Currently Querying new Adult Mystery/thriller novel
NONE OF THAT WAS REAL!
I am currently querying for traditional publication a New Adult mystery novel that doubles as a thriller novel about former child stars, titled NONE OF THAT WAS REAL! This story offers a dual-timeline, dual-POV behind-the-scenes look at a beloved family mystery sitcom from the nineties and explores the reality of what it means to be a child performer.
Jam-packed with pop-culture references, dramatic love triangles, and a complexly layered cast of characters, this work is my longest and most treasured piece in my personal library, a proud addition to the Kayla Joy Books collection.
Pitch: From 1995 to 2005, Wiley Studios’ mystery-comedy series Solved! was television’s biggest hit, launching its cast of child actors—Vivian Locke, Luci Payne, and Benjamin Wright—to superstardom. Ten years after the series finale, a now “washed-up” thirty-year-old Vivian only wants to escape the legacy of her past, while her former co-star, Luci, now an A-Lister, wants to celebrate it by throwing a reunion party for the whole cast (most of them, anyway). The reunion is a perfect blend of nostalgia and alcohol, concluding when Luci announces a tell-all memoir, threatening to expose secrets the trio once swore to take to their graves. Vivian causes a scene and threatens Luci in front of everyone before disappearing upstairs with Benji.
The next morning, Luci is dead, her memoir is nowhere to be found, and all fingers point to Vivian. As news of Luci’s death breaks around the world, and everyone believes they know the truth, Vivian and Benji are swept up in the media frenzy as the primary suspects. To clear their names and save their reputations, Vivian begins her own investigation. While the police, tabloids, and their former executive producer all want to spin the narrative in one way or another, Vivian uncovers clues dating back nearly twenty years, realizing this mystery began long before Solved! ended.
Vivian’s chapters intertwine with Luci’s memoir chapters to expose a spiderweb of deception and betrayal that fuels the entertainment industry, showing the lasting damage and confusion that a lifetime of playing pretend can do to a young performer, and the hunger for drama we as audience members are all guilty of.
Like many kids raised in the digital era, I was fed the idea of fame from a young age and pursued it intensely, gaining once-in-a-lifetime experiences, making lifelong friendships, and witnessing firsthand the way the independent film industry responded post-#MeToo. The complex feelings I had toward the industry inspired the characters Vivian and Luci.
