The Screenwriter Next Door
Get a behind-the-scenes all-access pass to Suki McMinn's The Screenwriter Next Door!
***Synopsis***
The Screenwriter Next Door (formally titled Four Nipple Sam) is the first romantic
comedy in my Hollywood Romance collection set in Los Angeles in the
eighties with models, actors, comedians, and other Hollywood types.
When a 1987 earthquake sends Sadie's hot
screenwriter neighbor over in his skivvies, her comedian boyfriend turns the
event into a TV pilot.
She decides to swap her story-stealing
boyfriend for the screenwriter and buys herself a used typewriter.
But writing her own L.A. happily ever after
isn't as easy as she'd imagined. And her modeling career is slogging along in
the slow lane.
With her ex's television show set to become the
hit sitcom she should have written, Sadie faces a choice:
Fashion model or writer? If she chooses both,
is there room in her life for the funny man who wins her heart?
Same story...different name!
A title refresh!
from Suzi McMinn's blog
https://sukimcminn.com/2023/07/29/a-title-refresh/
So, it turns out bots don’t like the word nipple. Ha! My latest Hollywood romantic comedy, Four Nipple Sam, is now reborn as TheScreenwriter Next Door. I got tired of making funny videos and posts only to see them sit there with zero views, so I consulted Sam and Sadie, my main characters, and they agreed to the title refresh. Sadie liked I’m Too Sexy for my Typewriter, but I suspected it would be too sexy for the bots as well.
Sam didn’t lose just an extra pair of nipples with the new title but also the book’s Amazon reviews. So sad! If you feel inclined to review the newly published The Screenwriter Next Door, please do so with my heartfelt thanks.
That reminds me: if you read my short story “Heartfelt” in
the anthology, A Shot of Steam, then I do hope you’ll check out The ScreenwriterNext Door, as it’s set in the same world: Hollywood in the eighties where I
spent my time strutting down runways and chasing my fair share of funny men.
(Did you know I went on a blind date with the screenwriter who wrote Blind
Date? I can’t make this stuff up.)
What is the sub-genre and trope? Did your characters lead you to this genre or was that decided before the story began?
This is a Hollywood romantic comedy with friends to lovers and boy next door tropes. The genre was decided before the story began. I knew I wanted to make this one funny and fun.
Are you more character or plot driven?
That's a hard one. I'd say character driven since the character is the one responding to the plot. The plot wouldn't work the same way with different characters.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind? Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
I write my first draft with writing software called Scrivener which allows me to keep files together in one place. I have one file with characters, one with places, one with a calendar of events, and so on. That helps me keep story elements straight. And it's especially helpful when creating a series. If I can't remember details from a story I wrote before, I can pop a file open and get my bearings.
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a life of their own. Were any of the characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of where you initially wanted them to go?
They behaved pretty well for the most part in this one. But I've learned not to force them to bend to my will. I'm just here to write stuff down. The rest is up to them.
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
No, but the meet cute is something that actually happened to me.
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
My main character lives where I used to live, has the same job I had, is dating a guy in the same profession as my then-boyfriend, so yeah, I guess I'll say yes.
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
I wanted one character to be more of an antagonist, but his charm seduced me, and before I knew it, I was starting his story in a sequel.
What is your favorite book in the series?
So far, this is the only one published in this collection, but I have a short story in this world that I'll have out very soon and will be free to readers who subscribe to my newsletter.
I think the female main character in that one is one of my favorites. I might have to write another book just for her.
I know that we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
Ha! I just mentioned how much I love the woman in my new short story. Her name is Petal. She became more complicated as I wrote her.
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
Sadie and Samuel are the couple in Four Nipple Sam, and selfishly, I wrote him as the boyfriend I wish I'd found in 1987. Sadie's a lucky girl.
How do you get inside these characters’ heads to find their perfect HEA?
I'm not sure I get inside their heads, but they're certainly inside mine. By the time I've finished writing a book, I feel like they've been a part of me their whole lives.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you? Why?
The scene where Sadie works as an extra on her ex-boyfriend's sitcom. Things go horribly and hilariously wrong.
In real life, I worked on my ex-boyfriend's sitcom, Seinfeld. I actually worked on quite a few sitcoms in my time in Hollywood, but thankfully I never suffered a day like Sadie's.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
I've only completed a book and a short story, so far, in this collection.
I'm working on another short story now that will be in an upcoming anthology for The New Romance Cafe. The book was longer and more complicated, naturally.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
I started Four Nipple Sam over two years ago. I worked on other stories and books at the same time, so I can't say I was working only on that one book the entire time.
It probably took a few months to write the first draft, and then longer to revise and edit. Then it was published in an anthology for four months before I published it.
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
It's a silly title, I know, but there just wasn't another one that was more fitting. Four Nipple Sam refers to the main love interest, Samuel, and it's also the title of a sitcom within the story.
If you met these characters in real life would you get along?
Oh, yes, I'd marry them all!
Series question – Did you know in advance that you were going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand their own story?
I wasn't sure what would happen, but I've since started two short stories about demanding side characters, and I've fast-forwarded a decade to create another series in the same world.
I'm working on the second novel in that era now and not sure what other stories will pop up. It isn't always up to me!
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors do you see as playing your characters?
That's a hard one. I see my versions of them in my head, so I can't imagine real actors in the roles. But casting sure would be fun.
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect next? Whether a new book and series or a sequel to an existing series? Can you share a small tease?
My free short story is next (and likely out before this interview is posted, so check my website—sukimcminn.com—to grab it). It's called Heartfelt:
Will a Hollywood comic’s one-night stand lead her to love, or is it just for laughs?
It’s 1989, and the comedy business is booming, especially for L.A. comedian Petal Goslin. Hot New York Club owner Jason Bixby flies in to become her surprise new roomie. Petal's ready for fun, but Jason has a secret that could change her heart. The standup world will rock when these two rub funny bones.
Check out all my interviews/reviews for Suki McMinn!
https://readingbydeb.blogspot.com/2023/07/author-at-glance-suki-mcminn.html
Suki McMinn writes romantic comedy, contemporary and paranormal romance, and cozy mystery. Her latest release is Four Nipple Sam, a romcom set in the eighties in L.A.
She was a model and commercial actor in Los Angeles for nearly three decades and now lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband and pets and spends her summers in Tryon, North Carolina.
Suki grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and earned an English literature degree from the University of Tennessee before pursuing a career in front of the camera in Hollywood. She's a founding member of Tryon Writers and contributes stories to charity anthologies for The New Romance Cafe.
Suki writes nonfiction as Susan McNabb, including her Hollywood memoir, The Opposite of Famous, and her newspaper column, "Tryon Diary."
Learn more and sign up for her newsletter at sukimcminn.com.
Connect with Suki:
Email:
susan@susanmcnabb.com
Fasten your seatbelts for a bumpy, Hollywood ride...
When a 1987 earthquake sends Sadie's hot screenwriter neighbor over in his skivvies, her comedian boyfriend turns the event into a TV pilot.
She decides to swap her story-stealing boyfriend for the screenwriter and buys herself a used typewriter.
But writing her own L.A. happily ever after isn't as easy as she'd imagined. And her modeling career is slogging along in the slow lane.
With Four Nipple Sam set to become the hit sitcom she should have written, Sadie faces a choice:
Fashion model or writer? If she chooses both, is there room in her life for the funny man who wins her heart?
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