Michele Kwasniewski
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After graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a BA in Technical Theater, Michele Kwasniewski spent over fifteen years in film and television production, starting out as a film set assistant on movies such as INDEPENDENCE DAY, FACE/OFF, PRIMAL FEAR, and EVITA. Michele eventually switched to the small screen and worked her way up the ladder to production manager, gaining experience on television shows such as BIG BROTHER, ADOPTION STORIES, EXTRA YARDAGE and MEET THE PANDAS. She is also a proud member of the Producers Guild of America. Michele's colorful experiences in the industry inspired her to write THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHART trilogy.
Michele lives in San Clemente, California with her husband, their son, and their disobedient dachshund. Michele’s series THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHART series consists of books entitled RISING STAR, BURNING BRIGHT and FALLING STAR. All three books in Michele’s YA series have won multiple awards including BEST PERFORMING ARTS BOOK for the 2022 AMERICAN WRITING AWARDS, BEST YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK and GENERAL FICTION BOOK for the 2022 ROYAL DRAGONFLY AWARDS and BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK for the 2023 PENCRAFT SEASONAL BOOK AWARDS (WINTER), 2023 NYC BIG BOOK AWARDS WINNER FOR BEST TEEN FICTION, 2023 NYC BIG BOOK AWARDS DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE in TEEN FICTION, FINALIST in the 2023 CANADIAN BOOK CLUB AWARDS for YOUNG ADULT BOOKS, 2023 FINALIST for the AMERICAN FICTION AWARDS for TEEN FICTION, FINALIST in the 2022 INDEPENDENT AUTHOR BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS, FINALIST for BEST BOOK in PERFORMING ARTS and TEEN FICTION in the 2023 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS, FINALIST in the 2023 ERIC HOFFER AWARDS, FINALIST in the 2023 HAWTHORNE AWARDS and SEMI-FINALIST in the 2022 CHANTICLEER DANTE ROSSETI AWARD. |
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RISING STAR: Book One in THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHEART Series
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Young Adult
In the first book in THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHART series, RISING STAR, fifteen-year-old Dani Truehart is living a life that is not quite her own. Driven by her mother's desire for fame and fortune, she has spent her childhood dutifully training for a career as a pop star. On the brink of discovery, doubts begin to creep into Dani's mind as she questions her own desire for fame, and she wonders whether she can trust the motivations of the adults who are driving her forward. Following a brilliant audition arranged by her vocal/dance coach and former '80s pop icon Martin Fox, Dani is thrown full-force into the music industry. She leaves her friends, family and scheming mother behind to move with Martin, who has become her legal guardian, into the Malibu compound of her new manager, Jenner Redman. Jenner, the former swindling manager of Martin's boy band, leverages what's left of his depleted fortune to launch Dani's career. Isolated from her life at home and trying to stay apace with her demanding schedule, Dani struggles to keep in touch with those she loves, connect to her withholding mother and find her voice as an artist. With Martin and Jenner at odds over their rocky past and finding herself unprepared to handle the pressures of her future singing career, Dani's debut album and future stardom are at risk of falling apart.
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BURNING BRIGHT: Book Two in THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHEART Series
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Young Adult
Fresh off the debut of her EP, sixteen-year-old Dani Truehart is flying high on a string of number one hits. After locking down her first full-length album in record time and furiously preparing for her world tour, Dani is torn between leaving her loved ones behind and embracing her burgeoning stardom. Dani's career explodes as her tour moves across the globe. Elated when two of Hollywood's hottest young actors, Kayla Spencer and Trey Connors, befriend her, Dani finds herself living life in the fast lane and recording her second album as she tours. Constantly dogged by the paparazzi, Dani basks in the adoration of The TrueHart Nation, her loyal super-fans who are ready to follow her around the world and go to war with anyone who dares dis their favorite pop star, whom they've dubbed "The Queen of Harts." With her ego growing as fast has her fame and fortune, a string of platinum hits and her jealous mother desperate for a piece of her wealth, sixteen-year-old pop sensation Dani Truehart navigates the glamor and perils of stardom as scandal threatens to ruin her and everyone who helped make her a star.
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FALLING STAR: Book Three in THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHART Series
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Young Adult, Teen, General Fiction
Minutes before her scheduled performance at the party for her third album, sixteen-year-old pop sensation Dani Truehart regains consciousness amid the smoking wreckage of a car accident, the crumbled body of a cyclist splayed on the ground. Moments after the accident, Dani's manager, Jenner Redman, reaches the scene and his impulsive decision sets in motion a chain of events that will have catastrophic consequences for everyone in the starlet's orbit. Later, when scandal threatens to destroy the dazzling career of the world's most beloved pop star, Dani must choose between accepting responsibility for her disastrous choices, possibly destroying her fame and fortune, or sacrificing those who made her famous and everyone she loves to preserve the stardom she has spent her entire life working to achieve.
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