- Debut novelist Heather Cochran has written a screenplay that was bought by a small production company and is currently in development.
- A high-concept plot, combined with strong writing, unique characters and a truly original story make Mean Season a winner.
- This story will appeal to anyone who's ever harbored a crush on a TV or movie star.
- A story about a movie star under house arrest in a fan club president's house in nowheresville, West Virginia. Mean Season is best thought of as State & Main goes south.

"The old adage 'be careful what you wish for' gets new life in Cochran's sweet, funny debut. Life in tiny Pinecob, W.Va., takes a turn for the wacky when Hollywood heartthrob Joshua Reed, nailed with another DUI, is forced to spend 90 days of house arrest in the home of a local fan. Leanne Gitlin, 25, has loved Joshua since she was 15 and led his fan club for eight years; such relative proximity to glamour makes her stand out in town (where she now works in the county clerk's office) and distracts from the fact that she's never strayed from home and is deeply committed to being the family caretaker, especially for her handicapped brother, Beau Ray. Joshua, with a court-mandated ankle sensor, takes up residence in the room of Leanne's beloved older brother, Vince, who abandoned Pinecob for greener pastures. For the Gitlins, this means TV cameras, drunken fans undressing on their lawn and an overdose of Joshua's bad attitude. In the midst of all this, wise, strong-willed Leanne slowly faces big life choices and long-hidden feelings for old friend Max, who's nursing some new big dreams of his own. The plot's a bit far-fetched, but that's just part of the fun in this poignant, gently comic story about growing up and moving on. Agent, Katherine Fausset. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

While filming a new movie in a small West Virginia town, actor Joshua Reed is convicted of driving drunk in a stolen limo. Rather than let him sit in jail, the president of his fan club vouches for him so he can serve out his sentence under house arrest--in her home.

Heather Cochran grew up in Virginia and received a bachelor's degree in literature from Wellesley College. She lives, and writes, in Los Angeles.