Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit Presents Jessica Brody

mood: bouncy

pandora/ipod: tour de france

Jessica is not only a fantastic author of both YA and adult fiction, but a good friend. *preens*

52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER

“The #1 reason you’ll love this book? Because it’s tons of fun.”
-Bestselling author Meg Cabot

“Famous and spoiled teenage heiress Lexington Larrabee could give the Kardashians a run for their money in this opulent and fast-paced story…sharp writing and over-the-top scenes will appeal to readers looking for a fun summer read.”
-Publisher’s Weekly

“This unusual riches-to-rags tale is fun and interesting…the mysteries layered throughout, as well as the depth of the main characters, draw you in. Lexi is an obnoxious but lovable character you’ll root for!”
-Romantic Times Book Review (4 Stars!)

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

ABOUT JESSICA BRODY

Jessica Brody is the bestselling author of The Karma Club and My Life Undecided, as well as two books for adults: The Fidelity Files and Love Under Cover.

In researching this book, she took on several minimum wage jobs, her favorite of which was working the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. She splits her time between California and Colorado. Visit her online at: www.jessicabrody.com


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Added bonus? The AMAZING trailer for 52 REASONS!!!!!

Now, for the interview!

GM: What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing "process"?

JB: Act 1 is my favorite part of the writing process. It’s the set-up. The beginning of the novel. Everything is fresh, the character is new and fun and novel. You get to lay the groundwork for the story, build suspense, layer in complex plot points that will be resolved later. And then comes the Act 2. The heart of the story. Also known as “my nemesis.” Or my least favorite part of the writing process. The character is now totally grating my nerves, everything I set up in Act 1 absolutely sucks, I have no idea why I’m even a writer to begin with, I have the vocabulary of a five year old, all the “complex plot points” I thought I was setting up now actually have to be dealt with (yikes!) and I become nearly impossible to live with (my husband will second that.) And yet, somehow, incredibly, magically (as if little elves snuck in my house in the middle of the night and fixed everything that was wrong with my story), I finally arrive at act 3, the conclusion and then I’m like, “That wasn’t so bad. I don’t know why I was so freaked out!”

GM: What was the main inspiration for this book?

JB: Actually it’s kind of a funny story. I was sitting in my car, watching a meter maid write someone a parking ticket and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to be a meter maid? But only for like a week. Just to see what it was like.” Then I start to brainstorm all these other jobs I’d like to do for one week. And I decided, “Well, I’m too busy writing novels to actually do all these jobs, so I guess I’ll just have to write a book about someone else who does them.” And then I tried to think of the funniest character to put in that kind of situation and the answer was instant: a spoiled heiress who has never had to work a day in her life. And alas, Lexington Larrabee was born. But really the joke’s on me, because in researching the story, I actually did take on some of the jobs that are in the book! My favorite was working the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. Those head-sets you have to wear are like something out of Star Trek!

GM: Who would you cast if your book was made into a movie?

JB: I’m always REALLY bad at this question! However, the book has been optioned for film and there’s been some very early interest from Victoria Justice (from the show Victorious on Nickelodeon) to star in the movie. Nothing official has been decided yet but I absolutely love Victoria and I think she would do a fantastic job in the role!

GM: If you could ask one person, living or dead, a single question that they'd HAVE to answer, who and what would be it?

JB: I’d ask that guy I went on one date with in college why he never called when he said he would. What’s up with THAT? :D

FAST FIVE:

Pie or Cake? CAKE! (preferably in the shape of a “cup”)
Coffee or Tea? Tea! (especially when accompanied by tiny sandwiches)
Mac or PC? (Both! I just bought a Mac and installed parallels. It really is the best of both worlds!)
Guilty Pleasure? The aforementioned cup-shaped cakes.
Can't live without? Those Cadbury mini chocolate eggs. I stock up every Easter so I don’t have to live without the rest of the year.

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GIVEAWAY!!!!

Also, to celebrate the release this week, Jessica's doing a fun giveaway for an “heiress prize pack.” Official rules and entries HERE!