ORSVP.com sat down and had a great convo with Mary Geneva about her book Nicknames, Tales from the Shallow End of the Manhattan Dating Pool. Listen here!

Yakira: Today on ORSVP.com we are sitting down with Mary Geneva, author of ‘Nicknames, Tales from the Shallow End of the Manhattan Dating Pool.’ So in your book you mentioned that you work full-time in healthcare. With your busy schedule how did you find the time to write Nicknames?

Mary Geneva: I found time to write Nicknames very slowly. It was a very organic process, I do work full-time in healthcare, I do have a demanding career, but writing Nicknames was you know my escape away from the 9-5 and it gave me something to look forward too. It probably took about two and a half years to finish Nicknames. After, you know, some really funny and crazy first dates I would come home, usually a little tipsy, and write down what happened that night. So my friends would believe me, I couldn’t make this shit up. So I had to document everything, and after several years on the dating scene I had a whole binder full of emails, text messages, and poems and nicknames of guys I’d been out with. I didn’t purposely go out to nickname a guy, it was just that once I stopped referring to a guy by the name he was given at birth the relationship just never went anywhere. So anyway, so I wrote out the book it probably took about a year and then I hired a co-writer to help me tighten it up and put it all together and my co-writer was very influential in making Nicknames come to life.

Yakira: Why don’t you tell us some of the Nicknames?

Mary Geneva: So you know I have an On Star, I have a Hoover, I had Vanishing Act.

Yakira: You mention that you ran into your ex husband Burak in Vegas. Did you ever find out if he actually remembered your visit?

Mary Geneva: Well I don’t think he remembers me visiting and I hope he doesn’t. But I’m sure his friend will never forget that night. And if the listeners want to know what happens in Vegas they can pick up a copy of Nicknames.

Yakira: What was the publishing process like?

Mary Geneva: The self-publishing process was long. It took me about two, two and a half years to finish writing Nicknames, along with my co-writer. And I’m not really too tech savvy so I did shop around and interview some self-publishing companies. You know, a self-publishing company that did guide me through the process and I’m very happy with the company I chose.

Yakira: In the chapter titled ‘Mixed Nuts’ you tells us about how majority of the men that you met online and ended up dating didn’t actually resemble their pictures and usually ended up being pretty crazy. Did this surprise you?

Mary Geneva: I mean at this point nothing surprises me anymore. I’ve been on enough dates to…I guess become numb when someone you know does something out of the ordinary I’m almost numb to it now because I’m so used to meeting just unbelievable characters. And you know, I’m a little crazy too but I’m crazy in a good way. In a fun, cute, you know Mary Geneva way.

Yakira: You wrote about how traveling with your best friend Zoe got old because she usually ditched you for her “sexcapades.” Have you traveled with her since writing that?

Mary Geneva: I love my best friend Zoe. But I did have to stop traveling with her because whenever the man of the moment would come by, I pretty much got left in the dust. So thats when I decided to go on vacation by myself and I became scuba diving certified and when I go on vacation I go on scuba diving vacations, solo and I meet amazing new friends and have an incredible time…and amazing experiences. And it really gets you out of your comfort level when you travel alone and I think it’s a really healthy thing to do while I can still do it, while I am still single and I haven’t traveled with her since that.

Yakira: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Mary Geneva: I encourage women to share their dates with me on twitter or instagram…#marygenevanyc or just to drop me a line and say hi. I should do something called “ask Mary,” but I just want to kind of build a forum where, you know women can kinda come together and share their experiences. And that’s about it, thank you for interviewing me and I hope that people will enjoy my book.

Yakira: For ORSVP.com I’m Yakira Young…

Check out nicknamesnyc.com to learn more about Mary and her story! The book is currently available on Amazon, Kindle, and Google Books!

Be sure to follow Mary Geneva on Twitter and Instagram @MarygenevaNYC. Ladies, tweet her your worst dates and stay tuned for a chance to win a free copy of her book!