The Cusp of Everything

by Laura Huntt Foti

Overview

The Cusp of Everything is a novel with a full soundtrack, a time-travel back to the suburbs of New York City on the eve of America's Bicentennial. More than 200 songs run through the text, setting the tone for the era and the action. From "classic rock" before it was classic and "Old School" when it was still new, to Top 40 and the early days of disco, with a special helping of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Cusp's music runs the gamut of what was in the air at the time. Listen along at the companion website: cuspofeverything.com. Cusp is about being on the threshold of adulthood, hoping for "real life" to start, fervently anticipating growing up and moving on. The term also refers to the massive societal shifts of the 1970s, when taboos were lifted on premarital sex, birth control, abortion, divorce, homosexuality and interracial relationships. Karen Walsh dreams that moving to the big city and finding love will solve all her problems. After a failed summer romance, commuting to classes feels like a lonely extension of high school, but without the familiar faces. Only her deepening friendship with Mark Cassone provides a bright spot. Together they plan their escape from the suburbs, aching for a new and rewarding life in Manhattan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780615628400
Publisher:	Prince Willow Publishing
Publication date:	05/10/2012
Series:	The Cusp of Everything Series
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

Laura Huntt Foti always thought she would write a book before she was 30. Now she knows better. It's been almost 40 years since the events that inspired her debut novel, The Cusp of Everything (cuspofeverything.com). She consoles herself about the long gestation period with the conviction that at least she brought to the book the wisdom of extreme hindsight.

Laura grew up in Westchester County, New York, where her novel is set, and earned a B.A. in journalism from New York University. Following graduation, she worked as a writer specializing in the then-new field of music video. As Billboard's Video Editor, she organized the magazine's Video Music Conference, including the 1983 Video Music Awards ceremony at which Mary Wilson of The Supremes-who play a pivotal role in the book-was a presenter.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1987 and joined the interactive software division of Philips Electronics, working as a senior executive in product development, marketing and business development before launching her own consulting firm, Sound Input LLC, in 1996.

The Cusp of Everything might not have been written if not for an accident in the summer of 2009. Crossing Pacific Coast Highway in a crosswalk in Laguna Beach, California, Laura was knocked to the ground by an impatient driver who whipped around a waiting car. She came to in the middle of the road, surrounded by lifeguards, bemoaning her potential book-free obituary.

Laura lives in Los Angeles with her teenage son and is a dedicated volunteer, active in many local organizations, among them the Los Angeles Public Library, Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society and the Los Angeles Conservancy. She is on the Board of the Ebell of Los Angeles and serves as the Club's Publications Chair, writing and editing a monthly magazine. She is also active in NYU Journalism's alumni activities.

A playlist by chapter is available at cuspofeverything.com and in the back of the book. However, Laura's dream remains to publish Cusp as an e-book with music integrated throughout.