Spotlight & Giveaway: Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Bianca Gillam to HJ!

Hi Bianca and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Bad Publicity!

Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting this blog post about Bad Publicity – I hope you enjoy it!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Bad Publicity is an enemies-to-lovers rom-com set in the publishing industry. Think Ten Things I Hate About You meets The Devil Wears Prada (two of my all-time favorite movies!). Andie starts her dream job in New York as a book publicist, only to find out that her top author is none other than Jack Carlson, the man who ruined her life at university. Faced with having to spend four weeks with him on a book tour across Europe, can Andie learn to forgive, and accept Jack back into her life? Or will she struggle to face her painful past, and push Jack (and others in her life) away in the process?
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“There’s room for all things, always. Light and Dark, all at once.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

The inspiration for this book was my work in the publishing industry: I was an editor at the time but had always been fascinated by book publicists and the fact that they got to go on tour with authors. This kicked off a ‘I wonder what would happen if…’ scenario in my head, and – adding all of my favorite places in Europe into the mix – the bones of the story was born. I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift and Noah Kahan while writing. And I took a trip to Berlin for research while editing, and visited Another Country (the bookstore mentioned in the book) for the first time. My experience there inspired that scene.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

I think Andie is all fire – and I think Jack can see that’s not the full story. He’s a pretty level-headed guy, and can see (when they meet at university) that she’s passionate and justice-driven and ready to defend her friends to the death, basically. When they meet later on, she’s pretty harsh to him – and her behavior is sometimes over the line (which she’s accountable for, at least at the end of the novel) but I think he can always see her heart underneath. For Andie, I think Jack represents chaos to her at first when they reconnect. But, gradually, she comes to realize that that chaos is actually not to do with him. And that he actually helps her access an inner peace that she thought she’d never get to see again. So they’re two sides of the same coin, I think.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I cried during the conversation Andie has with her mum at the end of the book – which I won’t share here, because there are spoilers. But I’ll share a snippet of a scene I swooned a little while writing:

‘Andie,’ he says, and for a moment everything
falls away, like it did in the car earlier. Like we’ve just
met, and we’re strangers in a bar, and I could reach
across and kiss him if I wanted to. I am intensely
aware of our proximity – all it would take is one step
forwards to close the distance between us. The look
in his eyes from the plane, from the party earlier,
flashes through my mind, sending a shock across
my skin. And I consider it – closing the distance.
Allowing myself to stay here, for just a moment
longer, in a place where there’s no pain between
us. Following the desire that’s burning through me
the longer he looks at me. But then there’s a sound
behind us – the door to the pub opening, a rush of
cold air hitting the back of my neck. I turn, to see
Jonathon standing in the doorway.

His arrival and the cold air brings me to my
senses, knocking me back into the present. The
landlady’s son crosses the room to his mum, now
standing near me in the crowd, and tells her he fixed
the car. Turns out it just needed the tire changing,
and he had a spare one in his truck. Jonathon waits
by the door, gesturing for us to follow him. I look
up at Jack, his eyes still locked on me, and the noise
around me is suddenly far too loud, the pub far too
crowded.

‘Thank you so much for your help,’ I say, to the
woman and her son. Then I turn to Jack, avoiding
eye contact. ‘Let’s go,’ I say, and I walk towards the
door without looking back.

Readers should read this book….

If you like 80s and 90s rom coms. If you like a second chance romance. If you appreciate the messiness and complexities of love and life, and characters who aren’t perfect (far from it) but who redeem themselves in the end.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I am currently working on my second novel, Off Script – set in the film industry, about two actors whose paths cross on the set of a film. They had an almost-romance a few years earlier, and complicated feelings come to the surface.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 5 Finished copies of BAD PUBLICITY, U.S. only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you could travel to any of the cities in Europe that are mentioned in the book (Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, Dublin, London), which would you choose?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Bad Publicity:

“Fuck”

Not a word I expected to come out of my mouth on the first day of my new job. In my first conversation with my new boss. From the look on her face, she wasn’t expecting it either. My hand flies up to my mouth but it’s already out there, in the air, floating around. Fuck, I say again, this time in my head.

“Is something wrong?” She’s all wide eyes and concern, which is better than judgment, at least. I look back down at the list between us, squinting, making sure. The name is still there, clear as day. Jack Carlson. Jessica follows my gaze.

“Ah, I see. Nerves, right? He is a big name. I get it—I felt that way when I first started working on bigger authors.”

I open my mouth to correct her, then realize that explaining the actual reason would be infinitely worse. Five years ago at university, Jack Carlson screwed me over so catastrophically that I made a promise to myself I’d never have to be in the same room as him again. And until exactly this moment, I was pretty sure I’d sooner light myself on fire than break that promise.
“I thought he wrote nonfiction?” I say, trying to keep my tone neutral.

“He does, usually. But his editor persuaded him over to the dark side last year, so you’ll get to be the publicist for his first novel. Once you’re over the nerves it’s actually a very exciting campaign!”

She starts telling me about the campaign, while I stare at the list of authors I will be representing in my first senior publicist role. The role I was so excited about until my big chance turned into my worst nightmare. I emerge from my stupor when I hear the words “book tour.”
Jessica looks momentarily confused, then repeats herself without a hint of irritation. I like her very much. It’s a shame I’ll have to quit immediately.

“I said, you’ll have time to get over those nerves when you accompany him on his book tour.” Shit. I grip the edge of the desk to hide my reaction, while Jessica tells me that there are a few events planned in New York, then a European leg.

“Europe?” I say, trying desperately to gather my thoughts. As Jack’s US publicist, Europe is not my remit.

She nods and continues, her smile widening. “He’s extremely successful in France, Germany, the UK, and Ireland, and our sister companies publish him in those territories, so we’ve arranged a tour.” I silently pray that this explanation isn’t going where I think it’s going. “We did the same thing for Jack’s last nonfiction book, but there were a few hitches on the tour—miscommunication between publicists in different countries, missed flights, etcetera. So this time, to keep things clean, his agent has insisted that we stick to one publicist. One schedule. One person to make sure things run smoothly.” She pauses, her expression expectant. “That would be you.”

Oh, good. It can get worse. My knuckles are practically white from gripping the desk at this point, and Jessica waits as I force a smile that probably comes out more as a grimace and try to think of an appropriate response. I am sure she’s expecting enthusiasm—and wouldn’t she? It’s any book publicist’s career dream to run a global tour for a world- famous author. should be excited—this should be the culmination of all the work I’ve done so far, an opportunity
to show what I’m made of.

I manage to choke out a strangled “Oh?” from my throat, which suddenly feels like it has closed up. Fortunately, Jessica smiles gently, interprets my response as concern about planning such a large tour, and reassures me that they have already handled the flights and accommodations, and nailed down the schedule. All I have to do is go and make sure the tour goes off without a hitch. Which would be fine, if there wasn’t already a hitch: a fucking huge one. I excuse myself in a choked voice to go to the bathroom.

As soon as I find it, I lock myself in the nearest cubicle and let out a long breath. “Fuck. Fuck!” I say, out loud, to no one in particular. It’s been bad enough, watching Jack’s stratospheric rise from a distance—New York Times bestseller this, literary award that. Historical documentaries, radio interviews. Viral threads about how hot he is, thirst traps, video compilations of him running his hand through his hair while he’s describing some battle that happened five hundred years ago. Now, not only do I have to be aware of his success, I have to travel around Europe with him facilitating it. There are not enough swear words in the world to do this justice. I want to scream. But, somehow, I have to try and calm down. As disastrous as this reality is, it’s not going away any time soon. Come on, Andie. You can handle this.

Can you? a small voice inside me asks, and suddenly I’m dangerously close to being pulled back to that last semester at Edinburgh. To telling Jack I never wanted to see him again, and meaning it. To the weeks afterward, when my world was smashed into pieces. But I shut all that in a vault long ago. If I’m going to get through this, I have to keep it there, somehow.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A sparkling novel of second-chance romance and rebuilding after loss, in which an unexpected reunion could lead to a career-ending catastrophe or a new lease on life and love. . .

Andie has been awash in grief since the death of her father, but when she lands her dream job as a senior book publicist, she finally finds some buoyancy, a renewed sense of purpose. She’s prepared to take the New York publishing scene by storm.

Until her first day, when she discovers that her biggest author is Jack Carlson—the same Jack who ruined her life at university. Whom she hasn’t spoken to in five years. Who is not only still infuriatingly hot but also incredibly successful. And whose campaign she definitely cannot mess up, if she wants to keep her job.

To make matters even worse, the central part of this career-defining campaign is a book tour. For a month, Andie will have to travel across Europe with the man whom, if she were being totally honest, she’d like to hit with her car. Plus, there’s the unrelenting grief and her mother’s confusing new beau. Put all this together and you get. . . a lot.

But she will not lose this opportunity, especially not because of Jack. One month on tour with Jack Carlson, visiting some of the most romantic spots in Europe. Deep breath. She can do this.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Bianca Gillam is a London-based author and armchair expert on ’80s and ’90s rom-coms whose poetry has been published in a variety of publications. She formerly worked in publishing, where she had the joy of editing a wide variety of brilliant authors; she was inspired by the books she published to write her own. Bad Publicity is her debut.
Website |