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T-minus ONE DAY until the premiere of the Lifetime Original Movie, TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET! (Saturday, August 9th @ 9PM, with encores on Sunday at 7 PM and Monday at 9 PM, in case you don't have a DVR and won't be home on Saturday.)

MORE PRESS:

The Hollywood Reporter calls TRUE CONFESSIONS "a little gem of a movie," and advises viewers to pay attention to "the funny dialogue." Those of you who've read the book will recognize that a nice chunk of that dialogue came DIRECTLY FROM THE NOVEL ITSELF. This is not to discredit the screenplay's awesome writer, Elisa Bell, who came up with some seriously funny bits that I never would have thought of in a million years.

Another profile - this time from the New York Daily News - about how JoJo would never end up like Morgan Carter.

MORE GCC STOPS:

The inimitable E. Lockhart asks me about my prankster past.

And today's birthday girl Shanna Swendson asks me about the process of seeing my book turned into a movie.

THE LOLA STORY

So, the story of how I became Lola isn't as sexy as you might think. In fact, it's a little embarrassing. See, I never set out to be Lola. What happened was this:

When I moved back to Delaware in Dec. 2001, I couldn't find a full-time job. But I was offered a part-time teaching gig at UD. That first semester I had exactly one class and was doing a lot of freelance work for Allyn & Bacon, the company I'd worked for in Boston before I moved home. Then I sold a couple more books (under my name) and got a few more teaching gigs, and suddenly going back to work full time didn't seem like the best idea. After all, I teaching left me with summers off and a few days each week free to do school visits and stuff.

But as any author knows, contract advances can only be stretched so far. And adjunct teaching gigs are unpredictable; some semesters I'd have three classes, and others I'd only have one again. I remembered reading this article about how Rob Thomas, he of VERONICA MARS fame, used to support himself by ghostwriting crappy series fiction. You bust out a novel that's already been meticulously outlined in a handful of weeks, and voila! Five grand easy. So I talked to my agent and asked him if it was possible for me to do this, so that I'd have more money in the bank and less fiscal worry.

Long story short: he introduced me to the editor at a book packaging company, who pitched me one idea that I had absolutely no idea how to write. (It was a very New York City kind of book, and I'm allergic to NYC and wouldn't know how to write about it like an insider even if I spent a year reading up on it.) So then she asked me what kind of book I wanted to write, and I told her that I was dying to do a diary format novel. She asked me whose diary I'd like to read, and I didn't know what hadn't been done already. She told me to think about it and get back to her.

On the ride home from New Jersey (I'd taken the train in from Princeton), I was trying to answer that very question. Drew Barrymore came to mind. Very quickly, I had this idea of a Drew Barrymore-esque young actress getting out of rehab and being sent to Fort Wayne, Indiana to continue her recovery incognito. Then I said, "God, that's such a far-fetched, movie-of-the-week plot." Then I thought, "Well, what if I acknowledge that the plot sounds like it comes from a bad movie-of-the-week? Could I make it work well enough for readers to suspend disbelief?" (Nowadays we call this the "Hannah Montana Effect.") At home, I titled the proposal "Diary of a Teenaged Has-Been" and sent it off to my agent soon after. Two editors were interested in the project; we went with the one whose vision more closely matched my own.

So why didn't I write this under my own name? Well, I already owed my primary publisher, Random House, another book. Contractually I wasn't allowed to write YA for any other publisher except for them. So when we accepted the offer on the proposal, one of the stipulations was that the book would have to be published under a pseudonym. As for the name itself: Lola was a nickname a friend of mine had given me in college. When it came to her last name, I told my new editor I just wanted to move up in the alphabet. I gave her an A name, a B name, a C name, and a D name. She chose the D name, which also happens to be the first name of Douglas Coupland, whose early fiction made me want to be a writer to begin with.

As much fun as I have being Lola, I am still very much me. As in, Lara-me. And I'm so super-psyched about my next project for Random House, which used to be called WHAT'S COOKING WITH STELLA MADISON? and was recently renamed THE SWEET LIFE OF STELLA MADISON. Here's the jacket copy for it:

It’s not easy being the daughter of a famous chef and a restaurant owner when your idea of a great meal is the kind served via a drive-through window. Harder still when your food-loving parents, who have been separated for years, are still as sweet to each other as can be. When their connections help seventeen year old Stella Madison land a summer job at the local newspaper, the salary is hard to resist. There’s only one catch: she’s expected to write about food.

Now Stella needs all the advice she can get to complete her assignments. Luckily she has Jeremy, the hot new intern at her mom’s restaurant, who’s more than happy to help. Soon Stella can’t stop thinking about Jeremy--but where does that leave Stella’s boyfriend, Max, who recently dropped the L-word? If that’s not confusing enough, her dad’s interest in the pretentious programming director for the Food Network seems to go beyond the culinary, and now it looks like her mother might be cooking up a romance of her own …

The Sweet Life of Stella Madison is a warmhearted, delectable novel about what it means to love and be loved, especially when there are a few too many cooks in the kitchen.

It's got an absolutely adorable cover, too - but that's for another post entirely.

Thanks for tuning in during Lola Week! Hope you guys watch (and enjoy) the movie ... and don't forget to check my blog during the Saturday premiere to find out all sorts of juicy tidbits!

It's "Fallen Angels Week" on Lifetime, which I'm assuming is a tie-in to the Saturday night premiere of Lifetime's film adaptation of TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET (August 9th at 9 p.m.). Well, here on "Girl Uninterrupted," it's "Lola Week" - all Lola, all the time. Be prepared to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the movie, how and why I became Lola Douglas to begin with, and what's next for my alter ego.

But first, something really freaking cool:

You know how ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY has its weekly "What to Watch" column, now penned by the lovely and talented Jessica Shaw? Well, this week's ONLY pick for Saturday is TRUE CONFESSIONS! EW's Leah Greenblatt, who is also very lovely and talented, writes, "Despite some yawning plot holes (superfamous blond actress + brunet dye job = total undercover stranger! who knew?), it's surprisingly self-aware fun."

In my defense, Morgan's transformation into Claudia Miller involves more than a dye job. Book Morgan gets a nose job and a breast reduction, puts on a significant amount of weight, and wears glasses in addition to turning her golden locks mousy brown. AND people notice that Claudia resembles Morgan, though the lack of boobs and excess booty, in addition to the Everygirl Target wardrobe, makes them all think, "nah." Yes, it's still far-fetched, but not QUITE as far-fetched as it is in the TV movie.

Anyway, Leah G gives the movie a B overall, so I ain't complaining.

MORE MOVIE GOODIES:

Win a copy of Valerie Bertinelli's juicy autobiography, LOSING IT!

Check out a newly blond JoJo discussing "Hollywood's Temptations."

ReadSlate's take on "The Lifetime Original Movie 2.0" - great article but contains two factual errors (1. Morgan DOES complete a successful stint in rehab and 2. Even though Valerie Bertinelli's TV movies may have appeared on Lifetime previously, this is actually her very first ORIGINAL Lifetime TV movie.)

In fact, Valerie discusses this very thing here. One more correction: sorry, Jacqueline Cutler, but despite your assertation that "Morgan [is] a thinly veiled Lindsay Lohan," she's totally not. I BASED MORGAN ON A YOUNG DREW BARRYMORE YEARS BEFORE LINDSAY STARTED TRAIPSING IN AND OUT OF REHAB. However, Jacqueline, your assessment that JoJo is "terrific" as Morgan is 100% correct.

Something I knew: JoJo turned down the role of Hannah Montanna. Something I didn't: she almost turned down the role of Morgan Carter.

BACK TO THE BOOK:

TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET is a Readergrlz recommended read for August! This month's theme is body image. And, because this also happens to be the month the movie premieres on Lifetime (this Saturday! August 9th! At 9 p.m.!), we're giving away autographed copies of the book! Just check out the Readergirlz forum on MySpace on August 9th and leave a comment under the thread "True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet Giveaway"!

Next Up: links to my recent GCC tour stops!

Author Lara Zeises has a secret identify: she’s also author Lola Douglas. As Lara, she’s published Bringing Up the Bones, Contents Under Pressure, and Anyone But You. As Lola, she’s the author of True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet and More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet.

And now her book above a teen movie star has become a Lifetime movie starring some current and future teen movie stars – and a once-teen movie star, Valerie Bertinelli. How sweet is that? Many books are optioned, but few are actually filmed. The movie premieres August 9 at at 9 p.m., and Lara will be live blogging here – revealing secrets, stories, and reactions – during the movie!

Click here for more info and links. You can also visit Lara on the web here.

Kirkus says the books are “fun, breezy entertainment with thoughtful undertones.”

But as for me, I always like to ask authors questions that have to do with what I write: mysteries and thrillers.

So here goes:

A: What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you? Bonus question: have you used it, in any way, in a book?
L: One night several years ago, my friend Candace and I were hanging out with a mutual friend who had a total meltdown while driving. With us in the car. She started going 90 on the Interstate, screaming at cars, riding people's bumpers and swerving from lane to lane. She was sober but something had snapped, and I really thought we were done for. I'm pretty sure I cried a little. When she finally dropped Candy and me off at my apartment and drove off, Candy actually got on her knees for a minute and said a little prayer. I've never used that moment in a book, and I probably never will because it's one of those random things that sounds almost fake when you tell people about it.

A: Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear – and then make them face it. Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces?

L: I have a couple of phobias. One is that I don't like tall, steep stair-like things that are open. Like, bleachers: I can climb up bleachers just fine, but going down freaks me out. I'm fine on elevators but going down one of those Big Daddy escalators into a London tube station is terrifying. This stems from an incident that happened when I was maybe twelve years old. My dad and I used to go to baseball games at Vet Stadium in Philly pretty regularly. One time I lost my balance heading to our seats, and I reached out for this seated guy's shoulder to stabilize myself. He must've thought I was a thief or something, because he shrugged me off hard and I went flying. The only thing stopping me was the concrete barrier at the end of our level. I had to go to the infirmary to get checked out and everything. The cool part was they let us sit on the 100 level when my check up was done!

A: Do you have a favorite mystery book, author, or movie?
L: All of the women in my life are into Janet Evanovich, and I was indoctrinated into the Plum series this past spring. She's hilarious. I love watching mysteries on TV, especially stuff like THE CLOSER. I find watching mysteries really helpful in terms of my writing, because even though I don't work in that genre it forces me to think about plotting in a way that I don't normally.

A: At its heart, every story is a mystery. It asks why someone acts the way they did – or maybe what will happen next. What question does your book ask?
L: It's kind of abstracted, but I think the biggest question of the book is about identity. Morgan's trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs. Is it Hollywood, where she grew up? Is it Fort Wayne, where she went to try and reinvent herself? Is she an actress, a tabloid star, a cautionary tale? More importantly, who does she want to be going forward?

A: Is there a mystery in life that you are still trying to figure out?
L: Time management mystifies the hell out of me. Especially when it comes to Internet stuffs. Between my blog and Facebook and MySpace and e-mail ... Let's just say if I stayed on top of all of that, I'd never write another book.

Sci Fi art is some of my favorite, especially retro. Funny I don't care to read Sci Fi anymore but the images can be very cool. I'll be posting some more Sci Fi art later today...