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.

And thanks to scienceproject, I just found out that the movie got a little shout-out on PerezHilton.com. (If you watch the clip - that whole voice over part is one of the ones I wrote during the writers strike!)

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!

Ooh! I keep forgetting to post about this but on Saturday night, I'll be blogging LIVE during the Lifetime premiere of TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET. Meaning, from 9 PM EST to 11 PM EST, I will be dishing all about the movie and my reactions to it and all sorts of fun stuff. It's not exactly the red carpet event I'd wanted to throw to celebrate, but at least this way I get to wear my PJs while I watch.

So, last week was the beginning of my Girlfriends Cyber Circuit tour, officially to celebrate the paperback release of MORE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET, but since that came out months and months ago, it was also to promote the Saturday premiere of Lifetime's adaptation of the book's prequel, TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET.

Here are some highlights from that tour:

One of my very favorite interviews this tour can be found over at Paula Chase Hyman's "Paula's Jort Too," in which I say things like, "I'm the Kathy Griffin of the YA Genre. I'm totally a D-list author clawing my way up the ladder."

In my most scandalous tour stop, I confess to the hilarious Carrie Jones that Greg Brady once asked me about my sex life (still traumatic, even sixteen years later ...)

Ever wonder if there's a story behind the book's cover, and not just beneath it? Then you'll want to check out Melissa Walker's blog, and read about how TRUE CONFESSIONS ended up all hot pink and sparkly.

On Megan Kelly Hall's blog, you can find out who I'd want in my literary clique, among other things.

Over at "Life, Words, and Rock & Roll," Stephanie Kuehnert had me dish about the role music plays in my fiction.

Pop over to Sara Hantz' gorgeously designed blog to find out about my writing process and how I ended up in YA.

At Amanda Ashby's blog, "Amanda's Writing Diary," I talk about how I sold my first book (as myself, not Lola - but there's other Lola stuff there as well!).

My good friend Laurie Stolarz grilled me about my guilty pleasures over at her blog.

And last, but not least, I made a stop at GCC's founder Karin Gillespie's "Southern Comfort" to talk about stuff like the most and least satisfying thing about writing a book.

NEXT UP: How I became Lola to begin with!

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!

"It's a terrific book by Lola Douglas ..." - Valerie Bertinelli.

A trio of video clip goodies from myLifetime.com!

(BTW: the "Stinky Sandwich Man and Sweaty Fat Guy" line - in the "Director's Favorite Scene" clip - was one of the voice-over lines I got to contribute during the writer's strike last winter!)

Here's the IMDB page.

MORE PRESS:

Valerie Bertinelli dishes about TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET on ACCESS HOLLYWOOD.

JoJo talks about the movie with the Boston Herald.

That article plus screenshots of the movie made it into "Oh No They Didn't" - and judging from the comments LJ'ers do NOT seem fond of either JoJo OR the upcoming movie ... but a couple gave big kudos to the book, so I guess that's something.

[P.S. - to the LJ'er who says my Lola site is badly in need of updating: girlfriend, I hear you. It's a priority for the next couple of weeks ...]

More JoJo, this time at the NATIONAL LEDGER.

Me, oddly misquoted (but not in a bad way), in the August issue of DELAWARE TODAY.

It's right at the beginning of the clip. And ooh! Tim Matheson is directing!

I can't even believe it:

The Lifetime film adaptation of TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET starts shooting October 8th! In Toronto! With the actress JoJo in the lead role of Morgan Carter!

The funniest thing?

Everyone in the world knew before I did.

More info to come!

Hey, kids! My good friend Lola Douglas has just launched a new version of her web site. And she promises that she'll be working on some major blog updates ASAP. Why? Because MORE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET, the sequel to TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD STARLET, comes out this Thursday. And if you're heading out to the Delaware Book Festival this Saturday, come to my reading at 11:15 a.m., Pavillion D, because Lola will be stopping by to read a short excerpt from the new book! She'll also join me at the signing, which runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.

(In case Lola and I aren't a big enough draw, other authors who will be appearing at the DE Book Festival include, but are not limited to: Chris Crutcher, KL Going, Jordan Sonnenblick, Coe Booth and - no, I'm not kidding - Sebastian "Perfect Storm" Junger.)