Santee's Sleuth Writer for 'Tweens' to Appear at Book Signings

Santee has its own Nancy Drew kind of writer for kids of middle-school age, or ‘tweens, as they're calling them these days. She is Barrie Summy, who has finished her fourth book, “I So Don’t Do Famous.”

It is a story of a 13-year-old girl named Sherry and the  summer between 7^th and 8^th grade. Sherry writes an essay on true love for a magazine and wins a trip to Hollywood. She goes to Hollywood with her dad and her best friend, Junie. Ultimately, Sherry goes undercover in Hollywood to figure out who’s breaking into celebrity homes.

Sherry, Junie, Sherry’s mom and a few other characters are regulars in Summy’s popular “I So Don’t Do” series. Both the first and fourth book are both situated in San Diego, her second and third in Phoenix, Arizona.

The idea for “I So Don’t Do Famous” came when she had gone to Los Angeles to meet her editor for the very first time.

“We took a tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills and had a blast. And I started thinking that might make for a fun mystery for Sherry,” said Summy, who ended up going to Hollywood several times for research, using real places for the book..

In the first book, “I So Don’t Do Mysteries,” all Sherry wants is a whole lot more mall time, less homework time and a certain cute boy. But she is recruited by her mother’s ghost to prevent a rhino heist at San Diego’s Wild Animal Park.

Summy said, “You gotta read the book to find out who this ghost is.”

The idea for the first book started when Summy  heard her son say one day, “Did you know rhinos have a keen sense of smell?"

He’d been telling her all these other facts about rhinos for his school project, but for some reason that one fact started Summy’s creative wheels rolling.

Through all four books, there are common threads. “There is always a mystery which Sherry solves,” Summy said. “And there’s always a paranormal element.”

In “I So Don’t Do Famous,” for instance, a new teenage ghost is introduced. Sherry’s mother shows up in Hollywood to see Sherry get her reward for her winning essay and to look into Mariltyn Monroe’s death.

“In real life,” Summy said, “there’s a mirror at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel where Marilyn Monroe’s ghost shows up from time to time.”

Having grown up in Toronto, Canada, Summy described what she called her “meat and potatoes” reading versus “dessert” reading.

She was told as a child growing up that she could read Nancy Drew as a “dessert book” only after she had finished doing her schoolwork and reading more serious literature. Her parents called such literature as “meat and potatoes books.”

Summy's secret desire had always been to be a writer, but that did not seem to be a viable option for a career.  “I knew I could chat a lot and read a lot, but I was basically unemployable,” she said.

So she went to Oklahoma State and earned herself a degree in Speech Pathology. Along the way, she met and fell in love with her future husband. Together, they packed up and moved to San Diego. Within just a few years, she began having three sons, and her time was taken up with caring for them.

But Summy did find nooks and crannies of time to write.

 "I have been known to write in the parking lot while waiting for my kids at Cajon Valley School,” she said.

“And many a night I have been writing at 2 a.m. at the kitchen table and asked myself what in the world was I doing? But I’d have another cup of tea and get right back to work.”

Summy is thankful for her family members. “They have been so patient. I’m afraid they now think pizza is another food group,” she said.

Writers often get isolated and too involved with their own characters, needing a second set of eyes and ears to get over the rough spots. Drusilla Campbell, published author of “Blood Orange” was the teacher of the , guiding Summy in her story of Sherrie.

At first, the character Sherry was a 17-year-old and when Summy sent off her novel to publisher and agents the first time, it kept retting rejected. “So I put it on a shelf and went around for a while very depressed,” said Summy.

And then it occurred to her that she should just try and write about a girl of Nancy Drew’s age. “Only I made it so it was okay that Sherri did cry, unlike Nancy, and she did use the word sleuth unlike Nancy,” she said.

 For advice to new or wanna-be writers, Sunmy said, “Honestly, just sit down and write. That’s what it comes down to. If I can pull this off, anybody can.”

On May 10, the hardback edition will be out; the paperback edition has already been released.

 Summy has several readings of her new book scheduled.

 May 14, 11:00, Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego
 May 20: evening, Barnes & Noble, Oceanside, 2615 Vista Way, Oceanside
 May 28: 11:00 - 1:00, Barnes & Noble, Grossmont Center, 5500 Grossmont
 Center Drive, La Mesa

To find out more, go to her website at www.barriesummy.com.