Interview with Lisa Lim, plus a book giveaway!

**Giveaway is now closed**

Lisa Lim has been working in call centers for over ten years, which has inspired her debut novel "Confessions of a Call Center Gal" (reviewed here). She loves dogs (and has three of them), shopping and reading chick lit (naturally). She's also the mommy of two little girls. The picture she gave us is only half her face because she's camera shy. That may be why hiding behind a phone (or the Internet) is a good thing for her. Lisa has come to talk to us today about her book and share some other fun facts about herself. She also has eight (since it's her lucky number...it represents prosperity) e-books to give away to some lucky readers anywhere in the world.

If you like what you've read today, find her on Facebook and check out her blog!

MP: What inspired you to write Confessions of a Call Center Gal?
LL: I’m a chick lit junkie and I've read countless of chick lit novels. The women usually have fancy jobs, and they fancy men who hold fancy jobs. And I wanted to read about a woman I could relate to. A protagonist who is regular chick with a very ordinary job, who falls for a guy with an ordinary job. Although, the guy is anything but ordinary (I like to think).

And I know this sounds cliched, but my English teacher in college prefaced every writing assignment with this advice – “Write what you know.” And I know too much about call centers. One only need to hear the word "call center" and everyone’s blood pressure skyrockets through the roofs. Callers go ballistic and become verbally abusive over the phone, and often feel entitled to unload their personal demons on us. I've seen many of my co-workers on the verge of tears . . . and I wanted to tell our story.

MP: What do you do in your spare time when you're not writing?
LL: I have three pooches that I adore to bits. They're shelter dogs and my motto is "Don't shop! Adopt!"
I enjoy walking my furry companions but I find it mildly annoying when people ask, “Oh are you walking the dogs or are the dogs walking you?”
Me: *Dry laugh*
Oh, I also love scarfing down bean burritos. Mexican food. *Nom* *Nom*
By the way, I want to marry a bean burrito.
And he will have Mexican Monterey cheese hair.

MP: What’s your typical celebration ritual when you sell a new book or get exciting news about an existing one? Anything strange or quirky we should know about?
LL: Um, did I mention I love bean burritos? I blast the Mariachi music and gobble up bean burritos.

MA: If you could choose one dessert or snack food that you could eat as much as you want of (and never gain an ounce!) what would it be?
LL: Bwarhahahaha. I think you already know the answer to that one.

MA: What was your favorite book growing up and why?
LL: Anne of Green Gables, Sweet Valley High, oh and of course Peter Pan. That book is chock full of memorable sayings that I cherish. *COUGH* If I may? Here goes ~
“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”
“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”
“To love would be an awfully big adventure.”
“To live will be a great adventure.”
“If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!”
“Wendy,’ Peter Pan continued in a voice that no woman has ever yet been able to resist, ‘Wendy, one girl is more use than twenty boys.”
~ by the great J.M Barrie

MA: If your book were to be turned into a movie, who would your dream cast be?
LL: Ohhh this is fab fun. The lead protagonist Maddy would be played by Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) and Zac Efron, Zac Levi or Henry Cavill would be cast as Mika—the Belgian stud.
Rex Lee or Jo Koy as Truong Nguyen. And definitely Sean Connery as Archie.

See this video I made with my "dream cast":




MP: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?
LL: No other emotion quite compares to laughter, and I hope my readers get plenty of laughs. And I’m going to quote from a reader who reviewed my book—“They are folks from all walks of life, all education levels, all career levels who did not plan to but ended up in a call center as a means to pay the bills . . . food for thought.”

**Disclosure~If you find politically incorrect shows like The Office and Chelsea Lately detestable, childish and offensive, then this book is probably NOT for you.**

Special thanks to Lisa Lim for chatting with us today and for providing the e-books for the giveaway!

How to win "Confessions of a Call Center Gal":
Please comment below with your e-mail address.
(Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: Have you had a crush on or dated a co-worker?
2. Please tell us: If you could eat one kind of food and never gain weight from it, what would you choose?
3. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
4. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
5. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
6. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

Giveaway ends July 25th at midnight EST.