By Me, Amy
Kaye
Caught on
tape: The newest reality television series goes on location somewhere truly
dangerous-high school. Outrageous and unscripted, each episode exposes the
sickest gossip, finds the facts behind the rumors, and bares the raw truth.
Tune in and take it all in, because no subject is too taboo, no secret too
private, and no behavior off limits!
Fiona O'Hara has a charmed life: She goes to the best
school in Manhattan, has a closet full of gorgeous clothes, and spends her days
basically ruling the greatest city in the world. Oh, no wait: She used to do
all that. Now, she's stuck in a suburban sitcom, one hour-plus a million
light-years-away from the city, a.k.a. civilization. Her mom is a basket case
since the divorce. Her dad is Mr. Disappearo. Her Prada clothes scream
"major weirdo" to the Gap-clad masses. The one guy who seems like a
decent love-interest has a psycho wannabe girlfriend who's ready to put a hit
out on Fiona. And just to clinch the deal, it's all being caught on tape for
millions of television viewers to watch-on a weekly basis! It's a complete and
utter disaster-that is, until Fiona realizes that sometimes, you have to wait
for the commercial break to catch your breath and figure out what really
matters.
Buy It Here:
Focus on THIS! (The Real Deal Series)
That was the information from my publisher's official website, which is great. But maybe you want to know more about this book and how I wrote it. Well, I went to high school in New Jersey, in a town called Morristown. It wasn't exactly like the town in this book, but it was close. My parents were from New York City my dad is from Queens, and my mom is from Brooklyn. For those of you who don't know the city so well, it means that my mom is from the place where Coney Island is, and my dad is from where they filmed the Eddie Murphy movie Coming To America. Capice? Somehow they thought it would be a good idea to raise kids out in the suburbs. Oh! Mom and Dad!
I don't know. My home town is really pretty. But I felt really out of place there. That's the feeling that hung over me as I wrote this book: What's it like to change your whole life, and go from feeling like you know who you are to feeling like everything is unfamiliar? Suuucky! And what's it like trying to fit in? Extra suuuucky!! Well, it's more complicated than that‹but basically, that's what I was working with.
As for the people in the book, I based the character of Fiona on a friend of mine, whose name was really Deirdre, and who had to move to MoTown from Manhattan. It was tough for her: people were judgmental. But though I based Fiona, Claire, Peter, and Joey on real people, the story as a whole is made up. Especially when my editor, Kate, suggested a reality-TV angle to the story, I just let my mind wander through experiences I'd had, and things I'd seen.
Take a look at the book. See what you think, and let me know what you think in my Guest Book. There are more books coming, so stay tuned. And thanks for stopping by!