Here’s a synopsis of my novel-in-progress, the third I’ve written and the first for publication, expected this summer. Although I’m halfway through the second draft, there is a chance I’ll revise this synopsis, for the millionth time.

Make-Believe : A Novel
by A.J.Duric

A bright, imaginative, and sometimes shy girl, twelve-year-old Ophelia Cosma believes the answer to all her problems is found inside a Hollywood producer’s office, where dreams come true and endings are always happy.

With her older, only sibling moving to the east coast for college this summer, Lia is increasingly determined not to be left behind in Willowpoint, California, where she pretends not to wait for papa to find time to go sailing with her, but where she does her best to toe maman’s uncompromising lines.

When her parents agree to let her attend summer camp in Malibu with her best friend, Lia is thrilled at this promise of freedom and independence: Malibu is only a few bus transfers from Hollywood. Now all she needs is a willing producer. Then, weeks before summer camp is scheduled to begin, Lia’s dreams come true. Long-time neighbour and mentor, Abigail West, reveals she has arranged a meeting for Lia’s upcoming birthday.

Believing she is well on her way to becoming a filmmaker and directing her first screenplay, The Adventures of Princess Billie Wandsparks, Lia is ecstatic — until twists of fate and family interfere. A confused and betrayed Lia must spend her summer with an absentee father and a distant but controlling mother. Alone, Lia will confront Abby’s sudden death, the strange tensions sparked by nonna’s visit, an awakening and overwhelming sexuality, and the possibility that the key to her happiness is found outside of Hollywood.

Make-Believe is a novel about truths and stories, discovery and desire, and the obstacles and dreams a young American girl must overcome in her pursuit of happiness.