He may be known for Desire, Vodka, 7th Wonder, On Again Off Again, Vertigo and Spellbound, but Gerard James Borg is fast gaining notoriety for his debut novel Sliema Wives, as David Schembri finds out.
We’ve been seeing a lot of Gerard James Borg lately, and it isn’t even Eurovision season. Borg has just released his first novel, Sliema Wives, and if the title itself wasn’t eye-catching enough, he put himself on the cover of it, flanked by four women in red dresses.
“I’m on the book cover because I’m not known for writing books, I’m known for writing songs. So I thought it would be a good PR exercise to show who wrote the book. I used to have this Private Eye column, and when it stopped a lot of people mailed me because, you know, they wanted more of it. So I wanted people to know who wrote it,” Borg says of his sudden ubiquity on booksellers’ displays.
The book caused a ripple of attention online when a promotional video described it as “racy, revealing, exciting”, uncovering “what goes on behind the glossy façades”. Given these promises, Borg’s penchant for PR and the runaway success “mummy porn” like 50 Shades of Grey had last year, one could be forgiven for thinking that Borg’s book would have gone down the same route.
Sadly, this punster had to give up his dream of introducing the novelist as “Gerard ‘E.L. James’ Borg”, as the latter has disclaimed his novel was anything like James’ book.
“It has nothing to do with 50 Shades of Grey,” Borg, who counts Agatha Christie and David Baldacci among his favourite writers, says.
It may certainly well be the first book of fiction in English to have Michelle Muscat in it
“I wanted to write a book, but at the end of the day I didn’t want a book that would end up on a bookstand with people just breezing past it, you know. If the book had been called, hold on, the Red Carpet, for example, or… the Yellow Door, it wouldn’t have attracted attention,” Borg says.
“I said fine, I’ll write a book and I’ll call it Sliema Wives. At first I thought I needed something posh, so I thought High Ridge could be a solution, but then I thought no; Sliema would be more sellable: if it sells in property, it will sell…,” Borg says.
The book is “about five ladies who are nominated for the Woman of the Year award by a society magazine. The publisher is American,” Borg says. The book traces the lives of “nymphomaniac interior designer” Miranda Fitzpatrick, “nouveau riche businesswoman” Benita Scerri Owen, “ruthless, kleptomaniac, evil” TV host Yana Refalo, “aristocrat” Paulanne Ferri De Brincat and “beautiful dentist” Chloe Manduca, as they approach the big day when the prize is given.
His relationship with the five characters in the book had become so fleshed out in his mind that he recalls seeing people on the street and seeing his characters in them – although he stresses that they’re pure fiction.
“I think it’s the first of its genre. It’s entirely based in Malta; you have real venues. For example, if I mention a restaurant, it’s a restaurant we know. It’s flavoured with mentions of people we know, here and there, to make it a little bit more credible, but it’s completely fiction,” Borg says. It may certainly well be the first book of fiction in English to have Michelle Muscat in it.
Indeed, if there’s anything Borg cannot be accused of , it is not being able to attract attention – a blessing, given that his day job is a brand manager with a skincare company.
“I believe a lot in PR,” he admits. He also has a clearly defined way of doing things: “I always start with a title and a concept. That is my main thing. I do that in songwriting too. A lot of people start writing blah blah blah,” Borg says, miming a typing action.
“I always start with a concept. If you have a concept, then everything comes together much more tightly,” he says.
“For example, of the songs I’ve written, I knew Vodka was going to attract attention just because of the name. I turned it into a Russian spy thing, but it’s tying up to that. The same applies to Seventh Wonder, where the number seven is bandied about well over 10 times.”
Had he considered which wonder of the world – there are already seven, after all – would make way for Ira’s love interest? Borg laughs. “I wouldn’t know that. I didn’t delve into that. It was not that scientific… Then again, it came second,” he says.
Readers might have noticed that the book is being advertised as giving €2 per sale to cancer charity Puttinu Cares. Despite Borg’s obsession with marketing and hype, this is not a cynical ploy to guilt-trip potential readers into buying it.
“The truth is this: two years ago, I actually lost my father to cancer; I was still writing the book and was close to reaching the end, and I remembered the occasion when I was sitting next to him. You get to think a lot about things in life and stuff, and I thought that if I publish this, I want my royalties to go to charity,” the writer says, his eyes misting up as he recalls this.
Borg has been writing since he can remember, going overboard with his school compositions. The publication of this novel can also be traced to a seminal Maltese literary figure.
“I remember one time I actually wrote to Francis Ebejer. I had said: ‘Hi, I really would like to publish a book one day. Can you guide me as to what to do?’ I thought it was very nice of him to answer back, and what he had told me… which affected me... was that he had received ‘enough rejection slips to cover a whole wall. Never give up’.”
As an example of the truth of Ebejer’s encouragement, Borg mentions when he had approached a local fashion publication with some of his designs, which were rejected.
“Next thing I did, I sent them to an international fashion publication. They came to Malta and they interviewed me, and one year later, I’m on the front cover of Burda magazine with a two-page feature in a magazine that’s sold in 80 countries. So that’s a lesson: never to give up in life.”
His days of writing in copybook after copybook seem to have grown with him – weighing in at a full 606 pages, Sliema Wives is no half-hearted novella. Wasn’t he concerned it was too long?
“Are there any rules?” he asks, adding: “Well, I think it gives you more value for money.”