Getting the Scoop January 10, 2010

Topic of the Week: January 11-18, 2010

What would you do to get what you’ve always wanted? Would you out a friend in the closet to get a promotion? Would you write a derivative trendy novel to get a book deal? Would you sell your father’s prized collection of Marvel Comics to fund a breast augmentation? This week in LitChat we’re discussing Getting the Scoop–What would you do to get a story (or the thing you’ve always wanted).

In her novel, Spin, author Catherine McKenzie takes you on a fast-paced journey of self-discovery in this wickedly candid and genuinely funny story of a woman who must make a Sophie’s Choice for her career. McKenzie’s protagonist, a 30-year-old journalist named Kate, blows an interview for her dream job at a trendy music magazine when she shows up hungover from a bender the night before. All is not lost when they dangle a second chance at the spot if she goes undercover in a posh rehab lodge to get the scoop on the latest celebrity party girl. What Kate learns about herself while in rehab drives the character development, and though the ending is fairly predictable, the battle of scruples and schemes within Kate and how she triumphs will make Spin one of the hottest beach reads of 2010.

Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, where she now works as a litigator. When not serving on many professional associations, she sits on the board of the Montreal Children’s Library and Bishop’s College School, and teaches part-time at McGill University’s faculty of law. Spin is her first novel. We hope it’s not her last novel.