Interview with Sibel Hodge, Author of "The Baby Trap"

Today, I have something very exciting!  Sibel Hodge, the author of the hilarious The Baby Trap, has been so kind and allowed me to do an interview with her.  There were just so many questions that popped into my head as I was reading The Baby Trap and I was able to ask them to Sibel, and she was kind enough to answer them! :)

 

Romance Bookie: How much would you say of "The Baby Trap" came from personal experiences?

Sibel: Probably about 80% of The Baby Trap came from my own experiences with infertility. Obviously, some things are embellished because it needs to entertain the readers, but The Baby Trap is a really special book for me because I lived through the same obsession Gina did.

RB: How much of yourself did you put into Gina?

S: Gina is pretty much me! I think the thing with infertility is that it affects all aspects of your life to the point where it becomes an uncontrollable obsession, and a lot of people not going through the same thing really don't realize how it affects you. It gets so you don't recognize yourself anymore, and you can turn into a completely different person. I was that raving nutter for a long time!

RB: I absolutely LOVED the humor in "The Baby Trap" (i.e. Rabbits LOL), did all that humor come from you, or did you have some inspiration from another author, or someone else?

S: Aw, thanks so much! Most of the humor did come from me, but a few things came from my hubby, who's got a fab sense of humor. There is a lot of humor in the book because I think that sometimes, when we're going through really difficult times in our lives, we have to try and put things in perspective and try to laugh about things, otherwise life can overwhelm us. Laughter is the perfect way to de-stress.

RB: In the back of the book, you wrote that "The Baby Trap" is based on you and your husband's personal experience of trying to have a baby; would you say that you tried many of those things Gina did to help her get pregnant? (Ex: Feng-Shui, Crystals, texting "Psychics", etc.)

S: Omigod, yes! The only thing I didn't try which is in the book is the crystal healing, although I have since. The healer, Suzanne, is based on my sister who is a crystal healer, and I think Suzanne adds a really important message to the book for everyone, not just people dealing with infertility. I think we're so busy in our lives these days, trying to achieve things we want, that we forget to live in the moment. I know I'm like that! It's nice to have a reminder to slow down and appreciate the things we have, rather than focusing all the time on the things we want, and working so hard trying to achieve the next goal, and the next, and the next, so that we don't enjoy the positive things.

RB: Do you read a lot? Which author are your favorite? And would you say they have inspired you to write?

S: I've always read a lot, ever since I was a little kid. I've got loads of favourite authors (probably too many to list), but the people who really inspired me to write are authors like Marian Keyes, Catherine Alliot, Sophie Kinsella, and Janet Evanovich.

RB: I love Sophie Kinsella! And am actually currently reading One for the Money by Janet Evanovich and am really loving it! :)  Thank you so much, Sibel, for stopping by!

S: Thanks so much - you're a star!

Thank you so much to Sibel for answering my questions!  I'm realllllllyyyy looking forward to reading more by her!  And don't forget everyone, stop by Amazon and download or order your copy of The Baby Trap!!!  It really is hilarious!!

The Romance Bookie :)