AUTHOR FAQ

How did you get the idea for The Fidelity Files?

The concept for this book came to me when I was attending a happy hour at a bar in Los Angeles. I was there with a friend and a bunch of her colleagues, some of which were married. I found myself curiously observing the interactions between the single and non-single co-workers as their behaviors gradually declined from professional to something else entirely.  Something hardly capable of being described as “appropriate.”

Some of the disturbing things that I witnessed as I watched alcohol cloud people’s judgment and the bar environment offset any trained workplace behavior upset me on a profound level. I secretly wished that someone would tell the “conveniently” absent significant others about what their husbands/wives/boyfriends/girlfriends/fiancés really did while attending these “obligatory” and supposedly “uneventful” work-related functions. But I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to do it. I was brave enough to think it…but not exactly brave enough to go knocking on people’s doors with bad news. You know what people tend to do to “the messenger.”

So instead I created a character whose job and purpose in life was to do just that. To reveal the truth to anyone who wanted to know.  To knock on all the doors that I never had the courage to knock on. An invincible superhero-esque woman whose quest is to fight against the evils of infidelity. But of course, she soon finds out…she’s not as invincible as she once thought.

In a sense, the “Ashlyn” character of the book is the mask that I always wanted to wear. A façade behind which I could hide as I watched my fantasies of exposing the truth come to life on the page. I believe we are all afraid of feeling vulnerable on some level. We all fear the painful emotions that come with betrayal. My greater purpose in writing The Fidelity Files was to explore these fears so that I could offer a message of faith and hope despite them. Because if someone who makes their living as a fidelity inspector can believe in love despite everything she’s seen, it shouldn’t be that hard for the rest of us.

Is there any talk about turning The Fidelity Files into a movie or TV show?

There's been some initial interest from a few different parties on both the TV and movie front but I hate to say anything at this point as nothing is concrete yet. Trust me, when that happens, you'll know. They'll be pictures of me drinking champagne on every page of this site!

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Los Angeles but we moved when I was 12. We went to a small town in Colorado that no one has ever heard of. It's called Franktown. See, I told you you'd never heard of it. Although I loved Colorado and its beautiful scenery, I missed the warm weather, the beaches and even the smog a little. So I moved back to L.A. after I graduated from College.

How do you write your novels? Do you have a process that you follow?

The writing process is very random for me. It all depends on the day. Because I tend to be equally right and left brained, sometimes I feel as though the writing process is just a constant struggle (or sometimes clash) between the two sides of my brain to come up with a consistent way to write a novel. I write outlines, because my analytical side tells me it’s the right thing to do, but then halfway through the story, I come to the conclusion that I only write outlines so that I’ll have something to deviate from. I create complicated spreadsheets (a nod back to my days as a strategic analyst) for my storylines and page counts and pacing only to abandon them halfway through. And yet, despite this seemingly random chaos, it all feels perfectly natural to me. As if it was designed specifically for a purpose. So I suppose, my lack of a defined process is a process in itself.

What are you working on right now?

Wow, where do I begin? Currently, I’m working on a sequel to The Fidelity Files, which is still untitled. It’s scheduled to release from St. Martin’s in the summer of 2009.

I’ve also recently sold two young adult novels to FSG which was very exciting. The first one is called The Karma Club and it’s about three high school girls who decide to take Karma into their own hands by getting revenge on the ex-boyfriends who broke their hearts. But as they soon discover, when you mess with Karma…Karma messes back. I’ll soon be working on the revisions of that manuscript. It’s scheduled to come out in the spring of 2010.

In addition to books, I also have a few film projects in the works. Exposure is a supernatural thriller that I'm producing through the production company I work for called Cyur Films. It was written by the talented young director, Brad T Gottfred and will hopefully start shooting this summer. I’m also involved in another film project with a new production company that we hope to get financed in the next few months. In addition to that, I have a few screenplays that I co-wrote with my dad floating around out there. So you never know what can happen with that!

Who are some of your favorite writers?

Some of my favorite authors who not only have entertained me into the wee hours of the morning but have also influenced me and inspired me to write and write better are: Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin, Lisa Lutz, Alyson Noël, Helen Fielding, Beth Harbison, Jennifer O'Connell, Scott Westerfeld, and Philippa Gregory. All amazing story tellers with their own unique entertaining style.

Do you have any hobbies or interests?

I guess it’s safe to say that my biggest hobby is my job! It definitely takes up most of my time and when you work for yourself, your job tends to stop being separate from your life; it starts to become your life. But I don’t mind it in the slightest; I love what I do!

But I also love to travel, read, play poker, watch TV (Desperate Houswives, Lost and The Tudors are some of my favorites) and play board games. I’m a very competitive person when it comes to board games. I take the art of picking teams for Pictionary VERY seriously. Although recently, board games have been replaced with Guitar Hero. When I’m standing in my living room, rocking out to Pearl Jam on my little plastic guitar, I actually feel very cool.

How did you become a full-time writer? Did you always know that's what you wanted to do?

In second grade, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a writer. That was when we first learned how to “self-publish” our own books. Our teachers brought out the cardboard, wall paper samples, electrical tape and rubber cement (at age 8, we were finally able to use rubber cement unsupervised!) and we would make book bindings and tape in our carefully type-writer printed masterpieces. From the minute I saw that first short story in “print”, I was hooked. I wanted more. I went home and wrote four more stories and brought them back the next day to get “published”. And when I had reached my second grade contracted publishing limit, I begged my mom to take me out to get some wall paper samples, cardboard and rubber cement so I could continue my publishing business at home. She obliged. I suppose she deemed it to be more productive than playing Super Mario Brothers all afternoon.

At that point in my life, when anyone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer was obvious. A writer, of course!

But then time took its toll, as did that common dose of rationality that comes with getting older: “Yes, art is all fine and good, but how will I make money?” The answer for me was a corporate job. One that comes with a degree in Economics and involves spread sheets and cost benefit analyses. So that’s what I majored in: Economics. With a double major in French so that I could broaden my horizons and build complicated spread sheets overseas as well.

Soon after college, I landed a strategic analyst position at MGM Studios, where I ran numbers (more spread sheets!) to help decide what films should be acquired by the studio and released on DVD. I liked this job a lot. My left-brained analytical side was extremely satisfied. But the other side wanted more.

I started writing my first novel on the side. Weekends, nights, lunch hours. It was hard to juggle both, but I made it work. Once I got back into writing, I knew that strategic analysis wasn’t the place for me. And on a trip back to my parents’ house for the holidays, I stumbled upon the box that housed my second grade collection. And I immediately wondered how I could have ignored such an obvious passion for so long.

In 2005, MGM laid off a vast majority of its employees after an acquisition by Sony. I interpreted it as a sign. I took my severance package and I vowed to make it last until I had a book deal. I took on several odd end jobs from Craigslist along the way—transcriber, receptionist, catering assistant, anything to keep me afloat. During that time,
I rewrote my first novel several times until I landed an agent. Then I re-wrote it again until I had a publishing contract. Shortly after that, I sold three more books and now I write full time.

The moral of my story is pretty obvious to me—everyone should have to choose their future occupation at age 7. It would save us all a whole lot of time and spreadsheets.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Take criticism. Believe in your work and stand behind it, but don’t be afraid to make changes. Try to be as objective as possible when it comes to your writing (I know how impossible that sounds) but it will only help you in the long run. Use rejections to evolve yourself as a writer, not just to line your waste basket. When someone rejects your work and offers a reason, don’t just blow it off and claim that they “didn’t get it” or that they clearly didn’t read it closely enough, dissect it and try to figure out if what they’re saying makes sense and if it will inevitably help your work. There a lot of people in this industry—agents, editors, other writers, etc.—who know what they’re talking about and know what it takes to make a book work. After all, that’s what they get paid for! Listen to them with open ears and grateful hearts. There’s a fine balance between staying true to your art and being open for suggestions, try to stay somewhere in the middle. If they “didn’t get it,” chances are, readers won’t get it either. And you won’t be there to explain it to them in the middle of Barnes and Noble.

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