Interview with RJ SILVER

Today I'm pleased to have a chance to interview RJ Silver, who writes wonderful, entertaining short stories such as The Princess and the Penis (review here) and The Ballerina, the Gymnast, and the Yoga Master (review here), and My Third-World Girlfriend (review here), all of which are must-reads if you enjoy romantic comedy. I thought it would be fun to ask RJ a few questions about his books and being an alien.

Tasha: Welcome, RJ! What inspired you to start self-publishing short stories?

RJ Silver: I got fed up with the publishing establishment. I had one of the top literary agents in the world, and my thrillers were making the rounds with senior editors in the biggest publishing houses, but they seemed to want to cookie cut me into a marketing package, often requesting changes to my books solely to satisfy marketing demographics. That was a disheartening commercial end to my long creative journey, so I said “the hell with it” and decided to write just for fun.

Tasha: Do you consider yourself a "romantic" writer? In content, not personality. ;)

RJ: Well, first of all, you’re asking a man a question with the word “romantic” in it. There’s not a man on this planet who can tell you what that word means, as we rely completely on women to explain it to us. I do believe in love, however. And long-term relationships. And positive, uplifting thoughts. You mix all those together with a little humor, and that pretty much explains why I write the stories I do.

Tasha: You're obviously well-traveled. What's your favorite book store in the world? Or, alternately, what's your favorite pub?

RJ: You know, I was never a bookstore guy. I tended to get hooked on certain authors, then go from store to store buying everything that author ever wrote. As for pubs, there have been so many (blush). I like little quirky places, full of oddball characters and good-natured buffoonery. You know, some place I easily can fit in.

Tasha: Do aliens like cats?

RJ: Not this alien. Well, it’s not that I don’t like cats. I just don’t understand them. I mean, you treat a dog well, he’s going to lick your face. Cause and effect are very clear. But with a cat, I never know what its thinking. I’ve tried to be affectionate with some, only to have them hiss and claw at me. Others, I’ve completed ignored, only to have them jump on my lap and purr. I’m starting to think they’re collectively messing with me, then getting together to chuckle about it afterward.

Tasha: Since you're an alien, have you thought about writing science fiction? Attack of the Amazonian Aliens, etc.?

RJ: As I’m a huge sci-fi fan, I’ve definitely thought about it. But you have to remember that, given where I’m from, writing about humans is science fiction!

Tasha: In My Third-World Girlfriend, is there a connection between sexual, cultural, and economic dominance?

RJ: Totally. Actually, it goes further than that, becoming outright exploitation of poor women by rich men (relatively speaking). Worse still, it’s exploitation that all too often ends in broken hearts. I see it every day here in Bangkok and it disgusts me, which is what compelled me to write My Third-World Girlfriend in the first place. Being in love with a smart, well-educated, strong Thai woman, I also wanted to combat the stereotype of Thai women as being all bar girls and prostitutes. That part of society does exist here, but the vast majority of Thai women are a lot more like Kinlaya (and thus Jan).

It’s  been very interesting to observe the reaction to this book, incidentally. I think most of my fans (predominantly women) didn’t really like me venturing into quasi-serious subject matter, which kind of surprised me, because usually women are telling me to grow up and act more responsibly.  But when I’m writing, they seem to prefer the other me, you know, the one they make sit in the corner three times a day for lengthy timeouts.

Tasha: You like to play off of stereotypes in your stories. What's one cliche you would love to satirize that you haven't yet?

RJ: Ooh, don’t get me started. I have so many characters I’m experimenting with. The ultimate pessimist, for example. I’m such an irrepressible optimist, I think it’d be fun to invert that perspective. I’ve had so many clashes and with bureaucracies and authority figures in my life, I’m definitely going to poke some fun at one of them at some point. And we still live in an age of such repressed female sexuality (despite having come a long way), I see a sexually voracious female character in my future, too (a kind of reflective satire, where you satirize something by way of its opposite).

Tasha: What would you recommend a Western visitor in Thailand never do?

RJ: Go to Bangkok’s red light district. There’s a lot of human suffering down there. Don’t feed it.

Thank you, RJ! Please check RJ out on the webbernets at his Blog, Twitter, FaceBook, and GoodReads.

Review: MY THIRD-WORLD GIRLFRIEND by RJ Silver

Gerry is a middle-aged man depressed by his life-long history of failed relationships and women throwing things at him, not necessarily in that order. He's doing some soul-searching in the airport when he overhears a trio of dedicated rakes (for lack of better adjective) planning to move to Thailand where, they believe, the women will be easier to deal with because they haven't heard of women's liberation. Soon Gerry finds himself in Thailand, torn between the age-old conundrum of trying to please his new girlfriend and his old buddies, whom his girlfriend naturally hates because they are dicks.

I really liked RJ Silver's The Princess and the Penis (review here) and The Ballerina, the Gymnast, and the Yoga Master (review here). My Third-World Girlfriend is a little more serious than either of those stories, but it's also more grounded in reality--comparatively speaking, of course.

There's a definite connection drawn in this story between economic and sexual dominance. The West has a long history of going into Asia and doing whatever they want, and Gerry's three buddies continue that with the justification that people in Thailand don't know any better. "...if finances are going to force us to settle down now, I'd rather find a woman less inclined to violence," one of them says. Another of the three states, "The Chinese are too capitalist now. The vomen [he's German] there vant so many things, vee'd have to share von just to split the costs." And, once Gerry moves in with his girlfriend, she controls the household budget.

There are lots of funny one-liners in this novella, but I think what makes My Third-World Girlfriend feel more heavy than Silver's other stories is that Gerry's buddies have absolutely no redeeming qualities. In both TP&tP and TBtG&tYM, there are very few characters who aren't likable, even if they are misguided. In My Third-World Girlfriend, more than half of the characters--Gerry's friends--are totally hopeless. It kind of makes the story almost a battle between good and evil. You want to be like, "Don't listen to Hank the Relationship Yoda, Gerry!"

My Third-World Girlfriend wasn't quite what I was expecting, but then I don't think Silver's novellas have ever been what I was expecting, and that's a good thing. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys funny, romantic stories.



Musical Notes: "Only Daddy Who'll Walk the Line" by Waylon Jennings

The Ballerina, the Gymnast, and the Yoga Master by RJ Silver

Anna is chillin' in Central Park, reading, rockin' the sweat pants--when she spots a handsome stranger sitting on the bench next to her with a bouquet of roses. Anna is pretty sure he's way out of her league, but as he keeps distracting her with morose sighs, she feels like she has to ask him if anything's the matter. Soon Vincent (who is not only handsome but a billionaire) is telling Anna all about the disastrous last three relationships he's had. Vincent keeps falling in love with various women--the elegant Russian ballerina, á la "good Nina" from Black Swan; the fiery Latina gymnast; and the spiritual Asian yogi--all of whom go into a personal and career nose-dive once Vincent gets his claws into them. Is there something wrong with Vincent other than the fact that he's emotionally immature and has commitment issues?

This is another short and funny romantic comedy from RJ Silver (of the ever-popular Princess and the Penis). It is just as funny as The P & the P, but not as romantic. Also--ironically--it's much more sexually explicit. But I was much more interested in the implicit sexual nuances relating to prowess, masculinity, reflexivity, and performance.

All the women Vincent dates are employed in fields mythologized for their implied sexual prowess (I couldn't help but think of the Seinfeld episode where he dates a gymnast). Vincent takes on the women's skills in order to woo them, and as he gets better at ballet/gymnastics/yoga, he becomes more attractive to them. There's an interesting reflexiveness going on here, since it seems like Vincent desires not only the women but their professional artistry, even though these métiers aren't considered "manly." Vincent calls watching a man dance a ballet a "visual assault" on his heterosexuality, yet he clearly loves ballet. Mastering these stereotypically "gay" skills is made acceptable by the fact that Vincent is doing it in pursuit of a woman, and proficiency of the tasks equates to Vincent's heterosexual finesse. Yet eventually the women start reflecting Vincent back at himself, and it's then that the relationships begin to go downhill, for the parts of his personality they take on are the parts he rejected by assuming their roles.

What confused me about the story was how Anna is different from all these other women. Perhaps her relationship with Vincent is successful because they both take on fictional roles, thus never reflecting one another back at themselves. Vincent is allowed to hide from himself forever and Anna can be any type of woman he wants, like a chameleon. There might be a larger statement to be made here about how we all take on "roles" in a relationship to help keep it stable, but I'm not sure if Silver is arguing for or against it, or if there's even enough time spent on Anna and Vincent's relationship to make an argument.

The only thing that threw the novella off for me was the persistent ethnic stereotyping, and not just with the women. Of course the Cuban gymnast has to be passionate, and someone name Enrique has to be a pool boy, and so on. Maybe Silver meant to satirize these stereotypes, but it seemed a little too casual for that.

In any case, the story is still funny--not as cute and sweet and The Princess and the Penis, but a quick and fun read nevertheless. I have to say, The Ballerina, the Gymnast, and the Yoga Master offered a surprising amount of thought for food. I definitely recommend you check it out and hope Silver keeps writing and publishing!

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The Princess and the Penis by RJ Silver

Princess Amalia is the sweetest princess in the world. Not only is she well-behaved and innocent, but she's unfailingly kind and she does good works to help the people of her kingdom. That's why, the king reasons, he has to keep her away from all men--to protect her. But one day a gigantic penis slips under his radar and wriggles its way into Amalia's bed.

When I saw this reviewed at Penelope's Romance Reviews, I was like, "No way is this good." But I downloaded it anyway because it was free. To my surprise, this book really was as good as Penelope said it was.

In this super-quick romance, The Penis goes from being a pain in Amalia's rump and her trying to get rid of it/him, to her thinking maybe it/he's not so bad after all, and finally to her escaping her boring fiance for "naps" with the penis. I never thought I'd root for a disembodied penis, but somehow Silver managed to imbue it/him with a heroic personality. There are also entertaining secondary characters, especially the Aunts.

Things I learned from this novella:

• Don't try to keep your teenage children from dating penises.
• Naps are good.
• Always listen to Penelope.
• Bigger is better.

With The Princess and the Penis, I was expecting something really... well, tawdry. Instead this is a fractured fairy tale that's definitely silly, but also surprisingly sweet. Add in a great ending and I think this is a short story every romance lover should add to their to-read list!

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