The Break Up Recipe  is about the unfortunately named Mark Mutton who gets jilted by his fiancee a month before they are due to wed. He takes the reader on a journey of his previous encounters with the opposite sex, some of which are hilarious, all of which are described with a crude cynicism that will have you laughing. The aim of the book was to make people laugh. I tried to write it in a way that anyone could identify with regardless of their relationship situation or gender. It was originally written for a male audience but females very quickly became the primary consumers, partly due to the subject matter and partly due to the naked photos of me which I used for the books main marketing material.

What genre is it?
It is a romantic comedy with a heavy emphasis on comedy.

That’s a genre overwhelmingly dominated by female writers; does being male help you bring a new perspective to it?
Yes being a male in the heavily female populated romantic comedy area helps me bring a fresh perspective to the genre because I am writing primarily from a male angle so it offers an alternative take on relationships to the conventional. It also allowed me to draw in male readers to the genre as the general feedback I’ve had from initially sceptical males has been very positive. The first few females to read the book were curious to read something about romance from a straight man’s point of view and I have found their responses so far to be in my favour.

So what kind of men and women will The Break Up Recipe appeal to?

The book will appeal to readers of either gender who have experienced an attraction to someone. There are many personal experiences that people will identify with such as the build up to the moment you lose your virginity and the whirlwind of emotions that follow once you’ve done the deed. Being trapped in a toilet for the opposite sex with chronic, voluminous diarrhoea is everyone’s nightmare and it features in the book in what has proven to be the most talked about chapter.

That’s definitely a recurring scene in our nightmares! Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love my book.
If you like Bridget Jones Diary/ The Hangover, you’ll love my book.

Tell us a bit more about Mark Mutton.
Mark Mutton is a salesman in his late twenties, he’s a good looking guy who considers himself to be quite the comedian. At first meeting you’re not quite sure whether you like him or not but as you get to know him you can’t help but love the guy. He has a foul mouth and slightly overinflated opinion of himself (one of which is the delusion of an incredibly large member). He’s the alpha male in his group of male friends and popular with his female friends who all have a soft spot for him.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
The Break Up Recipe is my first book and there is a sequel on the way due to the demand from those who have enjoyed the first one.

That’s great news.  Come back and tell us about it when it’s done.  In the meantime, tell us about you.
I am a 30 year old living alone in London who was born in Nigeria. I moved to London when I was 10 and went to a boarding school in Sussex, Uni in Essex (dropped out after a year) and have been in London since. In my spare time I like going out to bars and hanging out with friends. I also like to work out and do gymnastics. I chose to write this book after a
horrible break up with my ex girlfriend because I wanted to do something constructive as opposed to destructive when it all ended. It was something I’d been meaning to do since I was a teenager and so decided to just do it.

In order to make sure I followed it through I told friends on Facebook that I was writing a book. The motivating factor to go on right to the end was the loss of face that could have occurred had I not finished it.

I went to some unusual places to hand out flyers for the book including, whore houses and strip clubs (no, I was not a customer). I also went into a lot of gay bars to drum up interest and would like to go on record as being forever grateful for the support from London’s Gay community who have been tremendous.

But that’s not all you’ve done to publicise this book, is it? Tell us about the photoshoot. 

I was at my day job thinking of ways to publicise the book. Knowing that I would struggle to get an agent as I was unknown whilst also functioning on a limited budget, I decided that I would do a naked photoshoot so that when people saw it they would be drawn to it. I hoped that it would be a good way to get people talking about the book. I was conscious that I would get good as well as bad reactions. The thought of the bad reactions didn’t bother me because as far as I was concerned if people were talking about me naked they were talking about my book.

Looks like all those gym sessions came in handy. Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
Not at this moment, I can be reached either on Twitter or Facebook.

How can we do that?
www.facebook.com/thebreakuprecipe
@munirbello1983

What’s next?
Eventually a sequel for The Break Up Recipe and then two further unrelated books.