic question every author gets asked. What are your top five writing tip?

Thanks for having me Jon, it's been a blast and the pint and beer snacks were a pleasant bonus. My top five tips would be: 1. Create bios for your characters. The more you know about your characters, the better equipped you will be to write about how they will react in certain situations. 2. Create a playlist for your book like a movie soundtrack. I find music really helps come up with ideas and develop scenes you are writing. 3. Make sure you have a great proofreader. The amount of little mistakes and errors that creep in will surprise you. I've conceded that I'm not a good writer, I'm a good storyteller! 4. Always be prepared to make notes on the move. I'm forever tapping into my note app on my iPhone as the most brilliant ideas always pop into your head at the most random of times. 5. Immerse yourself into the world of book bloggers. These people will become your best friends, but don't take them for granted. They blog for the love of reading and they do a bloody good job if you ask me.


Thanks so much to Steven for popping over. He's doing a ridiculous number of interviews and blog appearances for the release of 'The Flood'. If you want to check out some of his other blog tour stops have a look at this...

This Q&A was originally posted by Jon Rance at his old website on April 22...

Press coverage in the Sutton Guardian

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.

Interview with BIGhay.com

This month I got interviewed by the guys over at BIGhay.com! You can check out a link to the interview by clicking here or here is a full transcript of the interview...


Steven Scaffardi has written the ultimate guide to the male mind, men will nod in agreement, women will recoil in horror and ask: ‘do men really think like this?’ However, no matter what gender you are there is one thing you’re guaranteed from this book; really big belly laughs. Warning: do not read this on public transport, do not read it while eating or drinking – unless you want to be viewed as a giggling lunatic or an utter klutz spluttering food and drink all over the person sat opposite you on the tube.

The story begins in an anti-narrative format; in the first chapter we see protagonist Dan Hilles hit rock bottom, and literally get his bum kicked by a buxom barmaid. He is well into an eight month drought with no end in sight, we then learn about the events that sent Dan on this hilarious down ward spiral into the single man’s ‘no man’s land,’ or in this case; ‘no lady land’. Here at BIGhay.com our inquisitive nature has taken over and we’ve managed to track down author Steve Scaffardi to ask the questions everyone wants answers to; and gain a sneaky insight into the life of a comedic, lad-lit writer.

BIGhay: What was the catalyst that made you want to write The Drought? And have you always wanted to write?

Steven Scaffardi: Writing has always been something I’ve enjoyed. Like many people, I always felt I had a good book inside me. Unfortunately I had to get a lot of rubbish ones out before I found my good one! I think the lad inside me desperately wanted to write something cool or edgy, so when I tried to write a gritty British gangster-esque thriller, I’d normally get about five chapters in and realise my work definitely rhymed with the word gritty, but was anything but cool or edgy. It was more Carry On Godfather than Goodfellas. Then one day as I was being forced to endure yet another rom-com movie at the hands of my wife, I found myself having a bit of a mini meltdown and ranting how the guys in these films were totally unrealistic. So seeing as my previous attempts at writing a novel were pretty laughable for all the wrong reasons, I decided to tackle the issue of dating and sex from a man’s point of view, which from personal experience do not always create these perfect scenarios and happy-ever-after-endings that are portrayed on films, and the results are normally pretty funny.

BIGhay: Do you think current romantic fiction and cinematic rom-coms depict the way men actually think?

Steven Scaffardi: No, no, no! Don’t get me wrong – I’m not anti romance. But these films don’t help us men out when the likes of Matthew McConaughey et al portray these perfect characters who say and do all the right things, it doesn’t half make it hard for us men to follow! You can almost feel your wife or girlfriend’s eyes burning into you at that precise moment in the film where the guy takes the girl in his arms and whispers that almost impossibly perfect line. They raise the bar too high for normal men; there is no coming back after that! And why in these films is the guy always racing to the airport to stop the love of his life flying off to a different country? That little scene where he just manages to stop her getting on the flight just in time – why does the woman never turn around and say “Do you know how much this flight has cost me? You couldn’t tell me not to go before I forked out 500 quid for British Airways?” Can you imagine a British guy trying to do a late dash to Gatwick? He’d take one look at the traffic report and see that the M25 is crawling along at a snail’s pace and wouldn’t even make it out the front door. Just send a text, it’s easier.

BIGhay: Your book clearly portrays the ‘male perspective’ on relationships, what do you think is the most important piece of advice men and women can take away from the book?

Steven Scaffardi: I’m not too sure there is any good advice in there – probably lots of things that you shouldn’t do! I think the one thing men and women both have a tendency to do when trying to impress someone they like is they start doing things they normally would never do. We live in a world where we are constantly being told how to behave or act, normally by people who have no idea how to live in the real world. So when faced with a situation where we are desperately trying to impress on that first date, there is an urge to go a little Hollywood and utter one of those ridiculous rom-com film lines, which doesn’t quite sound the same in a Wetherspoons in Balham as it did when George Clooney said it up on screen. Funny that, eh?!

I think the best advice the book gives is to embrace the awkwardness of dating and sex. Your friends do not want to listen to you explain how awesome you are in between the sheets, but they will always want you to tell them about the day you tried – and failed – to pull a mum and her daughter in one night. That is the stuff legends are made of...!

BIGhay: The Drought offers a fascinating glimpse into the male psyche, how have both men and women responded to the book? Are there any responses or questions from readers that particularly stand out?

Steven Scaffardi: Most people ask if the book is based on my own experiences, and unfortunately they are. Then people want to know what is true and what stories I might have made up, or are embellished. Most of what is in there has really happened to me, or someone I know. Most guys tell me that they can relate to the stories and that is what makes the book so appealing to them. Surprisingly I have probably had more female readers than male. The book has been called chick-lit for men, so I think girls who are fans of the chick-lit genre like the idea of a story about relationships from a man’s point of view. It makes a nice change, and I have tried to be as honest as possible about what men talk about and how they act.

BIGhay: Your book has been described as an ‘adult Inbetweeners,’ do you agree and which of the Inbetweeners characters would you say your protagonist is most like?

Steven Scaffardi: I take it as a huge compliment because I’m a big fan of The Inbetweeners. If I had to pick one character that Dan is like then I guess it would be Simon in that they both seem to get themselves into situations with girls where they somehow manage to mess things up at the very last minute.

BIGhay: It’s fair to say your main character Dan Hilles gets himself into a few, awkward, embarrassing, but down right hilarious situations. How did you think up these scenarios and do you know anyone who has experienced anything similar?

Steven Scaffardi: As I mentioned, most of the stories in the book are based on real-life situations. The idea behind the book came from a period in my life after I had come out of a long-term relationship. I had not been single for about 4 years, and despite my friends telling me how great single life was going to be, I had the most torrid time with the opposite sex. I think after you have been out of the dating game for so long you just forget the rules of chatting girls up! From the moment you hit puberty, sex can define a man. It’s childish, immature, and vulgar, but the more sexual conquests you can brag about in the pub, the higher your status amongst men is. So when you do hit a bit of a dry patch, desperation can set in, and women can smell it a mile off!

BIGhay: What is your favourite part or moment in the book?

Steven Scaffardi: There are a few! The bit where Dan drinks a bit too much on a date and ends up dancing very badly in front of her was very funny to write, and the scene where the lads end up in a gay bar without realising it always makes me chuckle. I have to say that Jack is probably my favourite character to write as he is so over the top, and he probably gets a lot of the best lines because of his devil-may-care attitude. The chapter where Jack tries to teach Dan what he calls ‘proper man moves’ always gets good feedback, especially the bit where he attempts to demonstrate to Dan the best sexual positions!

BIGhay: Your character Jack Chatham is the cheeky-chappy and joker of the group, and is clearly an advocate of chat-up lines, which one is your personal favourite?

Steven Scaffardi: My favourite Jack chat-up line is: “Do you fancy coming back to mine for pizza and sex? No? What’s wrong, don’t you like pizza?”

BIGhay: When will your follow-up to The Drought titled: The One That Got Away be released; and can we expect more hilarious and awkward encounters?

Steven Scaffardi: I am hoping for a May/June release, and you can certainly expect a lot more from the lads. I am toying with the idea of changing the name of the book to The Flood, as this time round Dan has found his mojo and now has too many options when it comes to the ladies. There will also be some new characters introduced into the story, including Dan’s very bizarre new flatmate, a stalker, and a new member of the gang. Watch this space!

BIGhay: Was there anything you felt you couldn’t include in the book, or a part that even you cringed with embarrassment when writing it?

Steven Scaffardi: No, I don’t think so. There were lots of ideas and story lines that never made it into the first book which I saved for the second one. Sometimes I had to make sure that I didn’t go too far and make the situations Dan gets himself into unrealistic, because there is a fine line when writing comedy between what is real and what isn’t. I hope I got the balance right.

There is a ton or cringe-worthy moments, but I think that is the key to this story. It isn’t all about those perfect moments or saying the right thing; it’s about those embarrassing moments that we’ve all experienced and laughed about to tell the tale.

Interview with top chick lit website Novelicious!

I am delighted to announce that I was interviewed by top chick lit site Novelicious today! You can check out the full interview here. A huge thanks to Kirsty Greenwood, the Founding Editor of Novelicious, for taking the time out and posting my interview. And good luck to Kirsty with her fantastic debut novel Yours Truly which you can check out and buy on Amazon for just 77p! That's what I call a bargain!

Self-Publishing Magazine 'recommends' The Drought!

Nearly 12 months ago I sent a copy of The Drought to Sarah Taylor, the editor of Self-Publishing Magazine to request a review. I had completely forgot all about it until I got home today and found a copy of the magazine on my doormat.

And much to my pleasant surprise, not only had The Drought been reviewed in the Autumn 2012 issue, but it was also the editors 'Recommended' book. Here is the review...


The Drought by Steven Scaffardi
Recommended by Sarah Taylor
The Drought is a hilarious, highly entertaining and completely unfiltered look into the inner workings of the typical male mind! It explores the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the male brain as they relate to relationships issues, run-of-the-mill blokeish topics, and of course, sex. Readers follow the intimate exploits of average bloke Daniel Hilles as he attempts to break free of the shackles of a previous long-term relationship through various unsuccessful and disastrous attempts at intimacy that have lead to a 'drought'.

Desperate to put an end to this sire situation, Daniel turns to the advice and directions of his closest mates, and ends up making things even worse. Humorous and booze-filled times ensue, painting a striking portrait of male raunchiness and debauchery. Typical and stereotypical male beliefs and values are shared throughout the novel, but not all men will agree with the overtly sexualized outlook in this story. Maybe what Daniel needed, more than typical guy advice, was a bit more common sense and a bit less booze to more rapidly end his drought. With that being said, the novel is a must-read for those that have wondered just what a typical guy thinks about. 

The Drought is a hit for Scaffardi's first novel, is reasonably priced, and the cover quality is superb! 

Coverage in Event magazine!

So this weeks last-minute entry into the Next Big Thing comedy competition got me a little mention on the Event magazine website. You can check out the article below or be clicking here. There was also coverage on the Sternberg Clarke blog.


Event Christmas party rocks Jewel Covent Garden 
by Chantelle Dietz

Event's annual Christmas bash rolled into the West End last night, the great and the good of the industry gathering at Jewel Covent Garden to celebrate the festive season. 

Were you there, or did you miss out last night? Make sure you check out the pictures here. 

The drinks were flowing and the entertainment schedule jam-packed with guests hearing performances from five acts in the first round of The Next Big Thing talent competition. 

Singers Kirsty Keogh, George Ide and Event’s Melody David impressed the judges, but it was comedian Steven Scaffardi and songstress Natalie Bunting who got the most claps from audience, sending them through to the semi final at International Confex in March. 

As the party picked up carnival dancers strutted their stuff on the bar and an exotic dancer roamed the room with a snake draped around her neck.

Second interview with the Sutton Guardian

Sophia Sleigh from the Sutton Guardian interviewed me at the Golden Jester comedy competition final last week. Here is her write-up...


Comedy Gold
by Sophia Sleigh

The final of a comedy competition took place in Sutton last week, writes Sophia Sleigh.

Great Comedy Nights' Golden Jester competition was held at the Holiday Inn, on Wednesday, December 7.

The audience voted for the wittiest stand-up and an X-Factor style panel of judges, including representatives from the Sutton Guardian and hotel manager Marco Firk, 52, decided the overall winner.

The show was the culmination of several months' worth of auditions and was orgainsed by Alan Sellers, 53, from Epsom.

Mr Sellers doubled up as the compere for the night, and joked that out of the 200 comedians who auditioned, they had gone through "the good, the bad, and the ugly" to get to the final five acts.

Steve Scaffardi, 33, frfom Carshalton, came runner-up in the competition, along Chris Blackmore, 17, from Raynes Park.

Mr Scaffardi was the most contemporary comedian, making tongue-in-cheek jokes about the racist tram lady from Croydon and this summer's riots.

He provided cringe-worthy sketches, which made the men in the audience nod their heads in acknowledgment and their girlfriends laugh in embarrassment.

Just after his performance, Mr Scaffardi said: "It's been good fun - stand-up is always something I thought about doing and you get such a good buzz when you do it.

"I take a lot from my experiences and try to find things people can relate to.

"You know by the crowd's reaction how you are doing and tonight's my 50th gig."

The well-deserved winner of the overall competition was Iranian comedian Vahid Jananguard, 58, from Oxford, who had the audience members crying with laughter and was a hit with the judges.

Mr Sellers said: "It was really excellent, it was the first year of the competition and we were using this year as a gauge. We already have 400 comedians entering next year.

"Comedians have heard it was a fair competition and it shows by the fact Vahid won and didn't bring a large audience to support him."

For further information on the Golden Jester competition 2012, visit greatcomedynights.co.uk

Interview with Flavour Magazine

This month I was interviewed by Melody David from Flavour Magazine for their Young & Ambitious section. It's not often I get called young, let alone ambitious, so I was more than happy to talk about my experience on the stand-up comedy circuit, and The Drought. You can check out the interview below or click here to read it on the official site.

Young and Ambitious – Steve Scaffardi
by Melody David

Steve Scaffardi may be a stand-up comedian but his self-publishing efforts are no laughing matter. Flavour catches up with South London’s funny man about self-publishing The Drought, a hilarious novel about a young man going through a dry patch

When did you realise you could make people laugh? And what makes you laugh?
I have always been a bit of a joker within my group of friends. The things that make me laugh are everyday situations. People are funny, whether they’re trying to be or not.

You’ve been doing stand-up gigs since January, what was the first gig like?
I was so nervous! I brought down lots of friends to support me. Someone filmed it for me and its funny watching it back, mainly because of how bad I was!

Which came first, the comedy or the writing?
The writing, I studied journalism at university and worked as a journalist for three years. I’d tried to write a book several times and then I had the idea for The Drought.

You chose to self-publish your novel; how did you discover self-publishing?
I’d tried getting my book published the traditional route by sending my manuscript to literary agents but I got the standard rejection letters. Then I spoke to a friend who had self-published, and the more I found out, the more appealing it became.

Can you explain briefly the main steps in self-publishing a novel?
Self-publishing is D.I.Y. So after you have written the book, you can either pay a company to help you or go it alone. A self-publishing house will do things such as proof read, edit, design the cover, arrange the printing, registration and get you on Amazon. Self-published books are printed on demand so when someone orders a copy online, the book gets printed and sent out.

What tips would you give to someone wanting to write a novel?
Be prepared to work hard, put lots of hours in for little return, and develop thick skin but you need to enjoy it. When I was writing The Drought I came home and wrote every evening and every weekend for three months. You need to write everyday but you also need time to just think of ideas.

What do you think are the advantages of self-publishing over a traditional book deal?
The big advantage is that you have more control over what you write and publish. A big publishing house may force you to make changes you don’t want to make.The book is about a young man, who goes through a dry patch in his love life after a break up, how much is based on your experiences as a single man? Unfortunately quite a lot! There was a period a few years ago where I had basically forgotten how to talk to women. The book contains real-life stories from my own attempts with girls and some from friends. Some of the stories are exaggerated for comedy affect, but sadly most are true!

His friends are pretty bad at giving him advice, what help did you get from your friends when it came to writing your book?
I got help from my male and female friends. I would basically listen to their horror stories over a pint and then write about them. The girls simply confirmed my suspicion of how rubbish us guys can be when we’re trying to impress a girl.

It’s a very funny story, what has the response been like from those who’ve read it?
Most of the guys who have read it have said they can relate to the stories and situations, which is what I wanted. I think the funniest stories are the ones you can relate to.

Which authors would you say have inspired you?
I am a big fan of Danny Wallace. I also like Mike Gayle as he writes about relationships from a man’s point of view, and that is certainly something I have tried to do with The Drought.

What does the future hold for Steve Scaffardi?
I’ve just got into the final of the Golden Jester comedy competition. I’m now in the final five so hopefully that will lead on to some bigger gigs. As for the writing, I am already planning a sequel to The Drought and I would love to turn the book into a screenplay as lots of people have mentioned it reads like a film.

You can buy ‘The Drought’ now on Amazon in paperback & e-kindle version.