Star, Nancy

PERSONAL: Married; children: two.

ADDRESSES: Home—NJ. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Writer. Story developer for film companies, including Goldwyn Company, Ladd Company, and Lorimar.

WRITINGS:

The International Guide to Tipping, Berkley (New York, NY), 1988.

Buried Lives (novel), Fawcett Gold Medal (New York, NY), 1993.

Up Next (novel), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Now This (sequel to Up Next), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Case of the Missing Pumpkins, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Nancy Star's first book, The International Guide to Tipping, is a guidebook intended to clarify the customs and guidelines regarding giving extra money to those who provide a service. Among other things, Star discusses tipping philosophies in the United States and abroad, and covers tipping etiquette during the holiday season as well as the times when it is appropriate not to tip at all. Zbigniew Mieczkowski, reviewing The International Guide to Tipping for the American Reference Book Annual, noted that the book "provides useful and reliable information," and Olga B. Wise recommended in Library Journal: "Try this book for a hassle-free and socially correct trip."

Buried Lives is a suspense story about a woman who appears to have it all: a marriage to a prosperous professional, a beautiful home, and twin children on the way. Yet something is missing in her life: she cannot remember anything about her childhood, prior to enduring the trauma of having her twin brother kidnapped. The woman's lost memories are triggered when she moves into a new home which closely resembles the one she lived in when the kidnapping occurred.

Star's novel Up Next introduces the character May Morrison, a television producer who struggles to balance the demands of single motherhood with her responsibilities to the daytime talk show Paula Live. When the producers of rival programs start meeting untimely ends, the police suspect that Morrison is involved, but meanwhile, she fears for her own life. Booklist critic Ilene Cooper found the mystery rather transparent, but added that the those who enjoy the book's "breezy" tone will continue reading even if they guess the solution, "because of the appealing ambience." A Publishers Weekly reviewer praised Star for portraying the "cutthroat world of daytime TV with … wit and verve."

Morrison's adventures are continued in Now This, as her friend Stacey Blum visits a mysterious spa, and is scheduled to appear on Paula Live to discuss the experience. Before her appearance, however, she is found dead in her swimming pool, apparently of an accident. When another friend who had visited the same spa also dies, Morrison becomes determined to find out who is causing the tragedies. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly found the story's resolution "farfetched," but noted: "The pace is brisk and the puzzle engaging."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Reference Book Annual, Volume 20, 1989, Zbigniew Mieczkowski, review of The International Guide to Tipping, pp. 84-85.

Booklist, September 15, 1998, Mary Ellen Sullivan, review of The International Guide to Tipping, p. 105; April 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Up Next, p. 1394.

Library Journal, October 1, 1988, Olga B. Wise, review of The International Guide to Tipping, p. 87; July, 1998, Rex E. Klett, review of Up Next, p. 141.

Publishers Weekly, June 21, 1993, review of Buried Lives, p. 99; May 11, 1998, review of Up Next, p. 53; May 31, 1999, review of Now This, p. 70.