Why You?: Because I value your opinion and I trust you’ll keep this safe. In a Nutshell: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU EAT, is a culinary coming-of-age novel about an 18-year old girl who secretly writes the New York Times restaurant review. The Story: Tia Monroe is no ordinary foodie…so why is she stuck in coat check? Tia is going to NYU for one reason: to intern for her longtime idol, food world visionary, Helen Lansky. But things don’t work out as planned and now Tia is stuck in a closet, instead of a kitchen! But the restaurant offers more than Tia expects, including one guest with a devastating, career-ending secret: Michael Saltz, the New York Times restaurant critic. Michael can no longer taste, and now he wants Tia to be his food-savvy accomplice. Tia can eat at any restaurant, order the most expensive dishes, and shop for whatever clothes catch her eye. All she needs to do is write his reviews, and after a few months, he promises to get her a job co-authoring a cookbook with Helen Lansky. But there’s a catch. Tia must keep her life with Michael Saltz absolutely secret. She must lie to her parents, who saved every last penny so she could study with Helen at NYU…to her high school sweetheart, Stevie, who has supported her love of food every step of the way…and especially to Pascal Fox, the hotshot chef who takes a suspicious liking to Tia, particularly when it’s about time for his new restaurant to be reviewed. It’s hard enough being a college freshman, but Tia’s life gets even more complicated with last-minute 4-star lunches, fresh truffles on the house, and designer clothing delivered to her dorm room lobby. And with Michael Saltz taking all the credit for her wittier, sharper, more evocative reviews, is he really giving her the chance of a lifetime…or holding her back from pursuing her own dream? The whole world reads Tia’s tasty reviews, but no one knows what’s rotting underneath. Other Info: This manuscript is currently unrepresented and is being reviewed by agents.The full manuscript is 78,500 words long. If you’d like to see it, please email me at jessica [dot] t [dot] tom [at] gmail [dot] com, subject line, “Let me read your work!”. Thanks for your interest!
