lisette brodey – Jennifer Lane Books

I’m excited for the new release by Lisette Brodey, author of the fun rom-com Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!

Desert Star is book two in the YA Paranormal Desert Series, and this theater drama sounds intriguing:

Desert Star

Larsen Davis isn’t afraid to stand up to those who bully him, but in a two-against-one situation at Mystekal High, it’s never easy. When classmate River Dalworth witnesses the abuse and intervenes, the two seniors become good friends. Larsen explains that he’s fighting another battle at home: his own mother, Raylene, bullies him for being gay.

When Larsen meets River’s mother, Arielle, and learns she is overseeing the renovation of the Desert Theater, he shares his dream for a career on stage. Soon, Arielle offers Larsen a job as her assistant, but Raylene is dead set against the idea of her son doing what she considers “gay work.” After Raylene gets a new boyfriend, Reggie, the bad situation at home worsens and Larsen has no choice but to leave.

Now working at the Desert Theater, Larsen feels the unearthly presence of someone in the long-abandoned theater. Meanwhile, as the theater nears completion, a talent show is scheduled for opening night. As it becomes more evident that the theater may have a ghost, it also comes to light that someone may be sabotaging the renovation and the show. Is the ghost real or just the handiwork of someone with a grudge?

Opening night at the Desert Theater sets the stage for a crime, never-imagined reunions, long-awaited explanations, and otherworldly miracles.

Book Excerpt

River was just leaving school for the day when Gina caught up to him. “Hi there, River.”

“Oh, hi, Gina.”

“I was just wondering …”

“What? If I’m as good-looking close up as I am from a distance?”

Gina giggled. “Well, maybe.”

Just as River was about to respond, Larsen appeared at his side. “Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute. Before you head home.”

Gina looked disappointed. “Guess I’ll talk to you another time, River.”

“Sure thing.” River turned to Larsen as Gina walked away. “Let’s go outside and hang a left. I think they spray for bullies there.”

“Ha! I think they do. Thanks, Riv.”

As soon as they walked around to the side of the school, Larsen leaned against the wall and exhaled. “Man, it’s been a bad day.”

“I’m really sorry about Jax and Antonio.”

“They cornered me right after Ms. Carrow’s class.”

“Sucks, dude. Sorry I wasn’t there.”

“Listen, River. I wanted to thank you for standing up for me. People rarely do. I wasn’t so sure Jax wasn’t going to punch you out.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

“I really appreciate what you did. I just don’t want you to get caught up in my nightmare.”

River shook his head. “No. It’s everyone’s nightmare when nobody stops bullies.”

“I sure wish more people felt like you did. Wish they had your courage. I should be able to stop them without any help.”

“Reinhardt’s a big guy. Antonio is a body builder. We all need a little help now and then. Just try to go home and chillax.”

Larsen looked down and kicked the dirt. “Home. That’s a joke. I’m gonna tell you something, Riv, because I know I can trust you.”

“You can. What’s up?”

“Let’s just say that being at school is better than being at home most of the time. And considering I’ve got two jerks bullying me, that doesn’t say much, does it?”

River looked dumbfounded. “School is better than home? What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a mother who’s the biggest bully of them all.”

“Your mom bullies you for being gay?”

“That’s about right.”

Who Is Lisette Brodey?

Lisette Brodey was born and raised in Pennsylvania. After high school, she moved to New York City where she attended Pace University and studied drama. After ten years in New York, several of them working in the radio industry, she moved to Los Angeles, where she held various positions at Paramount Studios in Hollywood and CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA. Back on the East Coast, she worked for many years as a freelance writer, specializing in PR and the entertainment industry. In 2010, she returned permanently to the Los Angeles area.

She is the author of five novels. Her first-published book, Crooked Moon (General/Literary Fiction) was published in 2008. Her first-written, second-published book, Squalor, New Mexico (General Fiction/Literary Fiction) was published in 2009. Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! (Women’s Fiction/Chicklit), was published December 1, 2011.

In October 2013, Lisette’s fourth novel, Mystical High, book #1 in a YA paranormal trilogy, The Desert Series, was published. In November 2014, her fifth novel, Desert Star, book #2 in The Desert Series was published.

In January 2013, the author edited and published a book of her mother’s poetry (written 50 years earlier) called My Way to Anywhere by Jean Lisette Brodey. The author’s office website is: lisettebrodey.com. In addition to information about her books, Lisette blogs, hosts guest bloggers, and interviews fellow authors on a weekly basis.

Where can I get it?

The Kindle edition of Desert Star is available for $2.99. The paperback edition will be published in the near future, and Desert Star will soon be available at other major e-tailers. Also, don’t forget to check out Mystical High, the first book in the series, now only 99c!

You can find Desert Star (Book 2 of the on Desert Series) on Amazon.

Also available by Lisette Brodey: Mystical High (Book 1, The Desert Series)

Connect with Lisette Brodey

You can connect with Lisette on:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page

Today I’m stoked to have author Lisette Brodey to the blog. I loved her spunky story Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! And I look forward to reading more from her. First is my review, then an interview.

Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! by Lisette Brodey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Molly Hacker is Too Appealing!

As a single woman in a couples world, I was drawn to this novel. But it wasn’t until I cyber-met the lovely Lisette Brodey when she interviewed me at her Author Chateau that I bumped this story to the top of my list. And what a funny, clever story it is.

Molly Hacker is a 32-year-old newspaper reporter whose single status seems to be of great concern to her friends and family. “Just settle down with a husband!” they say. “Stop being too picky!”

But Molly doesn’t want just anyone to be her partner for life. (Smart woman!) She’s looking for a guy who’s cute, interesting, and funny. A guy just like her ex, Leo. Their breakup broke her heart and her trust, and now her mantra is “I must, I must, I must begin to trust.”

I REALLY relate to Molly. She is an independent writer, won’t settle for just any guy, likes Coldplay and Maroon 5, has a hilarious gay BFF and a misbehaving cat, and even wishes she could’ve been a psychologist (my career). However, she’s more neurotic than I am (I hope). And I’m so thankful people don’t get on my case about being single. Poor Molly has to endure meddling friends and family.

When my aunt Pauline asked me why a pretty girl like me couldn’t have brought a man to the wedding who wasn’t attached to someone else, I asked the thrice-divorced sister of my mother to explain to me how settling for three Mr. Wrongs had enhanced her life.

She’s certainly not a shrinking violet! Molly is a lot funnier than me, too. Her insights crack me up, like:

I was feeling like the rock star’s girlfriend. I liked that, but then my lips started forming the word “groupie”, and I didn’t want to be considered one or to fend off their overzealous affection for my man. My man? I needed to regroup. Or did I need to regroupie?

“What does ‘cute as a button’ mean, anyway?” I asked. “I mean, how did buttons ever become the poster children for cuteness?”

But her coworker friend Randy steals the show with his cleverness:

I just stared at Randy, noticing his face had a strange orange glow to it. “And your face is orange because … ?”
“Okay. Self-tanner. Put on too much for too long. Tried to impress. What a mess. I confess. Now I digress. What’s up with you, or should I guess?”
“Give it a rest,” I chimed in…
“I hate men,” I said, glaring at him. “ALL of them.”
“Molly Rose, how irrational. What has gotten into you? Why so blue?”
“If you can be orange, I can be blue!” I said.
“Such colorful banter,” he said.

Ha ha! Then, when invasive socialite Naomi shows up unannounced at Molly’s office, Randy has some fun:

To complicate my ever-complicated life, nothing ever got past Randy, who had taken from his desk drawer a Scream mask (derived from the famous Edvard Munch painting), put it on his face, and proceeded to stand three feet away from the threshold of my office door, mocking every move Naomi made behind her back.

Molly encounters quite a few suitors throughout the story, including a rock star painter, her high school crush (who’s now getting a divorce), an older man who’s wealthy and suave, and an awkward yet endearing man. If she decides to choose one of these men, which one will it be? This mystery match-making element kept me turning the pages.

It’s clear that Molly Hacker is well-deserving of a wonderful man who matches her wit and style.

~*~

And now I have the pleasure of interviewing Lisette:

Jennifer Lane (JL): Welcome to the blog, Lisette. As you can see from my review, I loved Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! This was your first foray into chick lit, correct? What made you take the plunge?

Lisette Brodey (LB): Hi, Jen. Thanks so much for having me here today. First, I just want to tell your readers how much I loved the first book in The Conduct Series, With Good Behavior. I’m excited to read the next two. The characters are wonderful, and I’m dying to know what happens to them. Great job!

To answer your question, I really loved writing Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!, but quite honestly, at heart, I’m not a chick lit author. Before it was really viable to be an indie author, I was trying to get an agent for my first two novels, Squalor, New Mexico and Crooked Moon. I came very close many times, but it was frustrating. When I went to bookstores, it seemed to me that many of new books being featured were chick lit /women’s fiction, so I decided I would write one because it seemed to be what the market demanded.

After I wrote 65K words, it became feasible to publish independently, and I put Molly aside and went to work on publishing my first two novels. I then returned to Molly about a year later. It wasn’t easy to reimmerse myself in the nuances of her complicated life, but I did it. I even blogged for a year as the character (www.mollyhackercom).

So, just because chick lit isn’t my chosen genre, it sure as heck didn’t mean I didn’t have a good story to write. My muse introduced me to Molly, and the rest, as they say, is history.

JL: My favorite character is Randy, Molly’s flamboyant coworker. He’s a riot! Have you been blessed with humorous gay friends like Randy in your life? Certainly I’ve met funny heterosexual men, but some of my gay friends constantly make me laugh. What do you think makes him and some gay men so hilarious?

LB: Randy is one of my favorite characters ever. In fact, when I was done writing the book, I really wished I could bring him to life because he’s not only funny, he’s a loyal friend. Yes, I have known many gay men, hilarious and not so hilarious, but Randy is not based on any one person.

Gay men are as diverse as any other “group” of people. Randy, unlike some gay men, never had a problem accepting his sexual preference, nor did he have trouble being comfortable in society as an openly gay man. I believe it is this comfort that gives him the freedom to be hilarious whenever the mood strikes him. But there’s a lot more to him. He’s a caring friend, a compassionate listener, and has relationship insecurities like the rest of us.

JL: I also loved the feline character of Captain Jack. You captured the essence of disdain and mischief possessed by cats. Tell us about your experience with cats.

LB: I’ve had cats since I was 19. The cat I have now is my third. My second cat, Saki, was a very complex creature. I was always sure that she was meant to be mine. Just as I observe human behavior, I observe feline behavior. I’ve never had a cat that has willingly gone to strangers for any kind of attention. Ever. Captain Jack is very protective of his mom, Molly, and he doesn’t let things like good looks and hot bodies get in the way of sussing people out. And he is never shy about letting his feelings be known. I can’t think of any cat that is shy about that.

JL: You recently published a Young Adult paranormal novel Mystical High, the first in The Desert Series. What are your plans for the series?

LB: Thanks for asking. Mystical High centers on the lives of two teen girls, Jessie and Jinxsy, who live in a dying desert town in Southern California. Each has very real family problems, and their lives get very complicated when paranormal activity begins to escalate not only at their school, but also in their town, Mystekal.

My favorite character in Mystical High is River, Jessie’s 14-year-old brother. River is very smart, loves to use his extended vocabulary and says pretty much whatever he is thinking. But in other ways, such as in showing his feelings, he is shy and reserved.

In Book 2, River will be a senior, and the book will focus on him and another teen boy, Larsen. Again, the story will concentrate on real-life problems, such as bullying, but there will be new paranormal twists. Although each novel will work as a standalone book, there will be a whole lot in Book 2 that will give shocking insight into the story told in Mystical High. The final book of the trilogy will be the most romantic of the three, and the main character will be a girl readers will meet in Book 2.

JL: You’ve written in other genres too. What’s it like to genre hop? What are some common themes in your novels?

LB: I never really planned to genre hop. It just happened that the stories I wanted to tell all had different labels on them. My novel Crooked Moon is probably the closest to my true identity as a writer.

There are many common themes in my novels. Friendship is a strong theme in every story because I believe that friends are a huge part of most people’s lives. I know they are in mine. They are the family that we choose.

All of my novels have multiple story arcs, and people come together in ways you might not expect. I write this way because I believe that it mirrors real life. Our personal stories are not straight lines. Every one of us has sub-plots. I can’t write a linear story because I don’t see life that way. As we move through life, we meet people whose stories intersect with our own.

The keeping of secrets is another common theme. What you see is not always what is really there, and secrets have a way of coming out, often in explosive ways, and changing (and explaining) a lot.

How to stalk Lisette Brodey:

www.lisettebrodey.com
www.twitter.com/lisettebrodey
www.facebook.com/BrodeyAuthor
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2774659.Lisette_Brodey
https://www.amazon.com/author/lisettebrodey

Tag: lisette brodey

New Release: Desert Star by @LisetteBrodey #YA #paranormal

LISETTE BRODEY: Review and Interview