Next Door to a Star by Krysten Lindsay Hager

NEXT DOOR TO A STAR

by Krysten Lindsay Hager

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

Release Date: September 1, 2015

Hadley Daniels is tired of feeling invisible.

After Hadley’s best friend moves away and she gets on the bad side of some girls at school, she goes to spend the summer with her grandparents in the Lake Michigan resort town of Grand Haven. Her next door neighbor is none other than teen TV star Simone Hendrickson, who is everything Hadley longs to be—pretty, popular, and famous—and she’s thrilled when Simone treats her like a friend.

Being popular is a lot harder than it looks.

It’s fun and flattering when Simone includes her in her circle, though Hadley is puzzled about why her new friend refuses to discuss her former Hollywood life. Caught up with Simone, Hadley finds herself ignoring her quiet, steadfast friend, Charlotte.

To make things even more complicated, along comes Nick Jenkins…

He’s sweet, good-looking, and Hadley can be herself around him without all the fake drama. However, the mean girls have other ideas and they fill Nick’s head with lies about Hadley, sending him running back to his ex-girlfriend and leaving Hadley heartbroken.

So when her parents decide to relocate to Grand Haven, Hadley hopes things will change when school starts…only to be disappointed once again.

Cliques.

Back-stabbing.

Love gone bad.

Is this really what it’s like to live…Next Door To A Star?

 PURCHASE LINKS

~ Available on KINDLE UNLIMITED ~

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1FnFb3Y

Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1N7IHWI

B&N Paperback: http://bit.ly/1PQf9Mc

Books A Million: http://bit.ly/1M07cGF

iBooks: http://apple.co/1PQfhLI

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1XqtAwq

Tagline: “They like me...they like me not.”

Excerpt

The school year should end right after spring break, because all anyone can focus on is summer vacation. You can’t learn anything new, because all you can think about is all the fun stuff you’re going to do once you don’t have to get up at the butt crack of dawn. Summer always seems full of possibilities.

Nothing exciting ever happens during the school year, but maybe, during summer vacation, you could run into a hot celebrity and he’d decide to put you in his next music video. Okay, it wasn’t like I knew anybody that happened to, but my grandparents did live next door to a former TV star, Simone Hendrickson, and Simone was discovered in an ice cream parlor one summer. Of course, she lived in L.A. at the time and was already doing plays and commercials, so the guy who discovered her had already seen her perform. But hey, it was summer, she got discovered, and that was all that mattered.

Amazing stuff didn’t happen to me. You know what happened to me last summer? I stepped on a bee and had to go to the emergency room. They’re not going to make an E! True Hollywood Story out of my life. I didn’t go on exotic vacations—like today, I was being dragged along with my parents to my cousin’s graduation party. Most people waited until at least the end of May before having a grad party, but Charisma was having hers early because she was leaving on a trip to Spain. I was dreading this party because I didn’t want to listen to everybody talk about how smart and talented Charisma was—making me feel like a blob in comparison—but my mom RSVP’d even though I said I’d rather die than go. My death threats meant nothing. But still, for some strange reason, I had a feeling this summer was going to be different.

KRYSTEN LINDSAY HAGER

Krysten Lindsay Hager is an obsessive reader and has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and humor essayist, and writes for teens, tweens, and adults. She is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series and her work has been featured in USA Today and named as Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values and Virtues Fiction and Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. She’s originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and southwestern Ohio. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

WEBSITE: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/krystenlindsay/

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8298036.Krysten_Lindsay_Hager

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/KrystenLindsay

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KrystenLindsayHagerAuthor

Krysten Lindsay Hager Spills the Beans

Hi Krysten! So glad to have you at Spilling the Beans, where we can learn a little bit about you, and your book. Grab a cappuccino and let’s chat. Unless you have another favorite drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?
How about a glass of chocolate almond milk? I love this stuff—it’s like drinking pudding.

Mm, that does sound delicious. I’ll join you. So, more about you. Fur or feathers, pet-wise?
Fur. I never had a pet growing up…wait, would you count a little sister? No? I wanted a dog like the one Cathy had in the comic strip.

Aw, so sad! Every girl should have a dog for a sidekick. Any pet peeves? One thing that really burns your biscuits?
I really hate rude people. Especially condescending people. I have a scene in Best Friends…Forever? with a rude cosmetics counter salesperson who makes Landry feel insecure about her looks. We always think it’s us when they act that way and don’t take into account that some people do that just to push the products, so I have Landry’s mother talk to her about that.

Love it. Tell us something about yourself that’s not in your bio.
I lived on a Portuguese island for three years. I came back to the United States and everyone was talking about reality show “stars” I had never heard of and it was surreal to see the covers of magazines at supermarkets and not recognize the faces on them.

I live here, and I don’t recognize them! What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I love to read, watch TV (American Dad is my favorite show), and I have a weird laundry obsession. I get antsy if the dirty clothes pile gets to full. There’s something relaxing about doing laundry.

You can come relax at my house anytime, lol. If you had to choose another profession besides writer, what would it be and why?
I worked as a journalist for years and I’m really curious (okay, fine, I’m snoopy) by nature, so that was a great job for me.

Are you a night owl or early bird?
Night owl. Unless you’re referring to 4 am.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I’d like to be able to teleport places. Think of all the time that I’d save on packing, having to deal with airport security, jet lag, ticket prices. Forget the space program, let’s get going on this!

That, or get the Skycar out to car sales lots. How would your muse describe you?
Oh, I’m sure they’d say pain in tush, hard to get moving.

If you could live out any fantasy, what would you do?
Mine would involve traveling back in time and spending the day hanging out with F. Scott Fitzgerald. That movie Midnight in Paris is the ultimate fantasy of mine. Can you imagine having literary greats critique your work and getting to hang out with your heroes??

Oh, exciting and scary at the same time, lol. If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, fictional or real, who would it be and why?
I would love to have dinner with the author, Lois Lowry to talk about writing and her inspirations. She’s written such a wide range of books from those great Anastasia books to The Giver, Number the Stars, and one of my favorites, Autumn Street. I think she’d just be fascinating to talk to and to learn more about her. And if there’s room for someone else at the table then maybe soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo could come, too….

There’s always room for one more. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
It’s moments like these I regret not being a bigger risk taker so I’d have something interesting to put down. I entered a talent show with a friend and danced to Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” when I was in the sixth grade. The reason I would consider that crazy is because it was in front of a group of middle schoolers and I was wearing jean shorts.

I’ll bet they were all envious! Beethoven, Beatles, Foo Fighters or Keith Urban (what type(s) of music makes you rock out)?
I love Pixie Lott, Christina Aguilera, Johnny Gill, Jon Connor, Shakira, Whitney Houston, Eminem, The Bangles, and my favorite since I was a kid, George Michael.

Does music influence your writing? Do you have a music playlist for your book?
It definitely does. The Bangles were a big influence for me with this series—in fact the four women were my models for four of my characters because I saw an album cover when I was in grade school and wondered what they would have been like in middle school. I like to put on empowering music for those scenes when Landry has to deal with tough situations. “The Voice Within” by Christina Aguilera is the perfect song when you feel alone and in need of confidence. I feel like “Shake It Off” from Taylor Swift could be an anthem for Landry as she gets ready to do her modeling  competition stuff while worried about what people at school will say about her. I also listened to “Change Your Mind” by Boyce Avenue when writing the break up scene with her and Vladi. I have a full playlist on my website:  http://www.krystenlindsay.com/true-colors-book-trailer-facts-inspiration-board--playlist.html

Very cool. While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
One thing that surprised me was the response I got from a few dads who were beta readers for me. One said that it made him realize why his daughters acted the way they did at their age. He said he often blew off their behavior as, “teenage hormones,” but he said reading what teen girls go through with friend drama and insecurities really opened his eyes. A few other dads made similar comments about not realizing the extent that those sorts of insecurities really impacted and shaped girls.

An odd thing that surprised me was how much life imitated art. I would write things and then they would happen to me. One odd thing was me giving Ashanti mono in the first book and then I got it. I should have had her parents win the lottery. Also, I had someone point out that I also mentioned ebola in the first book and at that time no one was even talking about ebola, so that was a little strange.

Where can readers find out more about you?
You can see what I’m up to on my website at: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/

Please tell us a bit about your latest book. 
Best Friends…Forever? is about Landry Albright, an over thinker who hopes the new year will start off in an amazing way—instead she has to deal with more frenemy issues, boy drama, and having most of her best friends make the cheerleading squad without her. Suddenly, it seems like all anyone can talk about is starting high school next year—something she finds terrifying.

Landry gets her first boyfriend, but then gets dumped just as things come to a head with her friends. She feels lost and left out, but finds good advice about dealing with frenemies from what she considers an unlikely source. Landry learns to speak up for what’s right, tell the truth (even when it hurts), and how to get past the fear of failure as she gets another shot at competing in the American Ingénue modeling competition.

The book is a sequel to the first book in the Landry’s True Colors series, but can be read as a stand alone book.

Buy links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Friends-Forever-Landrys-Colors-ebook/dp/B00UIP1N5S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426663576&sr=8-1&keywords=krysten

Amazon international: http://authl.it/B00UIP1N5S

Barnesandnoble.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-friends-forever-krysten-lindsay-hager/1121504612?ean=2940151347204

itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/best-friends...-forever/id979714114?mt=11

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/best-friends-forever-19

What inspired you to write it?
I wanted to write the book I wanted to read when I was in school. I always felt like everyone else had it all together and had these picture perfect lives and I was just trying to find my place. What I didn’t realize is that everyone feels that way and I think that’s only increased with people posting pics of their “amazing” lives on Instagram and Facebook. If you compare your everyday life to someone’s highlight reel then you’re always going to feel you’re coming up short. So I created a character in Landry who is an “over thinker” who shows her internal feelings and her anxious side in a funny way.

Thanks for spilling the beans today, Kristen!
Thanks for having me on and making me reminisce about my whole Paula Abdul performance in jean shorts…what was I thinking???