High school senior Ally Duncan’s best friend may be the Vanessa Park – star of TV’s hottest new teen drama – but Ally’s not interested in following in her BFF’s Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father’s mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van’s on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.
Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she’s capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can’t play by Hollywood’s rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love.
Olivia with YA-Mag: Dahlia, welcome to the Young Adult Magazine! We’re here talking about your debut novel, BEHIND THE SCENES.
YA:Let’s talk about Ally Duncan. How did you two first meet? What makes her the perfect character to tell this story vs. Vanessa or Liam?
Dahlia Adler: Ally and I go way back to 2011, so we’re old friends 🙂 I have to admit that she started off being secondary to the story, but I very much wanted a non-Hollywood person to be the one telling it. I wanted it to come from the view of someone who was both overshadowed by and necessary to the celebrities in the story, and to see how that dual dynamic would play out. So much of the story is about how Ally’s struggling to have a voice in this world, and I wanted to give her one that was as strong as possible, even as she flounders amid the others’ fame.
YA: What sets Ally’s story apart from other YA romances with a Hollywood backdrop? What will readers find that is unique to this tale?
DA: One huge reason I wanted to write my own Hollywood YA is that while there were some great ones out there when I first drafted BtS, I felt like they read really young. I grew up watching stars like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes, and their reality wasn’t quite as cute as some of these books make it look. I wanted to capture the uglier side, the hard-partying side, the pressure, the realities of being an actress of color in Hollywood – things I really hadn’t seen before.
YA: What non-book influences (films, television shows, music, plays, etc) helped spark this story?
DA: I’m a huge fan of teen TV, so all those shows play in–90210, Pretty Little Liars, Degrassi, Gossip Girl… As for music, I listened to a lot of The Pretty Reckless while writing this particular book. I find that when writing girls with an edge, it helps to listen to them, too.
YA:When you were a teen, what was your favorite book (YA or otherwise)? Now that you’re an author for teens, what is your favorite contemporary YA?
DA: I grew up totally addicted to Sweet Valley High as a kid, which is what turned me on to writing to begin with. As a teen, my favorite book was the ever-angsty Catcher in the Rye, which I think would fit just fine in YA nowadays. And now, one favorite? If I had to pick only one, I guess I’d probably say Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. She does something so indescribably wonderful with different kinds of relationships that I wish I could emulate.
YA:What is the story behind the title BEHIND THE SCENES?
DA: BEHIND THE SCENES is actually the only title this book has ever had. It came to me at the very beginning of the process, and as I kept writing, I just kept falling more and more in love with it. It has Hollywood connotations, of course, but also takes you behind the scenes of Ally’s father’s illness, and then within there’s more happening behind the scenes of that, and then there’s more hidden agenda in a different storyline…I should probably stop before I spoil anything!
YA: Are there any plans currently for you to revisit Ally’s crazy Hollywood world sometime soon?
DA: Yes! A companion, called UNDER THE LIGHTS, releases on June 30, 2015. It takes place almost a year after BEHIND THE SCENES ends, and alternates between the points of view of two of the secondary characters–Josh and Vanessa–in BtS.
YA: If you could cast the Dream Film of BEHIND THE SCENES, who would be in the lead roles?
DA: This is so tough to answer because I really envision actors who have played teen roles on TV but no longer do. For Ally, I’d cast Lyndsy Fonseca circa How I Met Your Mother. Liam would be Matt Lanter from 90210. And Vanessa would be Jamie Chung, from her season of The Real World.
YA: What’s up next for you in YA land? Any pet projects you can tease us about?
DA: UNDER THE LIGHTS is my next YA, out next June, and then six months after that, I’ll have a completely unrelated release, a contemporary standalone called MY NAME IS EVERETT. It takes place at a fictional New Hampshire boarding school, and it’s actually the book I wrote before BEHIND THE SCENES, so it’s been a long time coming, and I’m excited for people to read it!
YA: All right, last one! If you could spend one day with Ally, Van, and Liam, what would you do together? What would advice would you give to Ally about her past or future?
DA: I’d take everyone out of LA and bring them for a day out in New York City–hang out in Central Park, get some macarons, go on a tour of Columbia, maybe go hear some music… And as for advice for Ally, I don’t think she needs any more beyond what she eventually figures out for herself: sometimes, you need to take charge of your own happy ending!
YA:Thank you very much, Dahlia! And again, from YA Mag, congratulations on BEHIND THE SCENES! We look forward to hearing a lot more from you in years to come!
~*~
Readers, be sure to check out Dahlia Adler at her website www.dahliaadler.com. Or follow her on Twitter @MissDahlELama.
BEHIND THE SCENES, published by Spencer Hill Contemporary, is now available at your favorite retailers and local independent bookstores!
Olivia Hennis is a transplanted New England girl dropped by a tornado into the magical Land of Jersey. For more info, follow her on Twitter.