Monica Chereches is the author of 
Less Ordinary, a compelling novel that explores hard hitting subjects such as male rape, and the taboos associated with polyamory in modern Western society. She will be reading a section of her book at Pride Arts Festival, London 2015 and we caught up with her to find out a bit more.
Less Ordinary is your first novel, what inspired you to write it?
A few years ago I read an interview about Benedict Cumberbatch’s carjacking in South Africa. He said it was a horrible experience, but he added that he was thankful that nothing worse has happened to him, like being raped or killed. For some reason I couldn’t get the story out of my head and it got me thinking: what if it would have been worse and if what he was afraid of actually happened? So I started doing some research on how often people get carjacked/kidnapped in certain parts of the world and how often the victims are raped. What is the percentage of male victims? How do the victims deal with what happened to them? I also read a study on PTSD to learn about how it works and what the symptoms and effects are.
And lastly, I saw a documentary on the National Geographic channel about Polyamory, when more than two people are involved in a romantic relationship. It was interesting to see how some people can actually make this work and in the middle of all this I started writing the book!
Well, I think that’s about it 🙂
Less Ordinary touches on some very hard hitting subjects early on, are you afraid this might put people off?
Well, one of my readers described the first chapter as “harrowing” and another said that the kidnapping reminded him of the movie Reservoir Dogs which, in a way is flattering because I really liked that movie. But I also had people contacting me via social media to let me know that they loved the book and the fact that it touches on interesting subjects, and are waiting for the second part. I believe that people are drawn to the story because of the characters, the chemistry between them and the complexity of the situations they go through, and instead of being put off they welcome the “less ordinary” subjects.
How did you get involved in Pride Arts 2015?
I applied to be a volunteer and help out with the organising of the London Pride Parade, and this is how I met the curator of the Arts Festival, Duncan Day. We started talking and I told him about my novel and gave him a book. Later on he asked if I would be interested in doing a reading as part of the festival and I said yes I would be happy to. To be honest I was more than happy, I was ecstatic, but I did my best to not do a crazy dance right in the middle of the cafeteria. I think he might’ve changed his mind then 🙂
Where can our readers find you if they go, and what else should they look out for?
I can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. I’m currently working on a screenplay for Less Ordinary and started writing my second novel which is a fantasy themed one. I can’t really say much about the latest at the moment as it is in the first stages of development, but will keep you posted.
Who would you say inspires you?
My biggest inspiration is my Grandmother. I know this doesn’t sound as exciting as having a well know person as a role model, but my Grandmother was the one who always believed in me and taught me to never give up on my dreams. She used to say that if I work hard and stay focused I can achieve whatever I put my mind to. She had a hard life and wanted to make sure that her children and grandchildren will have a better one. She was a determined woman, (haha), I learned a lot from her and she will always be in my heart.
If I’d have to pick an author as an inspiration, that would be Frank Herbert. Although his books are in different genre than mine, the amount of work and research he put into his novels has never ceased to astonish me. The Dune Saga is the best piece of sci fi literature I have ever read and I highly recommend it.
Have you ever wanted to pretend to be a vampire, just to freak people out? (you can tell us this, there is no judgement here)
Haha, yes, several times. In fact when I worked in Los Angeles with The Blank Theatre, whenever we had someone visiting, my colleagues liked to introduce me as “the Vampire girl from Transylvania”, and I always looked at the visitor with a very serious expression for a few moments, fixating on him/her without saying a word. Some people freaked out, others were just impressed by the fact that I’m from Transylvania and kept asking loads of questions 🙂
What advice would you like to give to aspiring authors?
I still consider myself an aspiring author and I think the most important thing is to keep writing. The more you practice the better you get. And read the best books in the genre you want to write in, to learn the language and see how other authors describe similar situation.
Anything you would like to add?
On the 22nd of June at 6pm I will be doing a Reading for “Less Ordinary” at the Bankside Space, 32 Southwark Bridge Rd SE1, London. This event is part of the Pride Arts Festival and it is promising to be a lot of fun. Please come by and say hello 🙂
Less Ordinary is available to purchase in bookshops and on Amazon Kindle.
And you can follow/bother Monica on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
