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Author Interview "Simon Moneils"


Please tell our readers a little about yourself.

My name is Simon Moneils, author, and I hail from Toronto, Canada. Over the years I have been honoured by several establishments for dedicating part of my life helping those people struggling with their sexual orientation.

Could you tell us a bit about your book and why it is a must-read?

Dirty Pink is about the plight of a geneticist, Dr. Puglia, who is heads an Institute in Rome which develops and markets their reversal therapy to change people’s sexual orientation. Once the therapy becomes known to be ineffective, Dr. Puglia and his team attempt in helping those innocent people who took the therapy.

The therapy had bad side-effects on the patients and many become suicidal worldwide. Dirty Pink’s chapters bring the reader to several countries where being gay is either illegal or shunned.

The ultimate goal of Dr. Puglia is to save as many people as possible before an anti-dote is found for the reversal therapy.

What inspired you to write your book?

My original inspiration came from the fact that many people who are gay around the world and hide the fact that they are homosexuals. Many of them marry to hide their secret other simply keep to themselves without ever coming out to their family, friends, or society at large.

Those closeted people have a hard time emotionally because they are marginalized and cannot find a way to deal with their sexual attraction other that seeking a reversal therapy to change their attraction to another sex.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?

The challenge in writing such a book was to be careful not to ostracise the already marginalized closeted people by portraying them in guilt ridden scenarios of their own experience. Hopefully I have been able to keep their dignity intact by showing them in their own settings that supported their goal to find happiness just like any other human being on this earth.

Do you have any unique or quirky writing habits?

Dirty Pink was purposely written with quick and short chapters that respected scriptwriting of scenes. This keeps the reader in an upbeat to see what happens next without being held up with superfluous details. People, who have read it so far, have commented how they enjoyed reading this type of writing due to their busy lifestyle. They also have asked when is the next book coming out as they anticipate the same great experience of reading.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

At first the book was titled from the pantone book colour of 493c which is a prominent shade that has a large role in the book when you read it. The title was finally changed to Dirty Pink to avoid licensing and trademark issues with the pantone company.

Is there a message you want your readers to take away from your book?

Yes of course, my book was writing with several messages in mind. One, hopefully closeted people who read Dirty Pink, will get a sense that hope is there for them in the community to seek and get support in dealing with their issue of sexual attraction outside the current society’s acceptance.

Two, those who try to change people based on their own beliefs, my message to them, this is a useless plight, as sexual orientation is in our DNA and no one will ever change it by whatever means, mentally or physically. Forcing people to deny their born-trait makes them unhappy and resent their own self esteem. We are currently troubled with teenagers in many backward societies who are contemplating suicide rather than deal with their marginalized surroundings at home, at school, or in their community. With Dirty Pink, I want to offer a message of hope for all people dealing with being closeted.

Do you have any advice for the yet-to-be-published writers reading this?

It took me over four years to write this book part-time. My tutors have always told me to write about what you know. Personally, I’ve written about the places I’ve visited in my life, the people who I encountered, and about events that I lived myself or the events that my acquaintances have experienced. While a fiction, Dirty Pink includes events that actually occurred which is exciting when an author writes from first-hand experience. My feelings and emotions went into writing Dirty Pink and I am very proud of the outcome.

What are you working on now?

I have just completed a sequel to my book and it will be called Green of Shame. It will come out in the middle of fall 2017. The topic is about a group of rich activist equipped to go about the world and stop prominent homophobic leaders from several prominent societies. The chapters depict how they reconcile with these red-necks who are resisting the group’s intricate attempts. This book is also a sure page-turner.

What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, etc.) and link(s)?

About the book: Dirty Pink

THE CHASE IS ON. Frantically, a team of scientists are struggling to quell the nasty side effect on victims of a botch genome therapy. Against the powerful money-hungry pharmaceutical, how can they rescue the multitude of innocents? The recent escalating suicides, rampant worldwide, is the only clue something has gone terribly wrong. This thriller is a page turner as we discover on how victims, from different cultures, attempt to hide their secret from their loved ones while dealing with their malady.

Dirty Pink is available for sale in local bookstores and online, around the world: Major Retail Outlets: Chapters.ca Amazon.com Amazon.ca Local, Independent Bookstores:

USA:

New Zealand

Australia

Japan

India

International

UK

About the author:

Simon Moneils has been honoured by several establishments for dedicating part of his life to helping those people struggling with their sexual orientation. Dirty Pink, while fiction, is also partly based on an accumulation of dramatic events people have actually experience in their lives. Simon hails from Toronto, Canada.

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