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Not-Quite-Supermodel is now available for purchase at the following book sellers:

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Not-Quite-Supermodel novel cover

Alex Emmerson is painfully awkward, exquisitely unfashionable, and she’s never fit in anywhere. When a smooth-talking model scout discovers her slicing fish at a Canadian Safeway, she offers Alex the chance at a career she never knew she wanted.

Armed with a suitcase full of neuroses, Alex sets off to reinvent herself in the Big Apple. Buyer beware: it’s a runway to hell but perdition does have its perks.

Take a peek behind the glamour, and follow Alex’s laugh-out-loud exploits as she attempts to navigate New York’s high-adrenaline fashion scene. This self-deprecating narrative is a realistic portrayal of a model in the making.

Not-Quite-Supermodel captures how it feels to be young and on your own in New York City, with its limitless possibilities, dramatic highs and lows, and the sense of victory that comes from relentless perseverance.

"A debut romantic comedy focuses on a small-town girl who gets discovered, takes chances, and tries to celebrate never fitting the mold... In this ambitious tale, Tong gives readers a plucky heroine who possesses more than one major flaw, and rich, evocative details about the modeling world."

-Kirkus Reviews

Meet Kathy Tong, Author and (not-quite-super-) Model

Kathy Tong Portrait

Lisa Houlgrave Photography

Kathy was discovered at age the ripe old age of 20 behind the seafood counter at Canada Safeway. That’s right, she was slicing fish. And, studying at Simon Fraser University — but she walked away from all that to take a stab at a modeling career.

By all shapes and standards she was way too old to start modeling, and, at 5’8, kind of short. However, one Marie Claire cover and 32 years later (much older and no taller), she is still doing it, with some big campaigns under her belt…

Some of which you might even have noticed.

Her high-profile client list includes De Beers, Tommy Bahama, Barneys, Oil of Olay, Schwarzkopf, Max Factor, and Clairol. As the face on the latter’s hair color box, you may’ve found her smiling back at you from the shelves of your local beauty department. Or, if you play video games, you’ll find her pointing her gun at you as the face of Mona Sax in Max Payne 2, which earned her worldwide acclaim and lots of fan art. Anyone want a Mona Sax hand puppet?

She was the spokesmodel for Neutrogena in North America, and faked French and German well enough to land the gig across the pond in France and Germany. She played Kathryn Fitzgerald on ABC’s One Life to Live, and boasts several blink-and-you’ll-miss-it roles in blockbuster films.

Kathy just finished up her juicy first novel. How semi-autobiographical is it? She’ll never tell.
Of her career, she says this: “It isn’t exactly playing out in the Hollywood fashion I had envisioned but the Lifetime made-for-TV version is still promising.”

She has no plans to go back to slicing fish…yet.


In this episode, Anastasia Barbuzzi chats with Not-Quite-Supermodel Kathy Tong.

Contact

Publicist

EOS Publicity
Erica Ohayon
ericaohayon@gmail.com
+1 (917) 270-6068

Modeling Agency

Heffner Management
Nancy Peppler
80 vine Street, Suite 293
Seattle WA, 98121
Phone: 206-622-221