Contemporary Authors

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Stern, Abby: ACCORDING TO A SOURCE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text: 
Stern, Abby ACCORDING TO A SOURCE Thomas Dunne Books (Adult Fiction) $25.99 5, 23 ISBN: 978-
1-250-10679-7
An undercover celebrity reporter discovers there are things more important than the latest exclusive.Ella
Warren's life is a whirlwind. As a freelance reporter for the Life, a leading celebrity gossip magazine and
website, she has become the secret queen of Hollywood nightlife. By day, she's dependable Ella, but by
night she transforms into her alter ego, Bella, a regular at all the celebrity hot spots and the glamorous and
outrageous after-parties where the press isn't allowed. Despite her dedication to her job, she does have a set
of rules for herself so she doesn't cross the line and damage the confidence of her best friend, rising star and
British heiress Holiday Hall. For one, Ella swears that she will report only on celebrity scandals that occur
in public places and never divulge the sordid details she observes at Holiday's friends' homes. She also will
never report on anything that would hurt Holiday or her closest friends. But after her long-term relationship
with boyfriend and aspiring screenwriter Ethan crumbles and a demanding new editor-in-chief takes over at
the magazine, Ella's promises, both personal and professional, become harder to keep. Cutthroat editor
Victoria Davis makes her freelance staff crazy when she institutes a points policy to determine who will stay
on and who will be fired. While Ella tries to rise to the top, she also must stop and question who she is along
the way. Ella's friends and family are vivid and memorable, and the blind-item celebrity nomenclature,
including "Rugged Award-Nominated Method Actor" and "Southern Girl-Next-Door Movie Star," remains
fresh and witty. Fast-paced and charming, the novel gives a glimpse into the secret world of celebrity--and
celebrity reporting--that many readers will eat up like the latest tabloid or reality television show. The
human side of Hollywood is revealed in Stern's strong debut.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Stern, Abby: ACCORDING TO A SOURCE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A485105316/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4f19b7ff.
Accessed 30 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A485105316
According to a Source
Kristine Huntley
Booklist.
113.15 (Apr. 1, 2017): p28+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text: 
According to a Source.
By Abby Stern.
May 2017. 304p. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $25.99 (9781250106797).
Stern's debut novel centers on Ella Warren, a freelancer for the Life, a gossip rag that tracks the outrageous
antics of celebrities in Los Angeles. When the magazine's original editor in chief retakes the reins, she
announces her intention to cut more than half of the freelance staff and sets up a competition among the
existing freelancers to vie for their jobs. Suddenly, Ella is prioritizing going to clubs and parties in search of
celebs behaving badly over her screenwriter boyfriend, who promptly dumps her rather than give her the
engagement ring she was expecting. Ella doesn't stay unattached for long: she's soon romancing the
handsome agent representing her best friend, a British heiress turned aspiring actress. But as the competition
among the freelancers intensifies, Ella makes a blunder that puts several important relationships in jeopardy.
Readers who relish celebrity gossip will have a blast trying to identify the various celebrities alluded to with
such colorful descriptions as "Older Multi-Oscar Winning Womanizer" and "Not-So-Innocent Oversexualized
Pop Star" in this fun, frothy read.--Kristine Huntley
YA/M: Teens fascinated by the glitz and glam of life in Hollywood will devour this insider look. KH.
YA RECOMMENDATIONS
* Young adult recommendations for adult, audio, and reference titles reviewed In this issue have been
contributed by the Booklist staff and by reviewers Michael Cart, Laura Chanoux, John Charles, Carol
Haggas, Kristine Huntley, Bethany Latham, Colleen Mondor, and Louisa Whitfield-Smith.
* Adult titles recommended for teens are marked with the following symbols: YA, for books of general YA
interest; YA/C, for books with particular curriculum value; YA/S, for books that will appeal most to teens
with a special interest in a specific subject; and YA/M, for books best suited to mature teens.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
Huntley, Kristine. "According to a Source." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2017, p. 28+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491487881/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=048ec085.
Accessed 30 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491487881

• Huffington Post
  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/according-to-a-source-a-conversation-with-abby-stern_us_592738d5e4b065b396c06b46
  Word count: 828

  Brandi Megan Granett, Contributor
  I am an author, archer, and writing mentor.

  According to a Source: A Conversation with Abby Stern
  05/25/2017 04:09 pm ET

  Abby Stern knows the Hollywood red carpet scene from her years as a celebrity reporter. In According to a Source, Stern’s fictional reporter Ella Warren grapples with price of following a lead versus following her heart.

  Given your knowledge and background, why did you pick fiction over non-fiction? What was the hardest real life detail that you grappled with while creating this book? Did you leave it out or keep it in?

  I wrote this book as a work fiction so I would have the creative license to make the story as fun as possible! With non-fiction, you’re obviously married to the truth, which isn’t always as interesting as we think. In choosing to make it fiction, I was able to create celebrity archetypes and use my imagination to craft scenarios that would both be exciting for the reader and would heighten the stakes for Ella. I drew inspiration from the real world of celebrity journalism, adding nuances and details I found intriguing, and then took it one step further with my imagination. My main goal with this novel was to craft a fun and engaging story. I didn’t agonize over keeping or removing details from the book. Since it’s fiction, all of those choices were completely story-based. I would ask myself, “Am I moving the narrative forward with this detail or is it weighing it down?” That was the only barometer I used.
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  What makes Ella uniquely herself? What traits do you feel she shares with her creator?

  I think that Ella is trying to figure it out and get it right all the time but she doesn’t necessarily always see both sides of the coin even though she tries to. She’s very driven but she’s trying to navigate this world that not many people have experienced. It’s incredibly glamorous and seductive and because of that, sometimes the needle in her judgment is subconsciously off a bit.

  In terms of how Ella and I are similar, we both love adventure and seeing where life takes us. The thing that I love about Ella is how she never hesitates. She isn’t consumed by where she will be in five years. She tries to make the best choice in the moment that will also lead her down a new path. I think we definitely share that bravery and desire to always be trying or learning something new. We both choose to take risks instead of maintaining the status quo.

  What do you hope this book says about friendship?

  I hope that it says that while you should be taking advantage of every opportunity to make amazing memories and share new experiences with your friends, it’s important to have friends who are there for you through thick and thin. Between adventures, life happens at different points in the story to both Ella and Holiday (Ella’s best friend). They need each other for support. I also wanted to highlight that the characters both make a few questionable decisions, but when you have that genuine bond, that’s solidified during those fun adventures, there’s nothing that can tear a friendship apart.
  Martina Tolot

  The acknowledgements in your book point out the many sources of support you received as a writer. How did you find these resources? What do you recommend to writers at the beginning of the journey?

  I have to brag for a second and admit that I honestly have the best parents and friends anyone could ask for. They were a huge source of support and encouragement for me throughout this entire process.

  In terms of writing mentors and advisors, I was incredibly lucky to have my TV writing partner, Dennis Jacobs, and YA author Rebecca Maizel to give me constructive feedback. They are people whose work I admire and feedback I value. For writers at the beginning of their journey, I would advise that once your manuscript is in the place you think it’s ready to submit, join a writers group. We are often so close to our own material, we miss some spots in need of revision that jump out to others. If you’re lucky enough to already have someone whose writing advice you trust, don’t be shy! We are all in the same boat and even writers who have published multiple times often need a second set of eyes for their own work. Even though the actual writing process can sometimes be isolating, the writing community is incredibly warm, friendly, and willing to help.

• LA Weekly
  http://www.laweekly.com/arts/hollywood-insider-abby-stern-offers-a-glimpse-beyond-the-red-carpet-in-according-to-a-source-8236257
  Word count: 1325

  A Hollywood Insider Offers a Glimpse Beyond the Red Carpet in Her New Book

  Abby Stern's first novel, According to a Source, follows an entertainment journalist, much like her.

  A Hollywood Insider Offers a Glimpse Beyond the Red Carpet in Her New Book
  Maureen Lenker | May 23, 2017 | 7:32am

  They say to write what you know — freelance reporter Abby Stern has taken that advice to heart in her debut novel, According to a Source ($12.99, Macmillan). Stern, who's been a freelance red-carpet reporter for years for publications like People, takes readers inside the life of Ella Warren, an undercover reporter for a celebrity magazine in the vein of US Weekly. When faced with a shake-up and a new boss of Devil Wears Prada proportions, Ella begins to question her life choices as her glamorous job threatens her friendships, relationships and even her sense of self.

  Ella bears a striking resemblance to Stern as a fashionable, petite blond working in the world of entertainment journalism. “She definitely has some of my characteristics and mannerisms,” she admits. “The way she speaks, sometimes struggling with the choices she makes, that was definitely me when I was younger, so I tried to add a little bit of that into her.”
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  Though Stern insists that the book is “definitely fiction,” it has the undeniably fizzy temperament of a book buzzing with insider knowledge — the story and the details of Ella's undercover assignments are fictional, but the slick sensation of Hollywood glamour combined with well-rounded characters go down like expensive Champagne. Stern admits that the idea for the novel first came from her own experiences as a reporter. “I would tell people that I freelanced for a celebrity magazine and they were so intrigued,” she says. “I’d always been writing, and I just thought, 'There’s gotta be a story in here somehow. I just need to find the way to tell it.'” After 10 years of work on the manuscript on and off, using some of her own knowledge of the Hollywood landscape, Stern finished According to a Source.
  A Hollywood Insider Offers a Glimpse Beyond the Red Carpet in Her New Book
  EXPAND
  Courtesy Thomas Dunne Books

  Stern doesn't use celebrity names in the novel, but it maintains its insider-y effect with the use of a GPS-like knowledge of Los Angeles locales and blind-item descriptors. Stern leaves it up to the reader to guess who she means when she mentions “Not-So-Innocent Oversexualized Pop Star,” “Sexy Indie Film Actor” or “Southern Girl-Next-Door Movie Star.” This is half the fun of reading the book — trying to match up monikers and details to the celebrities they might represent. Stern says this is why she chose the tactic. “Whatever archetype I may have had in mind, it created a choose-your-own adventure story for the reader where they get to use their imagination,” she says. Rather than make up celebrity names, Stern felt this approach would keep readers engaged in the story. “Sometimes with fake celebrities, it actually takes you out of the story a little bit. I found that with television shows,” she says.

  For those familiar with L.A.'s distinct neighborhoods and “it” spots, the book captures the city with the keen eye of a local. “The city has such a unique energy,” says Stern. “There’s even such a different energy on the Westside in Santa Monica and in Venice as opposed to this 'Hollywood' stuff, so [I] really had to get specific about where these characters were because it would inform their decisions and their thought processes and why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

  Despite its glossy, bubble-gum-pink cover, the book isn’t afraid to dig deep and show some of the seedier aspects of fame and nightlife. Stern says part of the fun of writing this story was the chance to peek behind the velvet rope. “Being on red carpets, it looks like so much fun and so glamorous, and being there, you’re standing around, you’re waiting forever, your feet hurt, it could be raining,” she says. “It’s kind of nice to take that peek behind the curtain and see a little bit of what really goes on in a fictitious way. You’re not seeing completely how the sausage is made, but you’re seeing everything is fantasy versus reality.”
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  As a protagonist, Ella is far more messy than she is “likable." Stern delights in that complexity. She says Ella was even less likable in previous drafts, but that her goal was always to make Ella more real than anything else. “I’d rather tell a story that’s relatable than a story where somebody said they liked the character,” she says. Ella Warren could hold court alongside women like television’s Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) and Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) — complex, occasionally selfish women who are struggling to get it right just like the rest of us. “That’s real life, right? I am not likable on all days. As much as I wish I was,” Stern says. “With male characters and men in general, they’re allowed to have more facets to them and sides to their personality and still be considered likable, where, for us, we almost have to be perfect and cheery all the time. The same thing with characters. I like that they’re complicated and they’re messy and they don’t always do the right thing. Because as much as we want to do that in life, we don’t always.”

  This book has been 10 years in the making, but she didn’t initially dream of writing a novel. “It was never on my bucket list to write a book before I started,” she says. “I was never in high school thinking one day I’d like to write a novel. Not in a bad way. It just wasn’t in my mind.”

  She first moved to Los Angeles to attend USC, majoring in theater and hoping to become an actress. Then she was struck by the example of Good Will Hunting and the idea of writing material for oneself, so she started writing more earnestly. Stern tried everything from stand-up comedy to writing screenplays but found her journalism career steadily gaining steam. With the publication of her novel, she's come full circle, producing the sort of personal creative material she set her sights on creating when she was a college student (and she says she still hopes to get back to performing).

  What she didn’t entirely anticipate was how rewarding this process of writing a novel would be. She calls this chance to “be creative and use [her] imagination” “the opportunity of a lifetime” and admits to still not fully processing the accomplishment. “As a reporter you’re using soundbites and servicing whatever your thesis and your headline is. ... This, for me, was a complete blank canvas, and I could go in any direction,” she says. “When you’re doing journalism, you’re fact-checking; it was really fun to be able to embellish things because it was fiction and it is not real life.”

  Maureen Lee Lenker is a writer, actress, and freelance journalist. She has written for The Hollywood Reporter, Turner Classic Movies, Bitch Media, LA Weekly, and more. An Anglophile, she attempted to fulfill her dream of attending Hogwarts by completing her master’s in British History at the University of Oxford. She is a cock-eyed optimist, rom-com aficionado, classic movie buff, musical theatre geek, and general pop culture enthusiast.

  Contact: Maureen Lenker

• Meagan Portorreal
  http://meganportorreal.com/lifestyle/according-to-a-source/
  Word count: 412

  ‘According to a Source’ by Abby Stern Book Review
  October 11, 2017

  Even before you start Chapter 1 of According to a Source by Abby Stern, you get a sense of what’s to come with the opening quotes. One of the quotes, in particular, is by the late Carrie Fisher: “You can’t find any true closeness in Hollywood because everybody does the fake closeness so well.” I had these words in mind while reading the pages that followed and it really cemented the theme for the rest of the book.

  The narrator, Ella Warren, is an undercover freelance reporter for the popular celebrity news magazine The Life and spends her nights scouring nightclubs and exclusive restaurants looking for the next big viral story. At first, this secret double life of hers is perfect: she has a handsome boyfriend, celebrity best friends (including a beautiful British rising star and elite blogger/social media influencer), and a job she loves. But when a new Miranda Priestly-esque boss takes over and implements a competitive points system where writers must remain on top in order to keep their jobs, all that comes crumbling down.

  Regardless of all the glamorous champagne toasts, hot actors coming and going, and exclusive parties, Ella begins to spend most of her time stressing about getting busted for her alias and getting fired. In a way, she is almost like Cinderella—except the party doesn’t start until after midnight—and you, as a reader, are waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it does, it’s not pretty.

  What the author does well is mask the story’s big-name celebrities by giving them descriptive monikers, as opposed to coming up with made-up names. Though the book is obviously a work of fiction, half the fun is trying to figure out which real-life celebrities Stern is referring to when they are introduced as “Sexy Indie Film Actor” and “Triple Threat Pop Music Diva” (to be fair, a lot of celebrities fit those descriptions). Not only is it fun to do some detective work of your own, but it also paints a much more realistic picture in your head, one where you feel completely attached to the story’s L.A. setting.

  According to a Source is stylish and fun, exciting and suspenseful, and would be enjoyed by fans of The Devil Wears Prada and Freeform’s The Bold Type.