Does Sleeping With Someone Else Really Count?

My guest today is the author of THE FIDELITY FILES. 

The book's gotten great press:

"Alias meets Sex and the City...an excellent debut." -Bookluver

"Sensational!" -Literary Lotus

"You'll be hooked!" -Minneapolis Star Tribune

A USA Today Hot Summer Reads Pick!

Novelist Jessica Brody explores the thorny issue of infidelity in her dazzling debut, THE FIDELITY FILES, the story of a charismatic Los Angeles woman who goes undercover as a “fidelity inspector” to find out who's faithful and who's not.

 Well, given that it's time for end of the year resolutions and spiritual reconciliation, I feel it's only fair to acknowledge that even someone like me, married for decades, a mother of two, even someone like me can fall prey to temptation.

This Thanksgiving weekend I decided to let go of the rules, all the rules.  I'd given up beer to lose weight, making a solemn vow the first week of November.  I'd been faithfully warming up Lean Cuisines and working out to my newest infomercial DVD, which, come to think of it, I bought during a moment of exceptionally poor impulse control, too.  It's called something like Tony Horton's ten minute trainer and of course whenever my husband phones during the day and I'm out of breath, I delight in telling him that I'm doing Tony. 

All that to say that when I showed up in Atlanta for the holiday, I was rather full of my own virtue.  Well, you know what the Bible says.  Pride goeth before a fall.  Or something like that except it's in Arameic or Greek and probably illustrated with pictures of Spartans falling onto their swords...well, anyway..you get the picture. (Or you will.)

My sister puts out these huge bowls on her kitchen island, full of candy bars.  The wrappers are shiny and the labeling is all about making you think it's just not that bad. Adjectives like mini and my own personal favorite, fun-sized abound.  From there it was a hop, skip and splat, into the mud flats of debauchery, fun-sized martinis being the diving board from which the rest of the weekend found itself barrelling ahead, full-steam. 

By day two I was feeling bad.  My self-respect was at an all time low.  It just happened.  At least that's what I try to tell my loyal mate, who even now is curled up next to me, even as I make my confession.  The lack of any sort of reproach  makes me fully aware that true companionship includes the sort of acceptance for which best friends are famous. So just between us, I've decided to come clean, at least in cyber court. 

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it's true.  But you know that song about 'love the one you're with?"  What can I say?  

I know now that going away for a weekend without bringing all members of my family, well, it just puts me in a place the nuns used to call an "occasion of sin."  Now I know why the teen pregnancy rate among evangelicals is so much higher than non-religious.  Because the girls and boys think they will be able to resist their primal urges, and when it comes right down to it, they can't.   

For me,  the spirit was willing and the flesh was weak.  Plus, well, I had no real choice in the matter.  My own sweet love was at home alone. I was in that drowsy state of low inhibitions.  When I realized what had happened, I could feel the beating of Bailey's heart next to my bare calf. Believe me when I say, much as I tried, I couldn't resist the allure of such a massive creature wanting me.  All of me, even in my decidedly disheveled state. 

While my own sweet love was at home with only the TV for entertainment,

I was straying, swept up in my own selfish need for comfort.

 

Now that I've confessed, I feel better.  Able to ask the beautiful Miss Brody all about herself.

.  If I had to offer two bumper sticker explanations for my novel, they’d be “Appearances are deceiving” and “Mean people suck.”  Tell me what your slogans would be, and why.

 

 

“The Truth is Priceless,” and “Life’s too short to live in the dark.”

 

My character’s main purpose in life is to tell people the truth. As a fidelity inspector, she’s hired to find out if a husband would cheat on his wife if given the opportunity. The motivation that keeps her going even through the hard times is her belief that “life’s too short to live in the dark.” That everyone who wants to know the truth should be able to find out. It’s this quest that gets her out of bed every morning.

 

2.    Your two favorite movies over the past twelve months and why?

 

Okay, this is hard. I see so few movies (I’m more of a TV person). But I just saw Memento recently for the first time and thought it was absolutely brilliant! (I know, I know, I’m just a tad bit late on that one).  And for my second movie, I think I’m gonna have to go with Twilight. Not because it was the greatest movie of all time, because it definitely wasn’t, but because I am so obsessed with the Twilight books that I can’t not include it!

 

 

3.    What was the one thing you learned in getting your book published that you were really surprised to find out?

 

How LONG it takes for a book to hit the shelves! Holy cow! I was a young woman when I sold that thing. I really wasn’t expecting it to take that long. I thought six months maybe, nine tops.  But from the time I got the publishing deal to the time it was actually available in stores was 19 months! And I recently sold a YA novel to another publisher and that one is going to take 24 months to release. I’m still not entirely sure why it takes so long but that was definitely an unpleasant surprise. Especially for someone like me who get frustrated when it takes longer than ten seconds for music to download.

 

4.     If you had to pick one and only one condition (beyond computer or pen and paper) that would allow you to write would it be: a. solitude   b. caffiene   c.  sleep   d. food   e.  sex  or f.   ______.

 

I’m gonna go with F. Quiet. Which kind of fits into solitude. But when I write, it has to be absolutely silent. No traffic outside, no one banging pots in the kitchen, no music playing…nothing! Otherwise, I get very cranky!

 

 5.   Do you have a favorite genre?  If so, who are your three favorite writers? If not, who are your three favorite writers and how have they influenced your work? 

 

My favorite genre is definitely the one I write in: commercial women’s fiction, or “chick-lit” to the well-informed. But I have to say, I’m inspired by a lot of different writers in different genres. If I had to pick three, I would say: