It's Not Easy Being Mean

by Lisi Harrison

  Any advice for people that go to clique-y schools?

  For starters, you have to understand why mean girls are mean.

  They are insecure.

  I know that’s hard to believe because they’re probably pretty, popular, stylish, and outgoing. But trust me, it’s true. Girls who put other girls down do it to feel better about themselves. So keep that in mind next time a pack of wild meanie weenies treats you like a loser. Know that they are the pathetic ones and simply walk away. And stop, stop, stop trying to be accepted by them. Do you seriously think you’d be happier if you were friends with them? Puh-lease!

  Go find someone who shares your real interests and hang with her or him. It’s better to have one real friend than a hundred fake ones. Given!

  Where can I get the Glossip Girl lip gloss you write about in Invasion of the Boy Snatchers?

  Sorry, sisters. I made the whole thing up. I only wish there were a Lip-Gloss-of-the-Day Club that delivered a new flavor of gloss to my front door every morning. But until then, just imagine you’re getting it. And while you’re at it, can you think of some cool new flavors? I’m running out of ideas.

  Done. Done. And Done.

  Essay

  My Life Story

  By Lisi Harrison

  Any time someone starts a story with, “I was born in…,” my eyes glaze over and I try not to yawn in their face. So I’ll do my best to find a more interesting way of letting you know I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada.

  There, how was that? :)

  I did not go to a private school like OCD and I was not in a rich evil clique of “Massies”. I went to Hebrew school until ninth grade and then switched to Forest Hill Collegiate, a public high school. A lot of the kids in my grade came from families with tons of money and wore Polo everything (it was really IN back then, okay?). I, on the other hand, was forbidden to wear anything made by anyone other than Kmart or Hanes. I probably would have been allowed to wear The GAP but it wasn’t on every block in Canada yet. My parents were on a mission to keep me as grounded and un-spoiled as they possibly could. And now, as much as I ah-dore fashion, I never buy designer clothes or bags. I tend to go for the more original styles. Granted, sometimes I look like a total goof bag but at least I’m the only goof bag at the party.

  When I was eighteen I moved to Montreal to become a film major at McGill University. Canadians like to think of it as the Harvard of Canada, but Americans always laugh and call me an “intellectual wannabe” when I say that. Nice, eh?

  Anyway, I left McGill after two years because I knew deep down inside I wanted to be a writer, not a filmmaker, and McGill had a lame creative writing program. So I transferred to Emerson College in Boston, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing. YAY!

  So there I was with a BFA, ten dollars in my LeSportsac, and no plan. Luckily, my friend Lawrence (I call him Larry even though he hates it) was working at MTV in New York and felt sorry for me. He offered me a casting job on a game show called Lip Service. All I had to do was move to Manhattan—the next day.

  Um, okay.

  I ended up staying at MTV for twelve great years. I had every brutal job there was and eventually worked my way up to head writer and then senior director of development. That’s when things got really cool. It was my job to create and develop new shows for the network, including One Bad Trip and Room Raiders. And believe it or not, it was MTV, not middle school that inspired me to write THE CLIQUE. There were so many employees at MTV who would do and wear anything just to be accepted by the so-called “cool people.” It reminded me so much of life in the seventh grade I had to write about it. And the rest is history.

  I wrote The Clique and Best Friends for Never while I was still at MTV, just in case my life as an author didn’t work out. And in June 2004 I decided to take the plunge, quit my job, and write full-time.

  Now I spend about nine hours a day writing in my New York City apartment, where I am currently working away on book number eight in the series (August ’07). I am also trying to get my long-haired Chihuahua Bee Bee to stop licking my computer screen. I should probably take her out for a pee.

  Bye!