AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH ANNE ULLAH

RE: TROUBLE AT TOFF TOWERS Tell us about your book:

Trouble At Toff Towers is the story of Louisa Toff, a St Thinnian’s old girl who still lives by the school motto: “Outdo and move on”. Louisa enjoyed her heyday in the 1960s/70s (when she was a top model with the Bone Idol Model Agency) and is now trying her best to stay in the limelight, cashing in on today’s celebrity culture, helped (well, hindered usually) along the way by an assortment of madcap characters. Louisa, or ‘Ell - The Glowering Inferno as she was (unfairly, she thought) christened by the Press, is happily married to millionaire Jack Toff and goes to great lengths to keep it that way. After all, it is easier and quicker to let Jack have his wicked way with her than to make up an excuse not to and when you’ve found someone like that you hang onto them!
Both ‘Ell and Jack get along famously with her ex-husbands, Hugh Jass and Stu Pendous. Hugh is very good looking if rather vain. He was one of the most celebrated actors of the 1960s/70s. Stu is a rock singer. You remember The Who, of course. Stu was front man for their rival band The Why. They split up when two of the members died. It was (almost) classic rock n roll. You’ve heard of people choking on their own vomit. Well, these two choked on each other’s! Stu made a swift exit and formed his current band, The What On Earth Four.
‘Ell stumbles from one crisis to the next, constantly trying to manipulate the Press in order to stay in the limelight. Things rarely go smoothly but, with the help of her Analyst, Di Laffin and her PR Agent, Sue Perdooper, she usually manages to take something positive from each unfortunate experience, and there are plenty of them! However, she does manage to enjoy some success with various business enterprises and it is when she launches her Food For Toffs range and gets mixed up with Sardino Codleone of Finned-Us Frozen Foods that things start to get a little (more) complicated (than usual) at Toff Towers.
How has the book been received so far?
I am absolutely delighted with the response so far. Twitter followers have been incredibly supportive and my first review on the Amazon website was four star! The fact that the reviewer mentioned Miranda Hart, Bridget Jones and Wodehouse in the same paragraph completely blew me away! And, just when I thought things couldn’t get any better another review appeared – five star! I was pinching myself!
What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Anyone one who likes a pun, having fun, a list and/or a twist! And I hope it will bring a smile to the face of anyone who loves 19602/70s culture too. Oh, and social networking. The heroine lives on Twitter (@RigidBones) and has a large and faithful following. Her PR Agent (@SuePerdooper) lives there too. Louisa also has her own Facebook account (Rigid Bones) and there is a Trouble At Toff Towers Facebook fan page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/TroubleAtToffTowers
 What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
Louisa started life as a character on a comedy website and reported every day on her trials and tribulations in Rigid Bones’s Diary. The biggest challenge I faced was never disappointing readers by missing a deadline. I simply had to sit down and do it – daily!
Where can people buy your book?
Trouble At Toff Towers is available exclusively on Amazon Kindle.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trouble-At-Toff-Towers-ebook/dp/B00AXLBBIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360068527&sr=8-1
What’s next?
2013 will see plenty more Trouble At Toff Towers – the sequel is currently “under construction”. Readers can keep up with what’s happening on the Trouble At Toff Towers Facebook page and come and make friends with Rigid Bones. We look forward to meeting you.
Footnote: About The Author
Anne Ullah, writing as Rigid Bones, writes for Newsleak which is part of www.comedychords.com. Trouble At Toff Towers is her first novel writing as Louisa Toff. Anne is originally from Doncaster, South Yorkshire but spent many happy years living in Pevensey Bay which she still visits regularly. She now lives in Cyprus and East Sussex.