Anna David put a lot of her own wild experiences into her new novel, Party Girl (Harper Collins), which is about a celebrity journalist who rubs shoulders (and occasionally more) with celebrities, stays out until all hours of the night, and indulges in the ultimate sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll existence.

The novel is simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, as the protagonist, Amelia, must decide whether to save herself or salvage her reputation among the celebrity party crowd.

Anna David has written celebrity cover stories, first-person essays, and reported pieces for The New York Times, The LA Times, Vanity Fair, Playboy, Cosmo, Premiere, Parenting, Us Weekly, Razor, Redbook, Self, Details, Stuff, TV Guide, Women’s Health, Ocean Drive, Vegas, The Saturday Telegraph, Esquire UK, Teen Vogue, Variety, The New York Post, LA Confidential and Maxim, among others. She’s been quoted in newspapers and magazines across the country.

She also answers love life questions on G4’s Attack of the Show and appears regularly on Today, Hannity & Colmes, Showbiz Tonight, and other programs. She gave Savvy a few moments of her time…

Savvy: In your novel Party Girl, you expose the seedy underbelly of Hollywood. The rest of the world seems to view it as a glamorous place.

David: When I first moved to L.A., before I got heavily into the drugs, I guess my life was pseudo-glamorous because I was covering parties that celebrities were at, but as a celebrity journalist, your status is somewhere between that of an invited guest and a valet parker.

Savvy: (Laughs) Nice.

David: But as my habit progressed, there was nothing particularly glamorous about it. I know a lot of sober people now who tell exciting stories about doing drugs with cool, famous people. Toward my end, I was hanging out with an oh-so-not-fabulous crowd of gay men, all of whom were about 10 years younger than me, some of whom were transsexuals and/or prostitutes. I liked to get together with them, get high, and pontificate about the ways of the world. The problem was they were high too and thus also wanted to give their coke-fueled insights.

Savvy: Not so fabulous.

David: I then discovered what I thought were the joys of doing drugs alone. It wasn't pretty. In my book, the character's habit of doing coke alone is limited to just a few occasions. In real life, it actually went on for years.

Savvy: Do you blame the L.A. party scene?

David: If you're an addict, temptation is everywhere no matter where you are. It's not like cocaine is falling from the palm trees here! (Laughs) When I first started doing interviews for my book, people kept saying, "So, Hollywood made you an addict," and I'd always have to stop them and explain I was born an addict and would have gotten up to the same madness wherever I'd been. Maybe more addicts are drawn to this town because alcoholism and addiction can fester here since certain powerful people can get away with so much, but I think it's a cop-out to blame Hollywood for people's drug problems.

Savvy: It seems like our generation is obsessed with celebrity and a lot of young people use drugs. What is your take on where this is all headed? In 10 years, will someone like Kate Moss, Lindsey Lohan or Britney Spears get as much heat for doing drugs or do you think we’ll wise up, grow up and sober up as a culture?

David: I don't really know. Certainly drugs and addiction aren't anything new, in Hollywood or anywhere else. I think the main difference today is that we have zillions of publications, websites and TV shows that cover the misadventures of these girls so ferociously and there's nothing in their lives that's off limits to write about. And when it comes to addiction, I think this is a good thing -- not for those girls obviously because it's sad for them -- but for our general awareness as a population.

Savvy: Why’s that?

David: Because inevitably in talking about addiction, we're also talking a lot about recovery. While there are a major misconceptions out there about sobriety and recovery and rehab -- probably because people see these girls drift into and out of sobriety as quickly as they change outfits -- it's great that word is getting out that there's a way of treating and arresting alcoholism. From where I sit, the recovery movement seems to be growing by the nanosecond but alcoholism is also a bitch of a disease because it's centered in the mind and thus often difficult for people to grasp. I guess this is all a long-winded way of saying that I think we are wising up as a culture but we also have a long road ahead of us.

Savvy: Is it unhealthy for our civilization to want to know SO much about celebrities? Does the gossip, like booze or drugs, fill some void in our mundane lives?

David: I think obsession with the personal habits of celebrities doesn’t come from a healthy place in any of us. I know that I somehow ended up on the permanent comp list for Life & Style magazine and so of course I can't seem to stop myself from voraciously devouring every bit of it and then feeling vaguely dissatisfied afterwards. It should probably be renamed "Why Your Life & Style Isn't As Good As These People With Half Your Education and IQ."

Savvy: (Laughs)

David: I know I look at those stories and feel either better or worse than the people being profiled -- they're either madly in love or feuding bitterly, too fat or too skinny, acting sane or acting insane and based on which side of the equation they're on, I decide how I feel in comparison.

Savvy: What’s the key to happiness while sober?

David: This isn’t always easy, but not because alcohol or drugs bring happiness. If you're sober, that's probably because you're an alcoholic, and alcoholic thinking -- which is sort of defined as self-obsession coupled with crippling insecurity -- can make happiness elusive. I think all people, to some degree, suffer from that kind of self-destructive thinking; we all, at times, have looked at other people's lives and thought they were better than ours or become obsessed with unhealthy things, but alcoholics do that all the time, sober or high.

Savvy: Right.

David: In recovery, we learn that if that's the way your brain operates, and then you need alcohol and drugs to quell it. But then the alcohol and drugs stop working -- they start making that thinking problem worse -- and you have to find something else or continue to spiral downwards. In sobriety, you learn tools to help you deal with the way your brain naturally operates, and if you can remember those tools, you can be very happy. But most alcoholics -- self-included -- have extremely short memories when it comes to remembering both that this is our essential problem and that there's a solution to it.

Savvy: Why do you think we’ve become a “culture that celebrates shame” and elevates someone like Paris Hilton to fame? Do we reward people for behaving badly?

David: Paris Hilton has sort of become the person we project all of our fantasies onto. As normal people, we have to suffer all sorts of repercussions for the most minor things -- being late for work or running a stop sign, let alone major lapses in judgment...these are things that can actually get you in trouble. Then along comes this girl who makes every horrific decision a human being can and only seems to thrive as a result.

Savvy: (Laughs) True.

David: A psychologist or sociologist could probably explain why, but it just seems like it somehow makes us collectively feel better about our lives to believe that there's at least one person alive who remains immune to the standard rules of human behavior. Of course, the Paris Hilton equilibrium cannot hold -- I know from doing coke that what comes up most come down -- and I don't predict a pretty future for her. But for this moment in time, the fact that she doesn't seem to feel shame for her behavior somehow rubs off on us and we don’t punish her for what she does, either.

Savvy: In your book and also in your first-person sex stories -- as well as those sexy “In Your Pants” segments on G4 with Olivia Munn on Attack of the Show -- you’re very open about sexuality. Have you ever shared anything intimate from your personal life that you regret sharing?

David: I'm actually careful about what I say. I made a conscious decision from the beginning not to talk about certain people or reveal information that is too intimate. It may seem like I reveal everything, but that just gives you an idea of how much more there is. I've written or talked about some of the men I've dated, for example, but never about the men I've been in love with.

Savvy: Since you are a sex and relationship commentator, is there any one suggestion you could give our readers to make their women happier in bed?

David: I'd recommend doing what your innate sexuality tells you to. I think men (and women, too) sometimes put on a show in bed, trying to be the biggest stud or sexiest vixen. Someone just being himself is a thousand times more appealing than someone trying every last trick he read in a sex book on you.

Savvy: Is there one question that comes up over and over again?

David: It isn't “what I should be doing in bed” but “how do I get a girl who's just a friend to be more than a friend?” Answer: a lot of time, there's really no hope. Find a girl who likes you as more than a friend already.

Savvy: Back to your book for a moment. How is writing a novel different from writing articles? What inspired you to write a book? What’s your next book project about?

David: For me, writing a novel is entirely different from writing articles because 99% of the articles I did were assigned to me and I was given fairly specific instructions on how to do them. Even first-person essays, where it seemed like I had control because I was writing about my own experiences, were often heavily edited by someone who had an entirely different vision than I did. When I wrote Party Girl after a decade or so of writing for magazines, I assumed that an editor was going to come in and change almost everything, so I was thoroughly shocked when my editor told me she had some "pretty major suggestions for revision" and then asked me to add two or three things.

Savvy: (Laughs) Pleasant surprise!

David: As a magazine writer, there's not a lot of respect for your vision because you're there to serve the magazine. But with books, it's not like, say, HarperCollins has a specific tone or sensibility that all of its books have to have. The short answer is that the book world is, I believe, far more respectful of writers than the magazine one.

Savvy: Sounds like you want to write another book.

David: My second novel, Kept, is about kept women in Los Angeles and is based on a story I did for Details about high-class prostitution in Hollywood.

Savvy: That’s fascinating stuff. We’ll definitely look forward to that. You’ve written for several top magazines. How has blogging changed the publishing game since you started out as a writer?

David: Blogging has only changed the publishing world slightly from where I sit because the majority of bloggers aren't paid. If it's about getting a chance to express yourself, blogging obviously provides that. But if it's about making a living from your writing, I think magazines, books and screenplays are still the way you have to go.

Savvy: Thanks Anna.

Editor’s note: Party Girl, which was released in May, 2007 from HarperCollins, is her first novel. The book is being translated into Russian and Italian and Sony Television has bought the television film rights.

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About the Article Author:

Steven Stiefel is the Editor-in-Chief of Savvy.com . He earned his Bachelor's degree from Auburn University. He has worked as a print and online journalist since 1990. He is also a photographer. To provide feedback on this article or make a feature suggestion to Savvy, e-mail steven@savvy.com .