Page 32 August 2016 Open House Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm 8th Grade Day Friday, Oct. 28, 2016 9:30 am - 1:00 pm 4710 N. 5th St. | Phoenix, AZ 85012 | www.xcp.org | 602-277-3772 Photo by chadwickfowler.com Discover your talents. Discover your future. Discover you. Dates to remember: ade D a y a a 8 2016 emember : AN: What surprised you about writing your first book? CP: What surprised me was how long it took, not only to write, but also to be published. I began The Assistants in 2009. If I’d known going in that it wouldn’t actually be a book until May 2016, I don’t know that I would’ve had the stamina to keep going. Good thing I didn’t know. AN: You wrote The Assistants while working as an assistant. How much did you take from real events and people to develop plot lines and characters? CP: A lot of the book came from my own experiences or funny work-related horror stories fellow assistants shared with me. However, for the sake of humor and entertainment value, many of those real events and experiences were blown up tenfold. So I guess you can say I wanted this book to be just like real life, but a little more fun. AN: Tell us a bit about the main character Tina Fontana. What inspired her perfectionism and quirks? CP: There’s a lot of me in Tina Fontana. That probably goes without saying. I also wanted her to be someone who’s accessible and fairly representative of her generation, which is to say, someone who’s tried to do everything right and yet still feels stuck and unable to get ahead. AN: Although Tina is caught up in a bad situation – that she created – I couldn’t help but empathize with her. Did you purposely set out to make her likeable and someone we can connect with? CP: I definitely wanted readers to empathize with Tina. I tried to show as best I could that Tina is essentially a good person with a strong moral code. She isn’t someone who would have ever set out to do something like steal from her boss. When she makes the decision to cash that check, which sets off the entire plot of the novel, I would guess that many readers – themselves with strong moral codes – were cheering her on to do just that. AN: Who is your favorite and least favorite character in the book? Why? CP: Of course Tina is dear to me, but if you want to know the truth, I could easily write an entire novel about Margie Fischer. There isn’t nearly enough Margie in The Assistants for me. As for my least favorite character – none. I cut them all out before the final draft. Glen Wiles is a horror, but I still find him entertaining. AN: If you were creating a dream board, what three things would take up the largest space? CP: Ha. Good question! Well, health would definitely be my number one. Cutout images representing healthy mind, body and spirit. Number two would be pictures of my loved ones – to remind me to stay connected, which I sometimes need to be reminded. And, finally, for number three I’ll let myself go shallow with a big photo of a luxury condo. AN: Best book you’ve read in the past nine months? CP: The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. By Amanda Goossen What if a sudden and unexpected windfall meant you could completely pay off your student loan debt? What if accepting the money was illegal… but no one would ever find out? Would you do it? The Assistants by debut novelist Camille Perri poses exactly such a situation. Tina Fontana is a 30-year-old executive assistant to Robert Barlow, the CEO of Titan Corp., a multinational media conglomerate. Working tirelessly to aid her boss in every possible aspect of his life, Tina has come to a standstill in both her career and her personal life. Living in a tiny New York apartment with a stack of unpaid bills, Tina is struggling to pay her student loans on her meager assistant wages. When a large check with her name on it arrives at her desk one afternoon, Tina is faced with a moral dilemma. Arriving at her current status has come from always doing the right thing. The check’s appearance causes Tina to wonder if doing the right thing is totally overrated. What comes next is a series of unfortunate events, a crazy financial scheme and a group of overworked assistants who force Tina to reexamine her life, her relationships and exactly who she wants to be. The Arcadia News Book Club will meet on August 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Saguaro Library. The evening will include a group book discussion as well as a Skype conversation with the author. To RSVP or for more information, email amanda@arcadianews.com. Recently, I had the chance to talk with Camille Perri about her novel, her experience becoming a writer and the best book she’s read this year. Corporate assistants unite! Debut novel tells your story BOOK CLUB BOOK OF THE MONTH The Assistants BY CAMILLE PERRI Arcadia News Book Club August 25, 6:30 p.m. at the Saguaro Library

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