Starring in the Movie of My Life [Paperback]

Laurel Osterkamp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2011

Thirty-five-year-old Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she's willing to fight for those she loves, but she's never learned to fight for herself. Eighteen-year-old Melody is cold and calculating, and she's driven by the desire to better herself. As these compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of twenty-five-year-old Nathan, he becomes increasingly confused and torn between them. Nathan is Melody's English teacher, and after he saves her from being raped, she becomes attached. Melody longs for the affection she's never felt, so she involves people in her self-invented drama, making sure she is at once the star and the director. Meanwhile, Samantha is newly married to Nathan. But Samantha has hang-ups about motherhood and lingering feelings for her ex. To make sense of the world, Sam relates her life to the themes of her favorite movies, while she independently makes a documentary to jump-start her non-existent film career. Stylistically influenced by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner, Starring in the Movie of my Life is told alternately from both Samantha's and Melody's points-of-view and relates two complete yet combined stories about love, acceptance, and redemption. It speaks to our universal desire to be saved by the ones we love, and the monumental effort required tosave ourselves. Laurel Osterkamp's first novel, Following My Toes, published by PMI Books, won the 2008 National Indie Book Award for Excellence (Chick Lit category). She drew on her experiences as a high school film studies and creative writing teacher as she wrote Starring in the Movie of my Life. Currently she lives in Minneapolis with her husband, son, and daughter, and is working on her third novel.

Editorial Reviews

Review

---Award Winning Finalist 2011 International Book Awards (Women's Fiction and Young Adult Literature)
---Award Winning Finalist 2011 Indie Excellence Awards (Chick Lit)

"A riveting romance and drama. Highly recommended." --Midwest Book Review

"Fast-paced, engaging, and a recommended read." --Allbooks Reviews

Two stories collide in this novel that deals with acceptance, love and revenge. From a mature woman with a large heart to a cold, calculating young girl, this story offers everything from romance to betrayal. The fast-moving plot is a bit on the explicit side, and there's a heroine and a villain to love and despise respectively. This story will stick with you long after it's come to an end. (4-Star RT Rating)

Samantha married Nathan Linden, who was 10 years her junior, long before the word "cougar" had a second meaning, and she hasn't regretted it for a single second. Teenage Melody is attacked by a fellow student at a school dance. Before she is harmed, her English teacher, Mr. Linden, appears like the proverbial white knight and saves her. Unfortunately, Melody becomes so obsessed with Mr. Linden that everything begins to unravel in the man's life. --RT Book Review Magazine, February 2011

From the Back Cover

Thirty-five-year-old Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she's willing to fight for those she loves, but she's never learned to fight for herself. Eighteen-year-old Melody is cold and calculating, and she's driven by the desire to better herself. As these compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of twenty-five-year-old Nathan, he becomes increasingly confused and torn between them. Nathan is Melody's English teacher, and after he saves her from being raped, she becomes attached. Melody longs for the affection she's never felt, so she involves people in her self-invented drama, making sure she is at once the star and the director. Meanwhile, Samantha is newly married to Nathan. But Samantha has hang-ups about motherhood and lingering feelings for her ex. To make sense of the world, Sam relates her life to the themes of her favorite movies, while she independently makes a documentary to jump-start her non-existent film career.

Stylistically influenced by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner, Starring in the Movie of my Life is told alternately from both Samantha's and Melody's points-of-view and relates two complete yet combined stories about love, acceptance, and redemption. It speaks to our universal desire to be saved by the ones we love, and the monumental effort required tosave ourselves.

Laurel Osterkamp's first novel, Following My Toes, published by PMI Books, won the 2008 National Indie Book Award for Excellence (Chick Lit category). She drew on her experiences as a high school film studies and creative writing teacher as she wrote Starring in the Movie of my Life. Currently she lives in Minneapolis with her husband, son, and daughter, and is working on her third novel. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: PMI Books (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933826673
• ISBN-13: 978-1933826677
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,384,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lots of things influence my writing. My misadventures in my twenties were the starting point for Following My Toes, although I spiced things up A LOT in order to make it an interesting story. Getting married, having kids, teaching high school, and figuring out the sort of adult I wanted to be influenced Starring in the Movie of My Life. Whatever I write, I try not to shy away from characters making tough choices. I believe in finding truth in fiction!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning How to Save Yourself, June 27, 2011

By 

BitchLitBlog - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starring in the Movie of My Life (Paperback)

"She's simply been starring in her own life-movie, and it was in conflict with mine" (298).

Laurel Osterkamp's novel, Starring in the Movie of My Life tells the story of two seemingly different women who have one thing in common, Nate. At 35, Samantha is ten years Nate's senior but the newly weds' love seems fresh and easy. Samantha has about 15 years of baggage that she is still working through; but too many years with an immature, drug using and dealing boyfriend, who still lives in the same apartment building, will do that. Meanwhile, Melody is a high school senior who has given up on being popular and is investing her energy in snagging her Knight in Shinning Armour and teacher, Mr. Linden (Nate).

I greatly enjoyed this novel. I connected with Samantha's character immediately. Being a woman who is staring down 30 and arguably have accomplished little, while many of my peers have gone on ahead, I understood Samantha's feelings of being stuck, left behind, or wasting time. However, Melody took a little more time for me to understand. Her scheme to 'steal' Nate made me want to smack her. Melody's lack of empathy or compassion even made me hate her at times. I had to keep reminding myself that she was a product of an abusive mother and this helped explain her actions. Yet, even though Melody's background may explain her behaviour, it doesn't give her licence to be a terrible person. And that thought brought me to the realization of how much this book affected me. Melody was deep enough that I wanted to help her. She wasn't just some bratty, evil, manipulative teenager. She had a complexity to her that over-road any definitive desire to write her off.

The third person is this love triangle, Nate, was the most frustrating for me. At first I was really rooting for him, but it became difficult because as the story progressed I never knew what he was thinking. I knew how both women felt about him and what they thought about him and even what they thought he thought about them. But the reader never knows for sure what is going through his mind. Ultimately, I was disappointed in him and the course he takes in the story.

Starring in the Movie of My Life is about second chances at any age. It's also about discovering how to fulfil your needs without expecting an outside source, especially a relationship, to magically fix everything. I can understand why Nate's character was ultimately silent because in a way, his personality or motivation was not important. He was a symbol for Samantha and Melody, only meaning one thing, escape. They both thought he was their salvation from circumstances they wanted out of. It may be easier to let someone else save you but then you are without the tools to save yourself the next time around.

As a random aside I just wanted to mention how I chuckled at every description of Melody's part-time job at Subway. Having worked for several years at Subway I can say the description was spot on! The contempt for the abusive, overly entitled customer makes me think that author has had her own Sandwich Artist experience!

Starring in the Movie of My Life is a duel narrative that creates a multifaceted understanding of the characters and circumstances that rejects any concept of wholly good or wholly evil. The novel has a quick flow making this an intriguing read. The story is constantly moving from one present day issue or crisis to then uncovering a past, back-story element. I really enjoyed reading this novel and look forward to more of Laurel's work.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put It Down, February 20, 2011

By 

Ashley Williams "mybookfetish" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starring in the Movie of My Life (Paperback)

This is one of those rare reads I come across where I'm so enthralled from the first page that I can't stop reading and nothing else gets done until the book is finished.

The story narration alternates between Melody and Samantha. This works very well. It allows the reader to understand the motivations and emotions of both characters. I found myself really not liking Melody. After all, she's self-centered, manipulative, and doesn't care that she's trying to destroy a marriage. I also found myself feeling a bit sorry for Melody. She learned manipulation from her mother, who only relates to Melody in terms of what Melody can do for her. And towards the end of the story, we see Melody evolving, growing. I don't want to give away anything, but Melody does learn to see things from points of view other than her own, realizing that while she may be the star in the movie of her life, sometimes the rest of the cast is valuable.

Samantha, too, is flawed, although in different ways than Melody. She's sort of fallen into her life, never taking big chances and going after what might be the best thing for her. Part of this is the pull of her ex, for whom she still has lingering, albeit conflicting feelings. Things start happening, though, when Samantha impulsively volunteers an enormous favor to her best friend and is forced to confront her past, her commitment to her marriage, and what is best for her in the long run.

Throughout the book, I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. I couldn't wait to turn the page, yet at the same time, I sort of dreaded it. I cared enough about all the characters that I didn't want to see anything irreparable happen to them. I didn't want Melody to "win" because I didn't like the way she was manipulating so many people. But at the same time, I didn't want her to become so damaged there was no hope for her redemption. Similarly, at times I wanted to shake Samantha so she'd have to face her past. We all have to do that at some point. We're just running aimlessly until we do it. And we won't be happy, be able to forge our true path until we do it.

Without giving away anything, I think Osterkamp wraps up the story nicely. It's a satisfying ending, although not what I expected at the beginning of the book. I'll definitely be reading more of Laurel Osterkamp.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book that seemed real!, October 25, 2011

By 

Laura Bolin "A Novel Review" (TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starring in the Movie of My Life (Paperback)

Starring in the Movie of My Life, goes back and forth between two females. At the beginning there doesn't seem to be any connection between the two. Samantha and Melody are two very different characters. Samantha is a 35 year old married woman who works at a video store. She is a great friend, who would do just about anything to help someone out and has a fantastic relationship with her father. She is flawed when it comes to her lack of direction for her future and still seems to carry a torch for her ex-boyfriend, Collin-who just happens to be the manager of the apartment complex where her and her husband live.

Melody is a high school senior looking to escape her reality. Melody doesn't have much going on in the friend department. The one friend she has is Kelsey and Melody really is more interested in using her `friend' than being a friend. Her relationship with her mother is dysfunctional to say the least and as the novel progresses the more manipulative Melody becomes.

These two stories collide one night during a high school dance when Melody is almost raped. Her teacher Mr. Linden comes to Melody's rescue and she now has her heart set on attaining him. The only problem is, he is married to Samantha. Melody doesn't seem to think that is going to be much of a problem once she enacts her five point plan to make him hers. As Melody chips away at making Nate Linden hers, Samantha is going through her own real life drama with her friend in an accident and her dad with a medical issue. Sam's distractions and baggage makes Melody's plan all the more easier to implement.

Starring in the Movie of My Life is a story of flawed characters looking to find happiness in their not so perfect lives. The book has dark moments and witty, fun moments. I never really connected to any of the main characters, but I could emphasize with their struggles. I loved how all the characters in the novel have flaws even one that I was expecting. Even the end was unexpected, in my mind. I didn't always know where the story was going to go and I found it refreshing. Let's be honest that is how real life works!