Leah Marie Brown | On FAKING IT

In FAKING IT, my heroine has an epiphany about her life while sipping potent champagne cocktails at a swanky beachside bar in Cannes, France. The scene wasn’t entirely fictional. There is actually a swanky beachside bar in Cannes called ZPlage. Owned by the Hotel Martinez, a sexy, Art Deco hotel frequented by celebrities, ZPlage is famous for their premiere beachfront access, a rarity in the South of France, and their crazy-delicious champagne cocktails.

Two years ago, I spent a fabulously feckless day watching the beautiful people sip champagne beneath blue striped umbrellas. For a few hours, I pretended to be one of the beautiful, in-demand, A-list people. I rented a sun lounge (two lounge chairs crammed together beneath a blue striped umbrella), watched the cerulean sea blend like a watercolor into the distant horizon, and sipped champagne cocktails. A small fortune in champagne cocktails. Enough champagne cocktails to launch a few ships.

And, I had an epiphany.

Like Vivia, my heroine in FAKING IT, my epiphany had to do with keeping it real and living life to the fullest. The irony - that I had an epiphany about being authentic while pretending to be a bit more fabulous and financially solvent than I actually am – is not lost on me. It is, in fact, the essence of moi. I am an ironically conflicted person. A moveable, changeable, hilariously tortured works in progress.

So, it should come as no surprise my heroine is also a moveable, changeable, hilariously tortured works in progress. At the beginning of the novel, Vivia wears conservative clothes, but listens to raunchy metal music. She takes Zumba classes until she drops and then eats a stuffed crust pizza. She’s engaged to a conservative, prudish, blue-blood lawyer, but lusts for Ronnie Radke, the bad boy, hyper-sexual singer of the rock band, Falling in Reverse. She is struggling to forge an identity that is pleasing to others, but true to herself.

I was supposed to write a blog piece about what makes my heroine unique; but as I was writing this piece, I had another epiphany (this one was not the result of the generous application of champagne lubricants and therefore, somehow, less rewarding). Here’s my epiphany: What makes Vivia unique is that she isn’t entirely unique.

I believe readers turn to novels for numerous reasons: to be transported to a time and place beyond their own environs, to gain a deeper understanding about human nature, or to feel a connection to a character.

Most women have endured Vivia’s struggle. Most women know what it is like to want to please others, even if that means wearing a “false-face.” We laugh at jokes we don’t find funny. We try fads, go with the flow, run with the pack, just so we can fit in. And when we meet that man – deep sigh – that wonderful, handsome, smart, hero of a man, who steals our hearts and has us seriously considering a life of monogamy and mini-vans, we compromise ourselves in countless little ways. We watch political news programs, or learn how to golf, or go to Rugby matches, or…

We make countless mini-alterations to please the one we love because we are afraid if we were to tell him that we think political commentary is vanity run amok, or that golf is a sport best played by the geriatric set, or that Rugby is a senselessly brutal sport played by men overcompensating for a lack of something else, we would crush all hope of ever having our – deep sigh – happily ever after.

Wow! That’s waxing a bit more poetic than I think our blog mistress had anticipated. Forgive me, dear reader, I am without the levity created by a million tiny champagne bubbles. In short, to answer the inquiry posed me, Vivia is unique because she applies outrageous humor to a myriad of everyday problems (and a few outrageous, outlandish, outré problems). I hope you will pour yourself a champagne cocktail, read FAKING IT, and love (or at least earnestly identify with) my mixed-up, madcap, uniquely un-unique heroine.

In the meantime, here are a few links you might enjoy:

On Life, Love and Accidental Adventures ~ Blog about my travels and random ponderings

Leah Marie Brown ~ My Official Website, including a page dedicated to Vivia’s World

About FAKING IT

Haven't you ever told a little lie in the name of love?

Vivia Grant couldn’t be happier. She has her dream job and is about to marry her dream man. Does it really matter that she’s led him to believe she’s a virgin? After all, being in love makes every experience feel like the first time anyway! But an unexpected encounter with an ex-lover is about to expose her embarrassing lie…

When Vivia’s fiancé discovers the truth, he ends their engagement—via text—and uses his connections to get her fired. Unemployed and heartbroken, Vivia begins planning her new future—as a homeless spinster. But her best friend has a better idea. They’ll skip the Ben & Jerry’s binge and go on Vivia’s honeymoon instead. Two weeks cycling through Provence and Tuscany, with Luc de Caumont, a sexy French bike guide. Too bad Vivia’s not a big fan of biking. And she’s abysmal at languages. Will she fib her way through the adventure, or finally learn to love herself—and Luc—flaws and all?

About Leah Marie Brown

Leah Marie Brown has worked as a journalist and photographer. An avid traveler, she has had adventures and mishaps from Paris to Tokyo. She doesn't buy cheesy tee-shirts or useless bric-a-brac, but prefers friendships and memories as souvenirs from her travels. She lives a bike ride away from the white sand beaches of Florida’s Emerald Coast with her husband, children, and pampered poodles. She is hard at work on the next novel in The It Girls series, but loves to hear from readers. Please visit her website. Follow Vivia on Twitter @Chic_Traveler and Pinterest as Vivia Perpetual Grant, Perpetual Virgin.