Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper

Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper

Theirs was a match made in Hollywood heaven: Elizabeth (formerly Lizzie) Pepper and Hollywood mega-star Rob Mars had their photographs on the cover of every magazine and their pick of lead roles in every blockbuster film. But now it's all over and Lizzie is ready to spill the beans. An addictively juicy novel of celebrity love gone wrong!

Actress Lizzie Pepper was America's Girl Next Door and her marriage to Hollywood mega-star Rob Mars was tabloid gold-a whirlwind romance and an elaborate celebrity-studded wedding landed them on the cover of every celebrity weekly. But fame, beauty, and wealth weren't enough to keep their marriage together. Hollywood's 'It' couple are over-and now Lizzie is going to tell her side of the story.

Celebrity ghostwriter Hilary Liftin chronicles the tabloids' favourite marriage as Lizzie Pepper realises that, when the curtain falls, her romance isn't what she and everyone else thought. From her lonely holidays in sumptuous villas to her husband's deep commitment to a disconcertingly repressive mind-body group, Lizzie reveals a side of fame that her fans never get to see.

Full of twists and turns, Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper is a breathless journey to the heights of Hollywood power and royalty and a life in the spotlight that is nearly impossible to escape.

Hilary Liftin is a collaborator specializing in celebrity memoir. Before becoming a full-time writer, Hilary worked in the publishing industry for ten years, holding positions in editorial, marketing, and business development at Houghton Mifflin, Barnes & Noble.com, and the ebook division of Time Warner Books (now Hachette). Since 2006 she has worked on fifteen books, ten of which hit the New York Times bestseller list. Hilary has also written three books under her own name. Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper is her first novel.

Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper
Allen and Unwin
Author: Hilary Liftin
ISBN: 9781760292621
RRP: $29.99

Interview with Hilary Liftin

Question: What inspired the story of Lizzie Pepper?

Hilary Liftin: I got the idea for MOVIE STAR BY LIZZIE PEPPER when I was watching yet another celebrity marriage implode in the tabloids. As a celebrity ghostwriter, I fantasize about collaborating on certain people's stories, but there's no telling when, if ever, they'll want to tell them (or whether they'll go into juicy detail). I realized that I could "ghostwrite" my dream celebrity memoir, with a client willing to tell all. And so Lizzie Pepper was born.


Question: What was the best part about creating the character of Lizzie Pepper?

Hilary Liftin: I have collaborated on many memoirs, so I'm used to telling personal stories, but MOVIE STAR was the first fiction I'd ever written. It was liberating (and scary) not to be bound to fact. I loved being able to layer stories, and make things happen when and how I wanted them to play out. For instance, in the moment when Lizzie suspects that her husband is having an affair, her water breaks. I don't often get that kind of coincidence and drama when I'm co-writing a memoir. It seems so obvious, but when you haven't had that freedom before, it's quite enormous.


Question: Was there a certain celebrity couple who inspired Rob Mars and Lizzie Pepper?

Hilary Liftin: Lizzie and Rob aren't based on any one couple. They are an amalgamation of various celebrity stories that will be familiar to anyone who reads gossip magazines. The thrill of a celebrity memoir is to step behind the scenes. I wanted the reader to find the story both recognizable and newly intimate--I wanted the book to feel like a rare glimpse of the truth behind the gossip.


Question: What did you find most difficult when writing Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper?

Hilary Liftin: As I've mentioned, I'd never written fiction before. I'm not used to making wrong turns or writing myself into corners. I'm definitely not accustomed to a blank page (or, rather, a blinking cursor on a blank screen). My newfound freedom was often daunting. This story could go anywhere and it was up to me to steer Lizzie. A more specific challenge was Hollywood. I didn't want to waste my time or the reader's dwelling on the cliches of the lives of the rich and famous. Designer clothes; mansions; blah, blah, blah. What was most interesting about it? To me it was how Lizzie, who was already famous, would talk about Rob Mars's higher plane of fame.


Question: What's next, for you?

Hilary Liftin: I'm still ghostwriting. I love collaborating, both the process and the result. But I've just ghostwritten my first fiction--that was fun--and I have the beginnings of an idea for what my next novel might be.


Interview by Brooke Hunter