Since Disney has adapted my 2003 novel DIARY OF A WORKING GIRL into a feature film starring Hilary Duff, people have been asking me what it’s like having my book made into a movie, seeing a big star make my character her own? After putting in a decade of hard time as a novelist the book to screen experience has been amazing for a number of reasons: First of all, the instant spike in popularity is the most remarkable difference. All of a sudden my name’s in every newspaper and magazine I’ve been trying to get it in for ten years. I feel like Lane after she got her big assignment, or Mary Tyler Moore: I’m gonna make it after all! Friends, readers, family members, libraries, and book stores keep telling me You’re famous! That they saw me in The Times or in The Post. “See, I told you you’d make it,” they keep saying. And they did. But in some ways I’ll always be the girl to whom my sister once said in all seriousness, “You think everyone’s just buying your books as a favor to you, don’t you?” I have to hand it to her, the girl had my number on the insecurity front. This movie thing does make me feel a little more legit, though, if nine books under my belt hasn’t managed to. One day I’ll wake up and say “They like me! They really like me!” But until then, the support is overwhelming and helps me ride the wave, whether or not I take it all with a grain of salt. It’s cool to be contacted by all the people who’ve supported me back when nobody ever heard of me— and to have them say how proud they are. I can feel them tearing up over the phone.