This week on Jen’s Jewels, I had the pleasure of catching up with Michael Chessler, the talented author behind MESS - a witty, insightful, and deeply relatable novel that peels back the layers of what we carry, both in our closets and in our hearts. With sharp humor and heartfelt honesty, Michael explores the inner life of Jane Brown, a professional organizer for Hollywood’s elite whose tidy exterior masks a whirlwind of emotional clutter. From reflections on Marie Kondo to unexpected stories of silver rings and celebrity homes, our conversation dives into the inspiration behind MESS, the chaos of perfectionism, and what it really means to let go.
Jen: What sparked the inspiration for Mess? Was it your own closet, your experience with Hollywood, or something else entirely?
Michael: I’ve always been interested in the ways people cling to not only material possessions, but also to emotions, memories, beliefs. When I read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, the animism of her organizational rubric—asking if an object brings joy, and if it doesn’t, sending it off with fondness and thanks—resonated with me. The way people approach physical clutter reveals so much about how they deal with mental and emotional clutter, and I wanted to explore this.
A specific incident that inspired me was an actress I was working with was moving, and I suggested my niece—who is a professional organizer—could help her. To be clear, my niece is nothing like Jane. I wanted to center this story on a character who is perceptive and almost cripplingly self-aware, yet still somehow estranged from her own emotions. Someone who struggles to see past her judgments not only of others, but also of herself. Someone who is a Type A perfectionist—a mindset that can make a person their own worst enemy—resolutely determined to change.
Jen: Jane Brown is a professional organizer for Hollywood’s elite. Did you do any fun research into celebrity homes or real-life organizing disasters to bring her world to life?
Michael: I’ve been invited into some very interesting homes over the years, so I already had a library of memories to draw on. Once I’d started drafting the novel, I continued to be inspired by the diverse living spaces I passed through. My own struggles to declutter and organize my possessions also served as research. This is an ongoing struggle, by the way. And I dipped into some organizing television shows, such as Get Organized with the Home Edit, as well as lurking for a couple of hours in a Container Store.
Jen: Jane is meticulous on the outside, but chaotic on the inside. What part of her do you relate to the most?
Michael: Those closest to me would probably say I’m very neat and organized, yet I’m also probably inordinately preoccupied with what I perceive to be my organizing failures, especially the one project I have been putting off forever: going though my old papers, digitizing those I want to keep, then discarding all of them. So like Jane, I am a type-A perfectionist whose constant struggle to live up to impossible ideals creates a lot of unhelpful noise in my head.
Jen: If Mess had a “dream cast” for a limited series or movie, who would you see playing Jane and the has-been actress who changes her life?
Michael: There are so many wonderful actresses who could play Jane. Off the cuff, I think of Julia Garner, Joey King, and Dakota Fanning. For Kelsey, the TV star on the rebound, the irrepressible Tori Spelling—whom I’ve worked with many times—would be perfect. She’s a wonderful comedic actress and I’d love to work with her again.
Jen: Your book has been described as “Marie Kondo meets The Real Housewives.” Do you have any guilty-pleasure reality shows you watch when you’re not writing?
Michael: The Real Housewives really stresses me out, so I would not watch it to relax! The most soothing reality show for me is The Great British Baking Show. I’m an avid baker myself, and I love how a competitive show ends up not feeling competitive at all, and how they all seem to be genuinely supportive of one another.
Jen: What’s the messiest space in your own life right now—your office, your car, your mind? And, why?
Michael: My mind. I’m inordinately self-conscious and self-critical, so there’s always a messy tornado of anxious thoughts swirling in my head. My life’s work is quieting it down and cleaning it up.
Jen: What’s one thing about you that readers would find surprising or unexpected?
Michael: That I can get very sentimental, even sappy.
Jen: Mess tackles big ideas about how what we accumulate reflects who we are. What’s one object you own that has an interesting story behind it?
Michael: I hope a slight pivot is okay here, because the first thing I thought of was an object that I no longer own. When I was in college, on some strange impulse I bought myself a silver band ring. I had never worn jewelry of any kind, only a watch. I was drawn to it because it was so simple and elegant, and put it on my ring finger, blissfully unaware that it looked like a wedding band and that people would assume I was married. My father never wore his wedding band, which perhaps is why I am oblivious to the custom. At first when people would ask me if I was married, I was surprised, but once I got used to it, I liked something about it. Maybe that I seemed old enough to be married? I was nineteen at the time, so I liked being treated like an adult.
But about a year later, I lost the ring, probably when I took it off for a swim. When I discovered it was missing, I was inordinately bereft. I wasn’t sure what it meant to me—was it some sort of pledge to myself? - but clearly it meant something. In any event, I decided I would not expose myself to this kind of jeopardy again. I never replaced it, and some years later, when I got married, we chose not to have wedding bands.
Jen: What books are on your TBR stack right now? Anything you’re especially excited to dig into?
Michael: I just finished Old Filth by Jane Gardam, which we read in my book club. It is such a fantastic book—so rich in detail, funny, and profoundly moving. It is the first novel in a trilogy, so I’m looking forward to reading the next two, The Man in the Wooden Hat and Last Friends.
Jen: What’s next for you? Can readers expect another witty, heartfelt story soon?
Michael: I am working on another novel set in Los Angeles that I certainly hope people will find witty and heartfelt!
A Sharp and Witty Tale of a Perfectionist Organizer Battling the Chaos of Hollywood and Her Own Heart
Marie Kondo meets The Real Housewives in this charming and perceptive story of a professional organizer to Hollywood’s elite who learns to find love and acceptance amid the messiness of life.
To the world, Jane Brown, a Los-Angeles based professional organizer, is a model of composure and reticence. But inside, she’s fiercely judgmental and critical of herself and others. A lover of order and tidiness, she struggles to accept the world’s exasperating messiness of both her own clients—a superficial sphere of influencers and rich creatives—and her live-in boyfriend, who is becoming as aggravating as he is comforting.
When she arrives at the home of a new client, a has-been Hollywood actress—a woman opposite to her in every way—Jane finds herself unexpectedly moved. Realizing how desperately she wants to lower her defenses and open her heart, Jane decides to declutter the mess of her own mindset. Organizing her own feelings turns out to be the most daunting job she’s ever tackled, but one that promises big rewards if she succeeds, including freedom—and even love.
Set against the dazzlingly rich, beautiful, and shallow world of Hollywood money and mansions, Mess is an honest, heartfelt, and often hilarious response to the disorder of our lives today.
Romance [Harper Perennial, On Sale: August 12, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063413894 / eISBN: 9780063413900]
This decluttering queen needs to get her act together
Michael Chessler was born and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English and American literature, and also studied Italian literature at the Università di Firenze. After working various odd jobs in the entertainment industry—perhaps the oddest being a short stint as a motion picture literary agent—he began a career writing, producing, and directing television. Mike has developed pilots for all the major networks, and has been a showrunner, producer, director and writer on a number of TV series.
Jennifer Vido writes sweet romances set in the Lowcountry, earning acclaim as the award-winning author of the Gull Island series. Her debut novel, "Serendipity by the Sea," secured the prestigious Best First Book award from the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest. In 2024, Vido's talent garnered further accolades, with Baltimore Magazine readers naming her Best Local Author in their annual Best of Baltimore poll, while the Baltimore Sun acknowledged her with an Honorable Mention in their Best of 2024 Author category. When not writing fiction, she interviews authors for her weekly Jen’s Jewels column, leads water exercise classes, and directs a legal nonprofit. Currently residing in Maryland, she and her husband are proud parents to two grown sons and a rescue dog named Fripp.
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