Back in March we posted about Ronni Cooper's exciting new novel, Rock Chicks. Rock Chicks is set to be published in June and will most likely be one of the best reads this summer! We spoke to Ronni about her favoured music, Jackie Collins, and of course, the inspiration behind the novel.Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer.
Scandalously provocative story about three women in a world of sex, drugs & 80s rock.
What inspired you to write Rock Chicks?
Throughout my teenage years I worshipped at the temple of Jackie Collins, Shirley Conran, Judith Krantz and Jacqueline Susann. In the early nineties I made a career out of managing nightclubs across the globe, when the rock world was at its gloriously decadent best. Bon Jovi, Springsteen, Guns & Roses - I loved the music, the attitudes and the men who came with a bottle of Jack Daniels and unfeasibly tight leather trousers. I was always far too ruthlessly business-minded to lose myself in the hedonism of the scene, but the temptation was there and sometimes I wondered...
I knew then that one day I'd write a no-holds-barred novel about life in that world. I adore chicklit and many of the current crop of bonkbusters are fabulous - but I wanted to write something that was raunchy, sexy... a book for every female who ever had just a glimmer of a wild side, or who wondered what it would be like to wake up on a tour bus next to Jon Bon Jovi and keep on partying.
Where do you write your books?
It varies depending on the time of day. In the afternoons I write at my desk, but mornings and night I write in bed, coffee at the side, music on loud.
What is your favourite chick-lit book?
Oooh, too many to choose, so I'll stick with the original classics: Valley of The Dolls, The Stud and Lace. Who is your favourite heroine, and why?
It has to be Jackie's Lucky Santangelo - I like a character that combines power, sass and sexuality.
What part of Rock Chicks was the most fun to write?
There's something incredibly intoxicating about writing kick-ass women who live their lives on their own terms, and who really don't give a damn about what anyone else thinks. Other than that? Those men! For several hours every day I was living with two outrageously attractive, rock star sex gods and I could make them do whatever I wanted. That's a job you've got to love....
Do you have any tips for readers who would like to become published authors?
There are some great books out there by people with the inside track on the best ways to maximise publication potential. In the UK, Carole Blake's From Pitch To Publication and The Insider's Guide To Getting Published by Rachael Stock are excellent guides, and of course The Writer's & Artist's Yearbook is an invaluable reference tool.
What are you currently reading?
Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Grazer - it's a story about a high-powered New York divorce and I'm a huge fan - I love the dialogue and the wry humour in Grazer's work.
Are you working on anything else at the moment, and if so, can you tell us? I'm working on two novels at the moment - one is a rom com and the other a hard-core bonkbuster in the same vein as Rock Chicks. I'm close to deadline on both so my fingers go faster, the coffee gets stronger and the music gets louder. Bring on the sex gods...
Thanks, Ronni!
To check out Ronni Cooper's website, click here.
