How much research did you have to do for Backstage Pass?
Olivia Cunning: I was forced to watch hours of videos of rock stars interacting backstage to get their lingo right. Poor me. I’ve been to so many concerts; I really didn’t have to research that at all. I had to look up things like tour bus interiors and touring schedules. Some musical terms. This book is really a compilation of being a music fan for decades. I absorbed it like a sponge for years and squeezed it out on the page.
Your debut book; Backstage Pass was just released, can you tell us what scene in the book is your favorite?
Olivia Cunning: While Backstage Pass is a very steamy book, I like the sweet, romantic scenes best. My absolute favorite scene is the heroine’s love confession. It never fails to make me tear up. Myrna has been fighting her feelings for Brian for so long, when she finally confesses them it’s like... wow... and then, FINALLY, you dolt!
If Backstage Pass gained a movie deal, which actors would you cast in the character roles?
Olivia Cunning: A major movie studio actually requested to review the manuscript, but there’s been no offer, yet. I’m thinking Backstage Pass probably a bit too, erm, explicit for the big screen, so I won’t get my hopes up. I’m a huge music fan but don’t watch much TV or many movies. I’m sure a reader would be far better at this than I, but I’ll give it a go:
- Heroine, Myrna Evans=Angelina Jolie
- Hero and lead guitarist, Brian Sinclair=Orlando Bloom
- Vocalist, Sed Lionheart=Vin Diesel
- Bassist, Jace Seymour=Bradley Cooper
- Drummer, Eric Sticks=Ashton Kutcher
- Rhythm Guitarist, Trey Mills=Brad Pitt
This is going to be a very expensive film to make! And the actors are going to have to get rock star hair, tattoos and some piercings. If you’ve read the book, feel free to make better suggestions. I really am terrible at this! It seems I only know A-list actors. Not very original.
Backstage Pass is part of the "Sinners on Tour" series…so whose book is next and what can we look forward to?
Olivia Cunning: The lead singer, Sed Lionheart, is the hero of the next book, Rock Hard. It will be released April 2011. As you learn in Backstage Pass, Sed was once engaged to Jessica. She left him and broke his heart, yet he still pines for her. He seems to think that makes it okay to treat women like dirt and to sleep with his friends’ girlfriends. Misery loves company. A chance meeting brings Sed face-to-face with Jessica. Well, more like face-to-breasts as she’s dancing in a strip club. They quickly find their old flames rekindled into a raging inferno. Jessica isn’t about to get mixed up with Sed Lionheart again, but she is up for playing the player and teaching him a lesson about being used. At least, that’s her plan. It doesn’t quite goes as expected. These two like to engage in discrete, but very HOT public encounters, which lands them in a whole bunch of trouble.
Who is your favorite Sinners rock star and why?
Olivia Cunning: My favorite member of Sinners? That’s like asking a mother which of her five children is her favorite. Or asking a polygamist which of her five husbands is her favorite. I love them all, but for different reasons. Brian is romantic, faithful, and a quintessential nice guy. I’d say he’s the one I’d most like to marry. Sed is strong, tender, dependable, and protective. He’s the one I’d most like to hold me after a hard day. Jace is brooding, guarded, and sweet. He’s the one I just want to squeeze and cuddle and kiss all over. Eric is funny and quirky. He’s the one I most want to date and have a good time with. Trey is a pleasure-seeking brat. Okay, I admit it, darn it. Trey is my favorite. He’d be so very, very bad for me and that’s entirely his allure.
Which scene in Backstage Pass was the most challenging to write and why?
OC: It was actually a rewrite. In the original, Brian almost killed Myrna’s ex-husband, who was far crazier in the original book than the published version. Jeremy (the crazy ex) had rented the apartment next door to Myrna and was obsessively stalking her and taking pictures of her including while she was engaged in “the act” with Brian. Jeremy had a hidden video camera in her apartment spying on everything she did. He eventually lost it (insisting that Myrna was still his wife and cheating on him), knocked Brian unconscious with a crowbar, stole her house key from Brian, and entered her apartment.
He was in process of strangling Myrna when Brian regained consciousness. Brian nearly beat Jeremy to death. Damaged his hands quite badly—incredibly significant for a guitarist—and was Myrna’s champion. Brian was arrested and went to prison for several days, but the charges were ultimately dropped. My editor insisted I take all deeply dark stuff out and make Jeremy less crazy and redeem him. She felt the tone of those chapters didn’t fit the rest of the book, and she was right. I do go to dark places on occasion.
I tried, but I couldn’t make Jeremy redeemable. Could not do it. He hurt Myrna badly and I didn’t want him to get away with it. I loathed him. I did make him less crazy in the rewrite, though! Every word of that scene was torture to write. Trying to make it light and funny? Hard. Very hard. I still hate Jeremy far more than a reader ever will, because I know how terrifying he really is, but he’s now a pansy instead of a psychopath.
Now, the fictional band in your series; Sinners, also has their own website complete with pics and chat rooms - How did you pick the models for your characters?
Olivia Cunning: Me and my crazy ideas. I thought, how fun to make a website for my fictional band. Picking models was a serious challenge. Looking at page after page of handsome men was fun, but I didn’t find anyone who looks exactly like my characters. Except Jace. The model for Jace is perfect, at least his face is. Jace has a boxer’s body, however, with a buff upper body. I looked through thousands of pictures to find matches as close as possible, but I still don’t think they look like my guys. Somewhat, but not exact matches. Trey is especially NOT Trey. Eric NOT Eric. Sed is pretty close. Brian somewhere in between. I just wanted a band photo for their website. I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into. I thought it would be easy to find likenesses. Wrong!
If this interview did not satisfy your cravings to learn more about the author and her new series, you can read a review of Backstage Pass, check out the rest of Olivia Cunning’s interview or find out how you can win a copy of Backstage Pass for yourself.
Jessica Hastings - Jessica Hastings is a published author/poet, professional reviewer, and avid reader. Schooled in journalism and creative writing, she ...
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