My tête-á-tête with ’50 Shades of Grey’

Last night I had a très LA experience to say the least. And if you wonder what that means, check out the following:

I’m still a bit jetlagged and wasn’t feeling the whole going out thing. But an old friend, Craig, who is a magazine editor invited me to the ‘7 Hollywood’ Magazine party @ Chateau Marmont and since I have a weakness for beautiful magazines and drinking champagne and eating sliders while mingling @ The Chateau, I picked myself up and went.

Throwing on my leather shorts, my black sabbath oversized t-shirt, my heels and a my white vintage leather jacket with fringes I felt like a mix between ‘Mickey Rourke in ‘Spun’ and Nomi in ‘Show Girls’. Definitely not a very put-together look, but hey! ‘Yolo!’ as some people (still) like to say. (PS – Was there supposed to be a hashtag in front of Yolo…?!?) 😉

Back to my story: Mingling about the black-in-black crowd after a few drinks and sliders I felt more and more on my game again. It is great to be out at a fashion event and not having to work. So I had a great time with my biz partner, Alexis and the magazine editor Craig catching up and flirting with cute bartenders that are probably gay – or at least bi. Sad – I know.

At some point I want to sit down so Alexis and I venture out into the patio and try to get a table, which is hard since it’s AFM, so industry peeps and tons of fashionistas have emancipated the area and well, it’s The Chateau.

Out of the blue, 2 gorgeous ladies ask us to join them at their table. They have tons of beautiful, French rosé on ice and seem really fun. So we settle down with them and start chatting. Ruth and Erika. One is  a local and the other from the UK. They both write novels so we have something in common. And here it is, the ‘Très LA part’: These 2 ladies are very curious about our writing endeavors and ask many questions about my novel ‘NYC Head over High Heels’. But I’d much rather pick their brains than talking about my random typing.  But when Erika mentions the titles of her novels, I do a double take. Did she just say she is the author of ’50 Shades of Grey’…??? Uuuh yeah she did. Artistic pause. She wrote the novel that has been on everybody’s lips since 2011 and has sold more than Harry Potter. And now this fun, cool and beautiful woman is in LA for a while because her bestseller is being turned into a movie. I have not read her book – yet, but obviously I know that it’s being turned into a movie these days and it’s interesting to hear her journey and perspective on the whole process.

Unfortunately Ruth has to leave early, but the rest of us hang out ordering 2 more bottles of rosé and talk into the wee hours. I really like Erika. She is one cool woman and I she gave me plentiful of good advice when it comes to writing and the business.

I’d like to share one piece of advice in particular, since I feel it embraces other artistry as well and not only writing: ”Whatever you do, write for yourself Kristina! Don’t pay attention to anyone else.” And by that, Erika means, that I shouldn’t try to please anyone else with my writing. A statement I couldn’t agree more with.

The coincidence of running into Erika and Ruth on a random Wednesday reminds me of how crazy living in LA can be. There is never a dull moment. It’s unique and hard to find a place similar anywhere else in the world. One moment you are in your PJs and the next in your leather shorts getting writing tips from the most successful, contemporary novelist in the World.

I might be in love with NYC forever, but I’m definitely cheating with LA and I’m afraid it’s becoming serious….

The following pictures are from an editorial shoot I did with photographer Signe Mørkebjerg Sjøstrøm and MUA Karen Schnack while we drove from Vegas to LA. I’d always wanted to stop by Peggy Sue’s Diner and guess what, this day we did 😉