As if there weren't enough troubles in Washington, along comes Jessica Cutler, with a thinly disguised roman à clef about the dashing life of a sexy girl-about-town whose specialty is members of Congress. Her more-than-semiautobiographical novel is called The Washingtonienne, and five big publishers went after it at a recent auction, with Hyperion emerging the winner. Senior editor Kelly Notaras came up with an appropriate advance for Pilar Queen and Michael Carlisle at Carlisle & Co., buying North American, audio, first serial and book club, with publication tentatively set for next summer. Cutler, who is 26, worked as a staff aide in a senator's office on the Hill until she started boasting on her Web log about the congressmen she had dated, and promptly got fired. Shades of The Mayflower Madame!
Woman About Washington
Jul 09, 2004
A version of this article appeared in the 07/12/2004 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: