Daniella Brodsky was born in Queens, New York, in the town of Little Neck, which is as notoriously tagged as the inspiration for West Egg in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as it is for being the Queens town with the least street cred:  “Isn’t that on Long Island?”  No, it isn’t.  

The good news is she now lives in Australia, where nobody is likely to argue the credibility of either claim, possibly even far enough to assert a stake in the Little Neck Clam fame, too. Unfortunately, it appears she’s inherited a new problem, though.  “Where in Australia do you live?”  “In the capital.”  “Sydney?”  “No, Canberra.”  “Never heard of it.”  Right.

In between, Brodsky’s lived in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Long Island, Las Vegas, London, Connecticut, and Washington DC.   She earned a BA from New York University in Greenwich Village, where creative writing instructors first hinted she may actually have something there.  She was unconvinced, but kept being drawn back.  Mere blocks away, it was in 2000 that she officially told that doubting voice to shove it when her first novel, DIARY OF A WORKING GIRL was published.  DIARY OF A WORKING GIRL has been adapted by Disney for the feature film BEAUTY AND THE BRIEFCASE, starring Hilary Duff, debuting on ABC Family Network April 18, 2010 at 8pm.

Daniella Brodsky’s subsequent novels are THE VELVET ROPE DIARIES, and PRINCESS OF PARK AVENUE (all originally published by Penguin).  It was with the release of her fourth novel, FEAR OF DRIVING, that Brodsky explored new geographical territory and understood how powerful place can be in a story.  When she left New York City for rural Connecticut several years ago, it was such a fertile time for her imagination—driving, seeing how pumpkins grow on vines, not in a box at the corner bodega, deciding whether it’s safe to tiptoe past twelve deer on the way to her car. 

Her new home in Australia offers novel experiences galore, and she’s discovered travel to be the most nourishing food for a creative mind. 

Her first young adult novel, ONE TRICK PONY (Random House), was published in hardcover in 2007.  Back when she could stay out past 10:30, Brodsky was also the creator and author of THE GIRL'S GUIDE TO NEW YORK NIGHTLIFE series, as well as a freelance magazine journalist.  She has been featured on Good Day New York, The WB Morning News, NPR, and in The New York Times, The New York Post, and The Hartford Courant.  Her nonfiction work has been published in leading publications such as Time Out New York, The New York Post, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Shape, and Self.  Her next novel, VIVIAN RISING, will be published by Simon & Schuster this August.  She continues to be fascinated by what makes us who we are and what we can do about it.  Brodsky is working on three new novels and a non-fiction title about writing.