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A Slice of Life
by Francine Brokaw
Outside In by Courtney Thorne-Smith
Most people know Courtney Thorne-Smith from her roles on television shows. She is currently co-starring with Jim Belushi in the hit sitcom According to Jim. She had previously been a regular on Ally McBeal and Melrose Place. Courtney steps out of the camera’s eye and takes on a new role as author. Her first novel, Outside In is now available.
Kate Keys-Morgan has a wonderful job, a great husband, and a beautiful house. From the outside it looks like she has everything. But looks are deceiving. In truth, she does have a good job on a nighttime soap, but everything else is a lie. While she adores her husband/manager Hamilton, he is a manipulative egomaniacal jerk who never misses an opportunity to put her down. Needless to say, her self esteem is in the gutter. He harps on her that she is too fat (although she is skin and bones) and she starves to lose more weight, but when she is on camera the director says she is too thin and hides her body under a robe, her husband then tells her she is too thin and needs to gain weight. There is no pleasing this man. He monitors everything she does, eats, wears, and thinks. He is in cahoots with a psychologist to help turn Kate into a mindless, almost robot-like wife who has no thoughts of her own, but only does what is best for her husband. He made her career what it is today. He is her puppet-master. At least that is what he thinks.
Kate dumps all her problems on Paige, the make-up artist on the set, and together they commiserate about how the “star” of the show, Sapphire Rose, is a selfish little witch. Everyone on the show must accommodate Sapphire’s moods and schedule.
Then, when Hamilton takes on Sapphire as a client, everything unravels. And when Hamilton falls in love with Sapphire, well, Kate’s life seems to be in the toilet. Sapphire’s whims are what rule the set, and Kate is persona non grata at the moment. But Kate must find the inner strength she never knew she had to get through this major mess and come out of it without too many scars.
Thank God for her friendship with the man she meets in the morning at the local Starbucks. With Michael, Kate can just be herself. But Michael is hiding something and this isn’t anything that would put a smile on Kate’s face.
Now add into the mix Kate’s parents, who think of her as a commodity instead of a daughter, and you have another set of characters who are not psychologically encouraging and who help suppress Kate even more.
This poor woman has the deck stacked against her. With a husband who is on his next “project,” and parents who harp at everything she does, what will be her salvation? Well, this is Hollywood, after all.
Courtney Thorne-Smith has been acting for decades and knows about Hollywood. She brings her inside knowledge of actors, sets, agents, managers, and the whole ideology of stardom to this story. Granted, everything is exaggerated, we hope. But the story will make you root for the young actress who has been suppressed and must find the inner strength to survive in this ruthless town.
© 2007 Francine Brokaw
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