Tour Hosted by
Book Blurb & Info
Can one woman change an age-old institution like publishing? Probably not, but Kate Mitchell sure wants to try. As a publicist with a large, respected New York publishing house, Kate finds herself at the mercy of a broken publishing system, books that don’t sell, and author egos that are often, well, as big as the island of Manhattan.
Enter the star Editor, MacDermott Ellis: Tall, handsome, charismatic, married, and ready to save the day. Then there’s Allan Lavigne, once a revered author--now as forgotten as last year's bestsellers and his nephew Nick: Tall, gorgeous, sweet, single and ready to sweep Kate off her feet. Kate wants to do the right thing but her hormones seem to be driving her decisions.
As Kate tries to navigate the landmine of publicity, over-the-top author expectations, and the careful dance of “I’m sorry, your book isn’t on the bestseller list this week,” she also finds authors who are painfully overlooked by a publisher wanting more sex, more celebrities, and more scandal.
The story only an insider could tell.
It’s an industry of out-of-control egos, unrealistic expectations, and unfulfilled promises.
This is publishing and it’s Kate’s world, but maybe not for long.
When one of Kate Mitchell’s star authors is carted away in handcuffs, it’s only the beginning of her troubles. As her world crumbles around her, Kate desperately looks for anyone to hold onto but finds that happy endings are truly works of fiction. With the shelf life of her career and her love affair quickly expiring, Kate sets off on a new adventure…
Starting over in California is easy but Kate soon learns that leaving her old life behind isn’t. Nick Lavigne is eager to help her forget but two things still own her heart, the dream of discovering the next great American novel, and MacDermott Ellis.
As Kate tries to rebuild her life she finds a surprising gift that reboots her career in a new and unexpected direction. Suddenly her name becomes synonymous with one of the biggest bestsellers publishing has seen in ages and she's welcomed back with open arms.
But at the height of her success the ghosts of her past come back to remind her of the world she'd been trying to forget and the man who never let go of her heart.
Behind the book, there’s always more to the story. Welcome to Publishing, the ego has landed.
This is publishing and it’s Kate’s world, but maybe not for long.
When one of Kate Mitchell’s star authors is carted away in handcuffs, it’s only the beginning of her troubles. As her world crumbles around her, Kate desperately looks for anyone to hold onto but finds that happy endings are truly works of fiction. With the shelf life of her career and her love affair quickly expiring, Kate sets off on a new adventure…
Starting over in California is easy but Kate soon learns that leaving her old life behind isn’t. Nick Lavigne is eager to help her forget but two things still own her heart, the dream of discovering the next great American novel, and MacDermott Ellis.
As Kate tries to rebuild her life she finds a surprising gift that reboots her career in a new and unexpected direction. Suddenly her name becomes synonymous with one of the biggest bestsellers publishing has seen in ages and she's welcomed back with open arms.
But at the height of her success the ghosts of her past come back to remind her of the world she'd been trying to forget and the man who never let go of her heart.
Behind the book, there’s always more to the story. Welcome to Publishing, the ego has landed.
Goodreads
Book Trailer
Interview
Thank you so much for sitting down with Toot's for an interview. If you don't mind, I have some questions for you about your series The Publicist and your process for our budding authors as well as fans.
So first off, Let's talk about the series as a whole....
In your own words, what is The Publicist series about?
It’s funny, The Publicist started out as a series about one publicist, so her trials and tribulations, her authors, etc. Much of it, as you may know, really happened. I would say 95% of the stories in that book are real author stories. So I thought it would be a fun idea to share these stories because it can be such a tough market. Everyone wants to be famous, which isn’t always an easy task to accomplish. But then Kate got involved in these relationships which required more resolution. Initially, all of her relationships were going to be secondary to the story of being a publicist, but then I realized that while the stories were entertaining – the romance was what pulled the reader along. So, the stories are still there but you’ll notice in Book Two there are less of them.
How did you come up with the idea and title of the series, The Publicist?
From the day I thought up this book, I know it would be called The Publicists. The second book in the series was a bit harder. Initially I was going to call it The Publicist, Book Two and then I realized if it was ever going to be a successful stand-alone book that would be too confusing, so I came up with the title Shelf Life. I noodled with this idea on a plane, which is often where I get my best ideas!
Currently there are 2 books in the series, are there any more books planned for the series?
Yes, definitely. I have one more story to tell. My friend, Grace (yes, there is really a Grace) always told me there would be three books. I didn’t believe her. I knew that Book Two was the final, then it wasn’t. Most of this came from the readers. They wanted more and, they wanted to see what would happen to Nick.
What was your favorite scene to write for your hero or heroine in the series, The Publicist?
I loved the scenes where we see Kate “handling” an author. She often says the things I can’t, so it’s also a bit of therapy.
What was the hardest scene to write for the series, The Publicist?
The whole segment where her life falls apart was hard. I mean who hasn’t had the rug pulled out from under them, at some point or another in their life? It forced me to dig really deep.
What is your favorite line or quote from the series, The Publicist?
This is a line that Kate says to Mac, I love this because there’s so much truth in this statement:
“First times can always be brushed off as an accident, second times are intentional.”
Writing.......
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated and what made you decide to pursue it as a career?
That’s funny because I never really decided to become a writer. I wanted to share these stories and in order to do that I had to write them down. But I work with authors, I never wanted to become one. I will say though that now that I’m writing I adore it – I love it so much.
What inspires you to put the pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard?
Fingers to keyboard, with music playing on my headphones. Most days I work at Starbucks, somehow the noise helps me focus. Odd, no?
Are you a Plotter or a Panster?
Sometimes a little of both. Sometimes I’ll plot out segments of the book in exact detail, in other cases I let the characters sort of act it out.
Have you released anything under a different pen name, and if so, is there any difference between them?
Nope, this is my first!
What's next for you?
I’m finishing Book Three, after that I’m not sure. Hopefully HBO will come to their senses and decide they *must* turn The Publicist into a series.
Is there anything you’d like to add or say to your fans and future readers?
I love the feedback. Seriously. I love all of it. In fact it’s the negative feedback that helps me become a better writer. Look, I adore my books but not everyone does and that’s ok. I love the love and I love it when readers love the books and the characters but I got a ton of mail about Nick – what’s next for Nick, what’s next for Kate, etc. That’s what got me writing Book Three. I realized (thanks to the readers) that the story was not done.
Personal questions......
Now I know this is like asking you to choose between your own children, but out of all your amazing characters, who is your favorite and why?
I adore Allan Lavigne. I love him because he is Kate’s best friend, he looks out for her, and he’s such a dear man. Publishing sort of killed his spirit, but he never gave up on writing.
Are there any of your stories or characters that hold a special place in your heart?
Well, you should know that many of the characters are real. There really was a Mac, there is an Edward (he’s still in publishing) and there is a Grace. I would have to say though that Nick is very special to me. And yes, there was a Nick, too.
If the series had to have a theme song, what would it be?
Shake it Out, Florence and the Machine. Love that song. It really depicts Kate’s challenges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs
What would be the perfect date for your two main characters?
The perfect date for Kate and Mac? A night out in New York, some small but fabulous restaurant in The Village. Perhaps at Extra Virgin which is a wonderful place on 4th Street. For Nick and Kate? Well a picnic at sunset on the beach in So Cal of course.
Lastly, let's steal an idea from the magazines.....What 5 things do fans not know about you and 5 they don't know about the book?
Book
- Book One was written after a really bad breakup, it was actually written to be therapy.
- Almost all of the author stories in the book come from real authors I worked with. Names have been changed to protect the really guilty.
- The entire book two, all 70,000 words of it was written in a week, sitting at Starbucks. No, really.
- Conversely, it took me four years to write book one. Go figure :-)
- The character of Grace is real, she’s a great friend.
- I work in publishing, as a publicist and no one at my firm knows I wrote this book. :-)
- I adore Sci-Fi shows and was (am) a huge fan of The X-Files (I want to believe!)
- If I could live anywhere else (besides New York) I’d live in the South of France.
- I have gotten all sorts of odd threats. Some of them benign, some not so much. One time when I told an author I couldn’t take their book, he sent me a threatening note and said he was going to “sever my head” turns out he was a brain surgeon at UCLA, so my guess is he would know what he was doing.
- Though a lot of people have compared these books to Sex and the City, I actually never really watched that show. I thought Carrie was spoiled. :-)
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for taking time to answer some questions. Congratulations on the new book and I can't wait for everyone to read it!
Author Info
Website: http://www.thepublicistnovel.com
Twitter: @publicistgal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kate.mitchell.528316
Tour Info
Thanks for being a part of this tour and for spotlighting Christina George and her books!
ReplyDelete