Learn what to change—and what to keep—when incorporating your real-life experiences into your work of fiction.
My debut novel, Hot Mess, comes out on March 20, 2018 via Graydon House, an imprint of Harlequin. In the book, protagonist Allie Simon falls for bad-boy celebrity chef Benji Zane, and though her family and friends warn her about his questionable past (drugs and other bad decisions), Allie falls hard and even invests her life savings to help Benji launch the high-end restaurant of his dreams on Chicago’s Randolph Street.
When Benji relapses back into drug use and disappears, Allie is sucked into the world of high-end dining, and to save her investment, she has to sacrifice much to make the opening a success. With the help of a female mentor, Allie is able to take back control of her life and dominate her new career. Allie leaves readers ready to take on the world.
Like my protagonist, Allie, I, too, was once a twenty-something girl gallivanting around Chicago when I suddenly crossed paths with my very own high-drama top-chef. I dated this person for about a year, during which time I got to experience what being the “woman behind the man” in a high-end culinary world was all about. I ate multi-course, off-the-menu meals at the best restaurants in the city. I was written about in blogs and on social media. I watched as my main man was photographed shirtless in our apartment for a magazine spread that I saw on shelves in airports and at Barnes & Noble weeks later. It was all so very exciting.
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