Are You FAKING IT?

By Elisa Lorello

Thanks so much, Anthony, for giving me the opportunity to post on your blog and for all your support. I’m so excited about this tour and about the journey FAKING IT has taken, from the very first “what-if” to now.

FAKING IT is a romantic comedy set mostly in New York City (think When Harry Met Sally meets Sex and the City). Andi, a thirty-something writing professor, meets Devin, a handsome, charming escort (is there any other kind?), and proposes an unusual arrangement: lessons in writing in exchange for lessons on how to be a better lover. When Andi and Devin break the rules of their contract that forbids them from seeing each other socially and become friends, complications ensue. FAKING IT is witty and fun, yet also has some poignant moments.

I’m often asked what advice I would give an aspiring writer. My response is to never limit yourself. If you believe you have limitations, then your biggest limitation is you.

Let me give you an example. The idea for FAKING IT came to me ten years ago (I can’t believe it!) when I was watching this brand new show called Sex and the City. I was struck by its boldness, yet uncomfortable with its content—I was this Roman Catholic with five overprotective brothers and a mother who never let me watch soap operas when I was a kid, and they’re talking about WHAT??? Suddenly this “what-if” whispered in my ear: what if a woman is so inhibited that she needs someone to teach her to be more like those women on Sex and the City? And what if that person is a man, someone who is an expert on such things? What if he’s an escort? And what if they become friends? And so on.

I put off writing that “what-if” for five years because of the limitation I had established: I am not a fiction writer.

Yes, I actually believed that! I had always been more comfortable with the autobiographical essay, or memoir. But the idea wouldn’t go away, and I finally realized that I could use elements of what I knew (New York, teaching, writing and rhetoric, etc.), yet still tell Andi’s story. After all, it worked for Nora Ephron. Same with Woody Allen. Once I removed that limitation, the dam broke, and lo and behold, FAKING IT poured out of me. Moreover, I quickly discovered that this novel had a potential readership other than me, and that I was indeed a fiction writer.

The other limitation I removed was this idea that there was only one way to publish, that if I didn’t have a literary agent or a traditional publishing deal, then no one was going to take me, or my novel, seriously. All I had heard was how hard it was to get published, how competitive the business was. But I decided not to believe them.

I queried agents and got many rejections, but that didn’t stop me from believing in my work or in myself as a commercial author. Thus, I researched self-publishing and was lucky to ride the wave of social networking as a force in self-publishing and viral marketing. And I have no regrets.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t write, can’t publish, can’t sell your book. The only limitation you can ever have is you. Sky’s the limit – get busy writing!

FAKING IT is currently available at Lulu.com, Amazon.com, Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, NC, and Baker Books in North Dartmouth, MA. Also, be sure to join the group Faking It Fans on Facebook, and follow my blog, formerly known as Kairos Calling.