Ellen Meister, author of The Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA, returns with THE SMART ONE (Avon A, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; On-Sale Date: August 5, 2008; $13.95; ISBN: 0061129623), a funny and sexy tale of love, family, and transcending the childhood identities that mark us all. 
Beverly Bloomrosen has always been the smart one, the middle sister sandwiched between Clare, the beautiful and popular older one, and Joey, the rebellious rock-star younger one. But she’s hit a bit of a slump lately. Now 35, she’s embarking on a new career as an elementary school teacher and not exactly living up to her family’s expectations (“Maybe she can work her way up and eventually teach high school. That wouldn’t be so bad,” her mother helpfully comments). Bev has moved back into her parents’ home on Long Island while waiting to see if a job opportunity in Las Vegas materializes, seeing it as her chance to start afresh…but before she knows it, life back at home starts to get very interesting.
Kenny Waxman, Bev’s childhood neighbor—and the boy who almost became her high school boyfriend until she found him in bed with Joey—returns. Now a successful comedy writer in Los Angeles, he can still make her heart pound…and the attraction is still mutual.
Things take a turn for the sinister when a pregnant woman’s body is found in an industrial drum buried in the Waxmans’ backyard. As Bev and her sisters begin to unravel some mysteries of the past, some secrets of the present are revealed: Bev learns that the perfect Clare may not be as perfect as her glamorous, well-coiffed suburban life may suggest, while rebellious Joey is still attempting to exorcise some of the demons that have haunted her for years. In the end, the curse of being the smart one may just turn out to be a blessing.
ROBERTA: Dr. Rebecca Butterman, the protagonist in my advice column mysteries, is a clinical psychologist (like me.) If your protagonist made an appointment to talk to Dr. Butterman, what would that first session be like? What deep dark secret or problem would she be there to discuss and how much of it would she tell?
ELLEN: Oh, dear! I think Bev, the title character in THE SMART ONE, needs a lot of hours on an analyst’s couch. She thinks all her problems are due to her family’s unrealistic expectations. As she says on page one, “Once you’ve been labeled ‘the smart one’ as a child, your potential is considered limitless, and the only way you can live up to your early promise is to become a brain surgeon, marry a rocket scientist, and create two perfect children bright enough to get their own game show called Are You Smarter Than a Preschooler? And if you don’t, if you fall short in any way, you’re considered a disappointment. A failure. A loser.”
But since she’s not in therapy, she has to work through all this with her sisters, who have their own issues. It seems like they’ll never learn where their family’s expectations begin and their own destructive tendencies end. But then they discover a dead body stuffed inside an industrial drum, and begin a journey that may well lead to enlightenment.
ROBERTA: At the times you fall victim to writers block, what’s most likely to be going on in your life? What gets you out of the woods and back on the writing path?
ELLEN: I’m a pretty emotional sort, and just about anything can make me lose focus, which, in my opinion, is what writer’s block is really all about. But I have a method to get me back on track. I start typing notes–just stream-of-consciousness type stuff, asking myself where I am in the story and where I want to go. I write down every idea I have and every question that’s in my way. I ask myself where the story can go and what will happen if I follow one path or another. Before long, I have all the answers I need … because they were really there all along!
ROBERTA: If you were magically transformed into your protagonist for a day, what would you most look forward to experiencing? And what might you dread?
ELLEN: I adore this question, Roberta! I think I’d dread all the emotional turmoil Bev goes through, but I’d love to experience all the people in Bev’s life. I’d like to gaze on her sister Clare’s beautiful face. I’d like to hear her sister Joey’s extraordinary voice. I’d like to look into the eyes of Sam Waxman, the suspected murderer. And I’d like to sleep with Kenny Waxman. What a hunk! (Is that too much information? Ha!)
Thanks so much for the great interview!
About the Author
Ellen Meister grew up in the heartland of suburban Long Island. She spent her early career in advertising and marketing, and later worked as editor for a literary magazine and published numerous short stories. Her first novel was Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA (Morrow/Avon, 2006). Meister lives in New York with her husband and three children. To find out more, visit her website at ellenmeister.com.
Praise for THE SMART ONE
“Wonderfully funny, irreverent and entirely unexpected. I loved it!”
- Jane Green, bestselling author of The Beach House
“A perfect beach read!”
- Booklist
“[The Smart One] delivers witty repartee, hilarious hijinks, plenty of action, some steamy sex, a dizzying romance, and, obviously, a murder mystery … but Meister doesn’t stop there. She gives us lucid, compellingly readable yet polished prose. She gives us beautiful symbolism and even slips in clever references to a beloved classic that she’s updating. And, mostly, she doesn’t give us characters so much as people. People who’ll drive you nuts, and people you’ll fall in love with.”
- Susan Diplacido, author of American Cool
“If you’re looking for a smart, humorous story about families, look no further. THE SMART ONE by Ellen Meister is a down-to-earth story that made me wish I had a sister of my own!”
- Kay James, Romance Reader at Heart, rated “Top Pick”
“Character-driven … fast-paced and features great dialog.”
- Library Journal
Make pesto of course.
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