The Chronicles of Casey V., OR Mental Ramblings of the Most Awesome Summer of My Life

Author:  Laurie Larsen
Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press
Line:  Climbing Rose
ISBN numbers:

• Paperback ISBN:  To Be Determined

• E-book ISBN:  To Be Determined

Release Date:  To Be Determined

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Casey V is a finalist in the Chick Lit Writers' Get Your Stiletto in the Door contest, in the Young Adult division!  Find out what the first round judges had to say!

Book Description:

On the bus, on her way to her first-ever summer job, Casey V is totally excited.  And scared to death.  First-time jobs are intimidating enough, but hers involves spending the whole summer out of state.  Living in a cabin in the woods.  In charge of the safety and well-being of a bunch of homesick little girls.  Yikes.  This could be the most awesome summer of her life, or the biggest mistake in her entire sixteen years.

Casey has three goals for the summer:  1) to meet cute guys, 2) to make money to buy much-needed electronic gizmos for next school year, and 3) to improve her writing (her chosen future profession -- this week, at least) by keeping a daily journal of the fun and excitement at summer camp.

At camp counselor orientation, she achieves goal #1.  Zander is a hottie with a capital H.  The summer would be a total slam if she could become an item with him.  Unfortunately, all she manages to do is make herself look like a fool every time he’s near.  Like their first meeting, when she is so tongue-tied she can’t produce any words other than lame mono-syllabic.  Or, the night she’s leading her girls through an edible art project, sleep-deprived from a night of dealing with woodland creatures invading her cabin, she lands face-down in a bowl of boiled macaroni. Or worst yet, when she dismounts into a pile of horse manure after their trail ride activity.  He never fails to be around for her most embarrassing moments!

Combine a summer romance, a mystery, a nearly Broadway- caliber show, a major trauma in the life of her best friend at home, and two broken bones, for which Casey is so totally responsible, this has got the makings of an awesome summer!

Author's Notes:

WOW!  My foray into Young Adult fiction is this fun, exciting, fast-paced action story, told in a summer journal of of our sixteen-year-old heroine, Casey V.  I can't tell you how much fun I had writing this book.  I'd been writing teenaged characters in my last few books, and suddenly realized that I wanted to write a book about a teen.  From the viewpoint of a teen!  And this was the idea that kept grabbing hold.

And I broke land-speed records in writing it.  I wrote it in a little over three months, start to finish -- first draft, anyway.  And now I have ideas for all kinds of sequels, and can't wait to get started on more.  Another fun thing is that I asked my two nieces, Brianna and Christina, to be test readers for me -- they are 13 and 16 -- and they gave me great feedback on the "voice" and tone, as well as the pace and story.  I named characters after them.  It was so cool working on this story together with them.  They gave me great feedback!

And here's the most exciting part:  when Casey V was still a "babe in the woods" -- still in the creation phase, I entered the first 35 pages and a synopsis in a Chick Lit contest, in their Young Adult division. 

Click here to find out how it did!!  (Hint, hint:  it's GREAT news!)

Tally:  The Chronicles of Casey V was rejected by three agents, and two editors before it found a home at The Wild Rose Press under their Climbing Rosebud line.

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