Novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard scored a writers’ dream: her novel The Deep End of the Ocean scored the inaugural spot on Oprah Winfrey’s book club. Now, Mitchard is competing to start her own show on Winfrey’s brand new OWN cable network.
As Mitchard (pictured, via) explains in her audition video, she recently lost her savings in an investment scheme. She hopes to rebuild her life with a television show. Currently, more than 8,700 aspiring television stars are vying for a spot on the new network. Mitchard has collected 2,206 votes so far.
Here’s more from the post: “I was a young widow, with no money and no hope, I tapped away at night on my novel when the children were asleep, and became the first Oprah Winfrey author! Then, just a year ago, I lost all the rewards of all that hard work, overnight, to a hometown investment thief. I wanted to give up, but what would that have taught my nine children, including two daughters from Ethiopia orphaned by AIDS? I had to regroup, restore, and reinvent myself, just as I had before, just like millions of others. We are the people this show is about — people who’ve won, lost and fought back — and those who need the courage to try.” (Via Sarah Weinman)