Johannesburg - Renowned author Eva Mazza admits she lost her “mojo” during the Covid pandemic.
So much so that the well-known author of hit books such as Sex, Lies & Stellenbosch, and Sex, Lies Declassified says she almost walked away from writing the final trilogy of her famous book series.
“I began writing the third book during Covid and after Christine (not part of the series) was published, but I shelved it,” says Mazza.
“I had lost my mojo during Covid. I felt the despair and impact of those two years quite acutely. To be honest, my book Declassified didn’t take off as I had expected and its slow movement was enough to demotivate me from pursuing the third book.
“I was dealing with loss and grief. I was in a huge depression, and disappointed by the missed opportunity of readers grabbing a ‘great escape’ in a time when it was very needed, perplexed me because I felt the ball had been dropped and the momentum lost.”
Mazza says she only stepped out of her funk in January this year and was able to continue with her latest steamy book, Sex, Lies, and Alibis which makes up the final book of her famous trilogy.
“I came out of the fog in January. The readers who I thought had forgotten about ‘the promised third’ motivated me to write. Men especially egged me on. They would have full-on discussions about the characters with me.”
Now, Sex, Lies and Alibis, has created a storm around the country. The book went on sale yesterday.
We caught up with Mazza this week:
How thrilled are you to have released the final book of your sex trilogy?
I am feeling relieved, elated, apprehensive and proud that Alibis is out for distribution as I type this.
Relieved because this last book has met with many challenges – mainly personal – that I had to overcome or work through. But being a type A personality, I couldn’t just leave it hanging. There was definitely a sense of commitment to my readers that helped put my butt on that seat and my fingers to the keyboard. Loads of readers egged me on, that is why this last book is dedicated to them.
Elated because it is thrilling to type ‘The End’ – to work through the story, to see the various characters come to life.
Apprehensive because you worry whether it will be well received, and finally, proud because I’ve never fully claimed the “author” title (imposter syndrome) and yet here I am, having written and published four books.
Tell us what Sex, Lies, and Alibis is all about.
Jen, the protagonist is known for running from difficult situations and as usual, and to her family’s horror, she escapes to France to avoid her ex-best friend’s cremation.
Much happens in Stellenbosch and Cape Town to cause enough conflict to beckon her back. Will she cut her stay short? Or will a certain entanglement with a stranger, and her work commitment to refurbish a super-yacht in Monte Carlo keep her firmly ensconced in Europe?
For those who haven’t read your trilogy, tell us what inspired you to chase a series of books such as these?
I was, like Jen on the cusp of fifty. Many of my friends were divorcing: and not unlike Jen, some had stumbled upon their spouses in compromising positions.
Nearing fifty one cannot help but reflect.
Jen had been forced to confront the truth about her philandering husband, John.
Luckily I was more at a crossroads where I kept asking myself how much I had done in my life bar raising four children? So, I decided to set myself a goal – to write and stage a play, try to pen a novel and perhaps a screenplay before my big five-oh …
So that is how Sex, Lies and Stellenbosch was born.
It was a runaway success and I began working on the second book, Sex, Lies Declassified almost immediately, opening with Jen wondering if there are such things as “happy endings”. It became evident that another book was required or alternatively the second book would be double the size. So Declassified ended in the knowledge that the final title in the series would be Alibis.
How much did you enjoy writing the material for the three books?
I had a blast writing the first book. When you write for fun, no book deals, no deadlines, there’s nothing that inhibits the process.
All three have been enjoyable to write, especially once there is that clickety-click moment when things really start to flow and the story begins to write itself.
It’s such an amazing feeling – no matter how you try change the trajectory of the narrative or the characters, the story takes you to where it needs to go.
Have you always been passionate about writing steamy novels?
No. But look at me. What fun!
I also love writing poetry. My play was based on a tragic event (a triple filicide which was construed as a “mercy killing”). I kind of started writing humorous anecdotes on FB of various experiences involving my children, husband and situations we had found ourselves in. And my friends would say, you should write a book, so I did. How I got into steamy novels was purely experimental. While others were having affairs, I was cavorting on the keyboard in my children’s treehouse with several of my characters, happily knowing I wouldn’t be contracting any STIs.
Everyone says that sex sells, do you believe that?
Yes. I think sex is very popular.
There’s also a stigma attached to the word “sex” (for goodness sake, I can’t even use the Sex, Lies FB page because it rejects my posts when the word “sex” is mentioned). Writing in this genre also alienates your work from other perceived “serious” and lauded works.
Let’s be frank, this genre is often frowned upon and overlooked when it comes to book fairs and festivals.
Despite this, I have loved my author journey, it’s been part experimental, part observational and educational and extremely insightful.
What frame of mind do you have to be in to write books such as these?
I’d like to think that they really are an extension of the genre, chick-lit with erotic scenes added – and the sex is dictated by the narrative. No gratuitous sex for sex sake.
Women, especially in this country, are taking ownership of their bodies and their sexual desires. Sexual gratification is a given not an unexpected surprise.
I’m not sure a “frame of mind” is really what is required other than time to write without distractions (I have two teenagers still at school) and it’s quite difficult to write a sex scene while they are asking what’s for dinner or fighting – but it has been done, even while waiting in doctors’ rooms.
I merely allow the characters’ sexual interactions to be written as authentically as possible.
My aim is that the readers should find the sex erotic. There is a story, there are strong characters and it is fast-paced and a page turner that keeps readers glued to those pages.
I understand the books are written as fiction to protect the innocent. Are all three books based on real-life stories?
That comment was penned by my publisher and it has garnered much attention.
Everything that we do creatively is inspired or triggered by something that was heard, seen, read or experienced.
I believe many people in Stellenbosch claim to know who the story is based on. I have no idea who.
I guess, like all stories, it could be similar to your story or a friend’s story or “skinner” that you heard. The theme is a universal one which uses the glorious backdrop of sexy Stellies.
Are you able to give us a sneak peek into some of the hot and steamy scenes that feature in your new book?
Many of the characters that we have come to love or hate gain much traction in the final book. There is sex – but again, it is part of the narrative. Buy the book.
Your books have proved to be instant hits. Why do you think that is?
Because I am a reader of popular fiction and I know that this genre’s potential and popularity is underrated in this country. I aimed to prove publishers and booksellers wrong or slouch away having tried. Furthermore I worked hard to ensure that this book would transcend the demographics of “class”, sex or colour and I believe it has.
What does it take to write a good sex novel?
Well, first sex cannot be gratuitous – it has to flow naturally from the interactions between the characters. Writing sex for sex sake is awkward and cringeworthy for the readers unless they’re expecting pornography – and even then, that’s up for debate.
Also you have to write the sex to suit the couple (or those involved).
If you’re with a prostitute would you be making passionate, connective love?
I don’t believe my sex scenes are pornographic, I’d like to think that they are a natural extension and sexual expression between the characters.
One of your books, Christine has been optioned for a movie by a Hollywood producer, how thrilled are you by that?
I’m thrilled because it really was given very little to no publicity … and it should have.
It is screaming to be made into a movie as the Sex Lies Series is screaming to be made into a TV series.
Can we expect many more sex trilogies from Eva Mazza?
I inadvertently landed up writing a sexy novel and now this is where I am. I told you how it started. True story.
So I often wonder, am I an author for real. I doubt myself all the time.
But thanks to readers and sales, that’s who and what motivates me. So, if they want more, I am very obliging – I aim to please. And, I have a story brewing. But right now, I need Alibis to sell: to fly off the shelves.
Extract - Sex, lies and alibis by Eva Mazza
Blurb
Sex, Lies & Alibis is the eagerly anticipated final book in her deliciously steamy and shockingly scandalous trilogy that began with the runaway success of Eva Mazza's debut novel, Sex, Lies & Stellenbosch, followed hot on the heels by Sex, Lies Declassified.
This will have readers turning pages in anticipation to discover what finally happens to our heroine, Jen, and the rest of the dysfunctional cast from Stellenbosch, with its penchant for impropriety and unapologetic wealth.
After stumbling on her adulterous husband, John, in book one, by the time Jen gets to the final part of the trilogy, she's discovered that happy endings don’t necessarily come in the form of a man, no matter how good the sex or how exquisite the backdrop. Despite trying to escape her past by flying to Monte Carlo where she's landed a million dollar contract to re-design the interior of a superyacht, circumstances beyond her control force her to return to the Stellenbosch winelands. The steamiest book you'll read this summer.
About the author
Eva Mazza is a long-time resident of Stellenbosch. She is the author of Sex, Lies and Stellenbosch, Sex, Lies Declassified and Christine which was recently optioned by a Hollywood film producer. Sex, Lies & Alibis is the final instalment of her successful sex trilogy.
Extract
The surge of guilt that swept over Jen was followed swiftly by a gulp of wine.
Frankie was dead!
Had her ex-book-club buddies not supported Frankie during the devastating loss of her husband? A little too late to care! Frankie may have been an adulteress, a femme fatale, but Jen knew her estranged friend hadn’t wanted to lose her husband, Lee – not to divorce, and especially not to death. Frankie needed him, loved him even. This, Jen knew. Frankie had always maintained that, after years with the same partner, average sex was a given, a minor issue compared to the bigger picture – the “bigger picture” being respectability and lifestyle, and Lee had given her both. “I’m not stupid enough to give it all up for multiple orgasms,” she had often joked.
The boarding gates were now open. Jen drained her wine glass before gathering her belongings to join the long queue of passengers boarding for Paris. She was finding it difficult to process Frankie’s suicide. Murder and suicide are up there as the worst ways to lose someone – suicide possibly even more devastating because perhaps it could have been prevented. Did nobody see the signs? Had Frankie sunk into depression after Lee’s fatal car crash? Jen would never know because she had cut all ties with her after discovering the affair between her best friend and John, who just happened to be Jen’s husband. Despite their estrangement, they’d been friends long enough to know that Frankie hated the word “depression”. People had to “pull themselves together”.
There’d been many reasons to escape to Paris, the predominant one being to avoid Frankie’s cremation service. To have to publicly mourn her ex-friend’s death, which had shaken her more than she cared to admit. If she was going to feel down and be filled with regret, she would rather do it alone and in another country. If anyone would’ve been there to console her, it would probably be her two closest friends, Sharon and Claudia ... and then there was Patty. In the midst of all the angst, she had forgotten about Patty!
Patty had left unexpectedly for New York and her phone had been off ever since. They had all been worried about her and had tried to follow up, but it was difficult to track her whereabouts at the best of times, and, if Jen was brutally honest, Patty had always been elusive. They actually knew very little about her, except that she was involved with some dubious, members-only Gentlemen’s Club at an undisclosed address in Cape Town, so there was no way they could simply pop into her workplace to enquire about her. Jen handed her boarding pass to the air hostess and was directed to her seat. She loaded her hand luggage in the compartment above her row and slid into her seat, fastening the seatbelt before removing the pillow and blanket from their plastic wrapping and placing them in the pocket in front of her. She plugged in the headphones, ready to use when needed, all the while ruminating over the turmoil Frankie’s death had triggered.
Before check-in, Jen had exchanged a very emotional farewell with her boyfriend, Myron.
Wanting more of a commitment from her, he had spent half the year begging her to move in with him. Having been married most of her adult life, she had tried to explain, in the gentlest possible way, that moving in with him did not excite her. She was satisfied with the way things were. Perfectly fine, in fact, with “multiple orgasms” (she smiled) and the novelty of having her own space. But still the knot in her stomach tightened at the thought that she may lose him forever, especially after opening his WhatsApp message.
‘As difficult as this is for me, see this break as a hall pass’ A hall pass was the last thing on her mind, and it irked her that he had so readily sent her a permission slip. She may not have wanted the commitment that came with living together, but she certainly wasn’t winging off to Paris to cavort with other men. She would be in Paris for a few days to avoid Frankie’s cremation, yes, but also to indulge in a homage of sorts in memory of Frankie. Then she’d make her way down to the port of Monte Carlo where she was due to begin redesigning the interior of a superyacht, the Gwenhwyfar. She hadn’t done much research on the company, Helm Trading, but Zinhle, her assistant, had been in touch with Mr Jack Wallerst to confirm that she’d be starting work on the project a few weeks earlier than originally scheduled.
Jen shifted, inadvertently kicking the passenger’s seat in front of her. She was quick to apologise to its disgruntled occupant who turned to glare at her, but she was interrupted by the air hostess requesting she remove her earphones for take-off. At this point, Jen allowed herself to glance to her right to see who was seated beside her. An elderly woman was fussing over her husband, securing his seat belt and adjusting his headrest. Jen had been raised to believe that marriage was forever.
It had been her dream to grow old with John. She could have been that woman if the truth about her husband’s infidelity hadn’t hit her head-on. Numerous rumblings about John’s indiscretions and Frankie’s betrayal of her with her husband had sure as hell dashed any dream of growing old together. It had certainly altered her aspirations (if she had had any beyond a long and arduous together-forever).
Divorce had made her a more assertive and confident version of the Jen to which everyone had grown accustomed. Despite Brigit and Pete’s protestations about her leaving, and her emotional parting with Myron, more than ever, Jen was determined to do what suited her.
Sex, Lies and alibis is published by Melinda Ferguson Books, an imprint of NB Publishers, and retails at R290.