Me and Five Guys is now available in audiobook format on Audible narrated by the author, award-winning writer Trish Doolan. In Me and Five Guys, Doolan shares the vivid story of a first-generation immigrant family’s life in New York, relating both the good and the bad events with bold, straightforward charm.

A versatile, accomplished storyteller, Doolan is an acclaimed screenwriter, playwright, director and actor. She wrote, directed, produced and starred in the film April’s Shower, which was released by Regent Films and promptly won four best picture awards, two in the States and two in Europe. Raised in Queens, New York and one of six children, Trish’s strong Irish/Italian family provided much of the inspiration for her first novel, Me and Five Guys. 

To celebrate the premiere of the audiobook, Doolan sat down with Source Point Press to speak about her experience writing her deeply personal novel. 

Q. Me and Five Guys is now available in both print and as an audiobook. How excited are you for readers to dive into this novel?

A. I don't think I have ever been more excited about a project. Me and Five Guys is truly my heart and soul and the fact that I get to share this with everyone is an amazing high in my life. What's a double bonus is that I had the privilege of being the narrator of my own book, which I believe will connect me with my readers in an authentic way.  My hope is that they will feel like their closest friend is telling them a story. 

Q. What are some things readers can expect from this story?

A. Readers can expect a ride of a lifetime. Buckle up because there are many twists and turns and it's raw and real like life. No sugar coating in this story. They can definitely expect to laugh and cry and my wish is that each reader will find a piece of themself in our hero character, Frankie (Francesca). They can also expect to see all the flaws and frailty that comes with a broken family, but all the undeniable love that lies deep in the core of the family system even though at times they just don't know how to show it. Just the way real life is.

Q. In many ways, Me and Five Guys is a deeply personal story for you. What were some of the struggles of the writing process for this novel?

A. The biggest struggle is letting yourself go “there” as the writer.  Am I going to just phone it in or am I going to go to the depth of my deepest pain and bare my soul. If I don't experience tremendous heartache and pain while I'm writing it, how can I expect my reader to feel the pain and compassion that I need them to. If I'm laughing while I'm writing, chances are my readers are going to laugh at exactly the same place. If I'm crying, they will be too. I have to let my heart break all over again in order to get that reaction from my readers. And trust me, I did! I cried all of the pages of Me and Five Guys.

Q. With your highly acclaimed background in the film industry, there's been a lot of buzz about the possibility of Me and Five Guys getting adapted into a feature film. What can you tell the readers about this possibility?

A. The feedback has been incredible and everyone who reads it says they can see the movie as they're reading.  I’ve been in talks about a movie and a possible TV series. More will be revealed. I'm entertaining a lot of different suggestions. 

September 07, 2022 — Ox Eye Media Publishing and Distribution

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