"I found out about more about the author’s own social media engagement: what makes her happy, what makes her rant on Twitter, and which emoji best suits her personality. During the conversation, I also discovered a little bit more about how stories and media interact with her work as both author and fashion copywriter."
"I took inspiration from the real world of blogging and Instagram Fame and reality TV and the shadier world of revenge-porn, but he is no one person. He’s a complicated character in that he’s a blogger who projects a bad boy lifestyle of womanizing and parties, and he leads a life many men know isn’t necessarily in the best interest of feminism or equal rights but it still holds attraction. So he has this massive, worldwide following and therefore a lot of power, and it allows him to get away with doing whatever he pleases. He has control. Or so he thinks. Jacob ends up grappling under the weight of this persona, because even though it’s not real it’s taken over his life and is starting to get in the way of his success and his relationships, so he tries to escape it by fleeing New York to for Alaska. Of course, it is not that easy for him to escape the monster he has created."
Read the full interview here
Featured as an up-coming South African author to watch in 2015 by the Sunday Times, the article reads:
"Known for her satirical blogs, such as My Branded Life and Cape Town Girl, Alex van Tonder's debut novel This One Time (Pan Macmillan) is due out in May. It features an unlikeable multimillionaire trying to recover from writer's block in an Alaskan hunting lodge. His mistake is opening the door to a pretty girl harbouring a Misery persona. Lauren Beukes' shout: 'Alex van Tonder has a straight razor on the pulse of pop culture. Scathing, witty and incisive.'"
