Guy Sigley - Romantic Comedy About a Socially Awkward Hero

When Guy Sigley isn't running around in his full-time job as a small business manager (a.k.a. stay-at-home dad), he writes stories about a guy called Barney. As our author of the day, we chat to Sigley about his book, how much he has in common with Barney and what it takes to write successful comedy.

Please give us a short introduction to Barney: A Novel

Barney is a romantic comedy about a guy who gets fired from a long-term public service career, which turns his world upside down.  As he sets out to impress his new private sector team, and win the heart of his formidable new colleague Gloria, Barney has his prejudices turned on their head. He has to navigate a new world, and a romantic pursuit, with limited social skills and a fear of simply being himself. There are plenty of madcap antics along the way!

What inspired you to use a main character with awkward social skills?

My own experience! I'm not too bad socially, but I think we all have moments when we're out of our depth and I thought that would make for a good comedic story, as well as relatability. 

In which way did becoming a stay-at-home dad change your life and how do you manage to find time to write?

In every way imaginable! I now like to refer to myself as a "small business manager" because keeping everything on track with the three kids is like running a business. I just don't get paid well enough! I still do most of my writing at nights and sneak in the occasional session on weekends. I try to be disciplined and work Sun - Thurs with Fri and Sat nights off. 

How did the character, Barney, come to exist?

He was originally a character I was developing with some short stories. As the stories and his personality grew, I thought there was enough of a character there to fill a novel.

What do you think is it that makes Barney so relatable?

His honesty. Because we get a lot of access to his inner monologue, I think he is often expressing thoughts we usually keep to ourselves. I also think he makes enough social mistakes that we've all done something Barney-like in our lives.

Why did you decide to try your hand at comedy?

I read David Nicholls' Starter for Ten and laughed so much, I decided I wanted to give people that same experience. I've always liked to make people laugh and to do that with my writing would give me great joy as well. 

How much of your own personality can be found in Barney?

A little bit too much at times! I'm something of a germophobe and I struggle with the social conventions of physical contact with strangers, but I like to think I've got a little more street smarts than Barney :-).

What is it about Gloria's character that attracts Barney at first?

Her strength. Barney can see that she is tough and determined and he finds this instantly attractive.  

How hard is it to pull off comedy that readers find funny?

It's tough but I've got a great editor who tells when I'm putting jokes in because I think they're funny rather than the humour being consistent with the story. It's unpredictable as well because what one reader finds hilarious, another won't and vice-versa.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book? Does it contain a underlying message?

The underlying message is that pretending to be what you think others want you to be will never make you happy. It's tough being yourself, but it's the only way you'll find freedom from your fear and self-doubt. 

Besides writing and parenting, what other secret skills do you have?

I'm an amazing* dancer. (*purely subjective opinion never objectively verified.)

What are you working on now?  Will we see more of Barney?

I'm working on the sequel to Barney so he'll definitely be back. I hope to have it released by the end of 2016. 

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I'm giving away a series of nine free short stories about Barney before he was fired from the public service. Readers can sign up to have them emailed each day at guysigley.com. I'm also on Twitter (mostly tweet about writing): https://twitter.com/guysigley and my Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/GuySigleyAuthor/