Christine Stringer

Christine Stringer is a former MGM assistant who was investigated by the FBI for piracy of a film starring The Rock. So yeah, she does find herself in little snafus from time to time. She has a BFA from the University of Victoria where she studied theatre and English. As a screenwriter and novelist, she strives to brighten people’s days, writing stories based on her film career, love life, and general mishaps. She lives in beautiful Vancouver, BC, with her husband and two young children who bring her joy every day, even though they have banned her from singing in the car.

Charity Trickett Is Not So Glamorous: A Novel by Christine Stringer  

Bridget Jones fans are said to “fall hard” for your story. What compelled you to write a behind-the-scenes tale of Hollywood, and how much of it draws upon your own lived experiences?
This book, while fun and lighthearted, is my way of taking the power back in my life after losing it. In my early twenties, I got hired to work at MGM. I thought my Hollywood dreams were coming true—until they weren’t. Through a bizarre chain of events, I found myself under FBI investigation for piracy of a huge MGM blockbuster film, starring The Rock. Quickly, I became a pariah at MGM, I was told my film career was over, and my car died - emptying my already pathetic bank account. I was devastated. Years later, with hindsight and maturity, I revisited this awful time with the intention of making it a book. By fictionalizing the worst part of my career I crafted a book filled with heart, fun, and suspense, making Charity Trickett a lovable and relatable character in the not so glamorous world of Hollywood. 

Hollywood in the 1990s was both glittering and unforgiving. What struck you most about the reality behind the red carpets, and how did you want to capture that tension on the page?
In the 1990’s movie stars were the epitome of celebrity and our fascination for them was insatiable. This was before social media, so our images of them were limited to Entertainment Tonight and magazines. Movie stars were glamorous and out of reach. Until I worked in film I believed in Hollywood glamor. In reality, making movies is a shlep. The hours are long, the work can be tedious and tiring, and the competition in fierce. This book shows the not so glamorous work off the red carpet. 

Charity Trickett is both ambitious and tender-hearted—a combination that makes her feel deeply human. In what ways does she mirror your own journey, and in what ways did she take on a life of her own as a character?
Charity is who I wish I was, when I worked at MGM. She’s smarter, more savvy, and more empathetic. When I was under FBI investigation for piracy, I was in my early 20s, and like most 20-year-olds, I was pretty self-involved. I only thought about how this mess impacted me. Now that I’m older, I see the stress and potential damage that I caused for the people I worked with. Because of my mistake, grown men with mortgages, and kids to put through college, could have lost their jobs and potentially their careers because of me. I never thought about any of that, but Charity does. As her life spins out of control, she empathises with people who are not supporting her through her hardship, because she recognises the significant pressure they are under. This makes her a more well-rounded and likable character than I was, when my life was spinning out of control.

Your novel weaves together comedy, heartbreak, and moments of high-stakes drama—such as FBI investigations and costly mistakes. How did you balance truth, memory, and fiction in shaping this narrative?
Being interrogated by the FBI was terrifying. But when I look back, I can see the absurdity. I mean, I was interrogated at a Coffee Bean in Beverly Hills—the agent even bought me a green tea! That’s where the comedy comes in. In terms of balancing truth, memory, and fiction; when you look at your past, and strip away all the dialogue, (because we can never truly remember, exactly what anyone said fifteen years ago) all we’re left with are feelings. All the feels I felt at that time, are delivered to the reader through Charity. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. 

At its core, your book seems to be about perseverance, the redemptive power of friendship, and the resilience required to pursue a dream. What do you hope readers carry with them after turning the final page?
Time is precious time. So, when someone tells me they read my book, I truly appreciate them using their time to read my book. So, I hope I entertained them. I hope I made them laugh and forget about the problems in their complicated world for a little bit. And I hope that after the final page, they want more, because there’s another one on the way!


As a young woman striving to become a screenwriter and producer in the 1990s, what barriers did you encounter, and how did those experiences shape your artistic voice?
At the time I was at MGM they had never had a female executive or board member. That, in itself, defined the environment for women. MGM certainly wasn’t the only company in America who were under-representing women at that time. Throughout my film career, not limited to MGM, this male dominated environment didn’t want to hear young, fresh, female voices. While frustrating, that didn’t impact my creative voice. I knew I was being dismissed by old white guys who were out of touch. They were dinosaurs in my world. 

The entertainment industry has undergone seismic changes since the late ’90s. From your perspective, has it truly become more accessible for women and emerging writers, or do the same obstacles still remain—albeit in new forms?
With the creation of HD, streaming TV and social media, there are more avenues to create and distribute stories outside the studio system, which gives everyone more opportunity to create. In the 90’s you had maybe twenty channels on the TV, and a handful of films in the cinema to choose from. Now, you can access hundreds of thousands of different creative content in various forms at any time from the phone in your pocket. As for women in the industry, I’m sure sexual harassment has diminished thanks to the #Metoo movement. And sure, there are more women in positions of power. But in my opinion, if women are going to be at equal footing as men in film production, the workday needs to be reduced from the typical 12-14 hour day, to an 8-9 hour workday. Long workdays are challenging to parents and while equality in the household may be improving, the reality is that women carry more childcare responsibilities. Myself, and a lot of my female friends in the film industry couldn’t continue working in film production once we had kids. With film and TV now being produced by corporations such as Apple and Amazon, companies worth trillions, it’s not too much to ask for a workday on set to be more comparable to a workday at Apple or Amazon with similar paygrades. For most crew members, that would dictate an 8 hour workday.  

Looking back on those formative years, what enduring lessons did Hollywood teach you about resilience, creativity, and navigating ambition?
Hollywood taught me that resilience is everything. Projects fall apart, scripts don’t sell, rejection is constant. The people who lasted weren’t always the most talented—they were the ambitious ones who kept going. Creatively, the fast pace in film and TV taught me to make decisions quickly.

With the distance of time, how do you view your years in Hollywood now—through the lens of nostalgia, as a cautionary tale, or perhaps as a crucible that shaped who you are today?
I’m grateful for my Hollywood experience. Without it, I would never have created Charity and the cast of characters in her world. They bring me so much joy. I absolutely love spending time with them. 

Beyond this novel, where has your creative path led you? Can you share what excites you most about your current work, and how your voice as a writer has evolved since those early Hollywood days?
Right now, I’m working on the next book in the Charity Trickett series, The Fame Game. Charity and her friends have hit success and are navigated the tricky world of stardom. I’m also adapting Not So Glamorous into a screenplay, which feels like coming full circle. My voice has solidified since those Hollywood days. I’m embracing who I am as a writer and not trying to be what I think others want. It’s exciting to see that people love the book and are eager for more, because this book is 100% me. ​

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Website: https://christinestringer.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinestringerauthor/
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Purchase the book here: 
https://www.amazon.com/Charity-Trickett-Not-So-Glamorous/dp/1684633168