Friday, November 13, 2009

Guest Blogger Anjanette Delgado



It’s always a pleasure for me to host guest bloggers, especially debut authors. Today’s blogger is Anjanette Delgado, whose debut novel The Heartbreak Pill is available now.


Please help me extend a warm welcome to Anja Delgado.

Thank you so much for hosting me Terri. It’s a pleasure to be here.

It isn’t often that contemporary “chick-lit” concerns itself with research-based, scientific theories of love. For that matter, it isn’t often that Time Magazine delves into the field of romance novels. So when the issue of love and pain pops up in both, within weeks of each other, we might wonders if the apparently shallow topic of romantic heartbreak may not be quietly entering the realm of current events, as relevant to the future of society as the centuries-long, global trade wars.
In an age where people still have safety concerns about having a “potentially-emotional” woman president, my novel “The Heartbreak Pill,” tells the story of a professional in the cusp of her career as a scientist, who loses her bearings in the midst of shocking betrayal. She then uses her knowledge of organic chemistry, and her position as head of research at an upstart drug company, to create a pill that will eliminate the pain of love for all mankind; all while (initially) sidestepping FDA watchdogs and using herself as a guinea pig.

Notwithstanding the literate humor of this debut novel’s ensuing Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde scenario, or the irony and the surprising depth of the heroine’s arguments for her actions, the fact that it’s not a fantasy or sci-fi novel, presupposes that this premise is actually possible and, even more controversially, that it is needed.

I believe it’s absolutely possible. There’s a fantastic amount of scientific proof, readily available in everything from popular magazines to scientific journals to prove that love is indeed in our brains and that we could, and should, at least attempt having a say in what it does to us. In fact, the nature and depth of a person’s love for someone can already be confirmed by viewing the changes caused by the direct correlation between feeling and the chemical imbalances of certain substances in our brains. These are the substances that Erika is wreaking havoc with in the novel.

When I talk about scientific proof, I'm referring to modern-day love doyenne, Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University Anthropologist who’s written books such as “Anatomy of Love” and “Why We Love” to both critical and popular acclaim. According to Fisher, “perhaps no single phrase in all of literature so clearly captures the essence of passionate romantic love (better than): a state of need.” Fisher, who has conducted wide-ranging studies on humans over a period of time using advanced brain-scan machines such as FMRIs, writes "that human need for emotional union with their beloved is so intense that it is capable of blurring the lover’s sense of self.”

But, getting back to the quest at the… uh, heart, of “The Heartbreak Pill,” how lofty a goal is eliminating growth-inducing heartbreak? We’re playing with fire when we say to people, ‘you’ll get over him or her.” It’s one thing to eat like a pig or make prank calls after a breakup. It’s another to suppose that that’s the extent of how deep it can cut. We have only to look at the numbers of people killed by previously-stable, non-violent partners, or at the statistics for leading causes of suicide among the widowed and the divorce. These are not all emotionally-immature people losing their minds all of a sudden. There’s something going on in their brains. Something they’re unable to deal with. That’s the heartbreak Erika’s trying to cure.

Anjanette Delgado is an Emmy award-winning writer and producer with over eighteen years of local and network news experience. She has produced for CNN, NBC, Univision and Telemundo, among others, producing extensive coverage for events such as the 1991 Gulf War, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the present war with Iraq, which she executive produced for Telemundo in 2003. She won her first Emmy for her human-interest series “Madres en la lejanía,” about the plight of Latino mothers who leave their own children behind and come to the United States to work illegally... as nannies.

THE HEART ♥ BREAK PILL
ANJANETTE DELGADO


Erika Luna is a thirty-something scientist living and working in Miami. When her husband of seven years; the very successful, very smart, very good-looking, founding partner of one of Miami’s most successful Public Relations firms falls in lust with another woman, their marriage spirals to hell and Erika’s practical nature leads her down the strangest of paths.
What’s a scientist to do when slapped with pain so deep it interferes with breathing? Try to cure it, of course! This is the premise of Emmy award-winning writer and producer Anjanette Delgado’s delightfully funny and touchingly poignant debut novel, THE HEARTBREAK PILL (Atria Books; April 2008).
To learn even more facinating things about Anja, you can find her at her website: www.anjanettedelgado.com

Anja will be stopping in all day to answer your questions, so please feel free to ask her anything. Also, while Anja continues her tour, all who leave a comment will be placed in a drawing to win a copy of her other works.
To find Anja’s other stops, check the list below.

Heartbreak Pill Book Tour

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great blog!!!

Tessy

Deborah J said...

Congratulations on your debut release, Anja. I wish you the very best. Your book sounds quite fascinating.

Pamela Tracy said...

Congrats. The first book is soooo exciting.

Kate Kasserman said...

Congratulations, Anja, and very best of luck!!!

Anjayanja said...

Thank you all. It is so great to be part of a community of women who read, write, and support noe another. Un abrazo carinoso a todas, Anja

Christie Craig said...

Great post. The book sounds wonderful. Congrats on your release!!

CC

Alexis Walker said...

Wow Anja, Heartbreak Pill sounds fascinating! Real controversy here. I noticed that a lot of your top stories were around tragedy. Was it satisfying to write a story with a happy ending or did you find it difficult?

Emma said...

Congrats on your release!!
The Heartbreak Pill sounds wonderful.Please enter me in the giveaway. augustlily06(at)aim(dot)com.Thank you.

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