Gruenenfelder, Kim

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Gruenenfelder, Kim

(Kim Gruenenfelder-Smith)

PERSONAL: Born in Los Angeles, CA.

ADDRESSES: Home—Los Angeles, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Publicity Department, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—kim@atotalwasteofmakeup.com.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

A Total Waste of Makeup (novel), St. Martin's Griffin (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of movie screenplays, episodic teleplays, and stage plays.

SIDELIGHTS: Kim Gruenenfelder's debut novel, A Total Waste of Makeup, features thirty-year-old Charlize "Charlie" Edwards, who works as a personal assistant to Drew Stanton, a male movie star twice voted as Hollywood's sexiest. Charlie's younger sister, Andy, is planning her wedding, while Charlie's own prospects for marriage and children seem bleak, although she dreams of a relationship with a handsome set photographer. As she prepares to be Andy's maid of honor, Charlie releases her maternal energy by writing advice to a future great-grandniece in a journal to be read in the year 2104. Charlie is supported by her two best friends, Kate and Dawn, whose lives are following similar paths, and the trio of friends share bad dating stories and enjoy nights on the town together.

"The honesty they share is refreshing," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Donna M. Brown reviewed the novel for Romantic Times online, declaring that it "is full of wit, wisdom and wonderful characters." Rebecca Vnuk commented in Library Journal that "well-written characters and a wicked sense of humor help this debut stand above the usual chick-lit fare."