Guest Post: Jessica Brody (The Karma Club)

Everyone please welcome our lovely visitor Jessica Brody, author of The Karma Club. Thank you so much for doing this guest post! If you missed my book review of this awesome and witty book, check it out here.

Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self "publishing" her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples and electrical tape. After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author. Between 2006 and 2007, Jessica sold two adult novels to St. Martin's Press and two young adult novels to Farrar, Straus, Giroux. The Fidelity Files, her debut, is now available in stores (in real binding) and the follow-up, Love Under Cover, released in November 2009. The Karma Club, Jessica's debut YA novel is now out and her next YA release, My Life Undecided slated for Spring of the following year. Jessica now works as a freelance writer and producer in Los Angeles.

For more info on Jessica, visit her site(s):
-Website
-Blog
-Twitter
-Facebook
-MySpace

Other books by Jessica:
The Fidelity Files
Love Under Cover
My Life Undecided (Spring 2011)
52 Reasons To Hate My Father (Spring 2012)

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Summary: "Personally, I’m tired of waiting for the universe to get off its butt and start fixing stuff. I don’t want to wait around fomatter . . .

I want to be there to see it happen." Madison Kasparkova always thought she understood how Karma works. It’s that mysterious, powerful force that brings harmony to the universe. You know—do good things and you will be rewarded, do something bad and Karma will make sure you get what’s coming to you. A sort of cosmic balancing act. But when Mason Brooks, Maddy’s boyfriend of two years, gets caught tongue-wrestling with Miss Perfect Body Heather Campbell, and absolutely nothing happens to either of them—except that they wind up the hot new couple of Colonial High School, it seems like Karma has officially left Maddy in the lurch. That’s why Maddy and her best friends, Angie and Jade, decide to start the Karma Club—a secret, members-only organization whose sole purpose is to clean up the messes that the universe has been leaving behind. Whether they’re modifying Heather Car Mason to get what’s coming to him. Or Heather Campbell, for that mpbell’s acne cream as part of “Operation Butterface,” or righting a few wrongs when it comes to Angie and Jade’s own slimy exes, they know they’re just doing what Karma should have done in the first place. They’re taking care of one another. Sometimes, though, it isn’t wise to meddle with the universe. Because it turns out, when you mess with Karma, Karma messes back. Now Maddy must find a way to balance her life for good, even as everything around her seems to be toppling to the ground.

Now Available in Bookstores!

Book Trailer:

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Guest Post:

1) What inspired you to write The Karma Club?

This was definitely one of those ideas that just “came” to me. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of Karma and then one day a friend of mine had told me some horrendous story about how a boy dumped her (I don’t even remember the story, I just remember it was infuriating!) and the entire time she was talking, I kept thinking, “Someone needs to do that right back to him. He can’t just get away with that. He needs a taste of Karma!” And then boom, the idea came to me. A secret society of girls who help each other out, dosing out Karma to those who deserve it when the universe is slow to do it on its own. And thus THE KARMA CLUB was born. Of course, as soon as the idea came to me, I also knew that my characters would never be able to get away with it. Karma is a tricky thing. And you definitely don’t want to meddle with the universe!

2) If you were in Madison's shoes, would you try to make the universe turn in your favor or would you have moved on from the betrayal?

LOL. Madison has a lot of guts trying to take on the universe all on her own. I don’t think I’m quite as brave as her. My books usually tend to be kind of like mini fantasy lives for me. I find things that I’d love to do in real life, but probably would never have the courage, and then just live vicariously through my main characters. That way, my characters get to face all the consequences and I just get to write about it…from the safety of my office! I’m pretty much a huge wuss.

3) Was there ever a time you wanted to seek revenge on someone?

For sure! I’ve definitely had my fair share of broken hearts and there have been plenty of times I felt rather vengeful about it! But I’m more of a suffer in silence type (or gripe to my friends type) than someone who actually takes action. Which, if you read The Karma Club, you’ll see is probably a good thing! As Madison quickly learns, sometimes seeking revenge can come back to bite you in the butt!

4) Besides the amazingly written The Karma Club, do you have any other projects you're working on?

Well, thank you so much for saying so! I’m so glad you liked the book. I hope you’ll also like the two more books I have coming out in the next two years! The next one is called MY LIFE UNDECIDED about a girl who makes horrible decisions until one day decides to stop making decisions all together. Instead she starts an anonymous blog and posts ALL of the choices she comes across as online polls on her blog, vowing to adhere to whatever the outcome may be. It’s my favorite book that I’ve written so far and I’m so excited for it to come out. I just finished revising and editing that one and it will be released in Spring 2011. Now I’m writing another YA title that will be out in 2012 called 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER, about a teen heiress, famous for her tabloid blunders, that is forced by her ever-absent mogul father to take on one low-wage job every week for a year, if she ever wants any hope of receiving her trust fund. I’m super excited about that one as well!

I made this in honor of my favorite quote in The Karma Club:

Part of my Spring Cleaning giveaway, an ARC of The Karma Club is part of the prizes, interested in winning it? Go here for further details!
(Open to US + Canada) - 3 Winners
Deadline: June 1, 2010