"Mess"

Michael Chessler was born and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English and American literature, and also studied Italian literature at the Università di Firenze. After working various odd jobs in the entertainment industry—perhaps the oddest being a short stint as a motion picture literary agent—he began a career writing, producing, and directing television. Chessler has developed pilots for all the major networks, and has been a showrunner, producer, director and writer on a number of TV series.

He applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, Mess, with the following results:

From page 69:

Teddy had kissed Jane goodbye before she left. She smiled when she felt his warm lips on her cheek, but also tensed. Part of her wanted to take his hand and lead him back to bed and spend the day there with him, whereas another part of her just wanted to run. She wouldn’t be able to resolve any of this now, and she had a job to get to, so she held him tight for a lingering moment, nibbling his ear, something that reliably delighted him.

Lindsey’s Honda CRX pulled up as Jane took a last sip of her now-tepid coffee.

“Oh my god, I am so, so sorry I am late! Wow, this house is cute! Like, super cute, right?”

“It’s beautiful. Let’s hope it’s not a big nasty mess inside.”


When Leila Allen opened the door and invited them in, Jane sighed with relief. The interior was gorgeous, beautifully appointed, and immaculate. Leila appeared to be in her mid-fifties and exuded elegance. Her hair was in a neat chignon, and she carried herself with the grace of a dancer.

“Good morning, welcome.”

“Your home is really beautiful.”

“Yeah, so cute!” Lindsey chirped.

“Thank you. I’ve been here a while, so— lots of time to try to get it right.”

From the entrance hall, Jane could see a living room, a library, and a grand split staircase with Mexican tile on the risers.

The floors were a dark stained oak, and the walls were painted a soothing parchment. Antique pieces artfully intermingled with contemporary ones. The color palette was mostly saturated greens and crimsons, but nothing felt heavy— just grounded.

Page 69 of my book is a surprisingly good preview of my novel. At the top, while my protagonist Jane Brown sits in her car parked outside the house she’ll be organizing that day, waiting for her co-worker to show up, she reminisces about that morning’s good-bye with her boyfriend Teddy. This passage illustrates that she is deeply conflicted about her feelings for him, and resolving these feelings is central to the novel.

Next, we follow Jane and her co-worker Lindsay into the home they’ll be organizing, and see how Jane is constantly assessing and making assumptions about her clients. This dynamic repeats throughout the novel as Jane goes into a different home in almost every chapter, and her initial judgments of people are often completely subverted once she gets to know her clients better—usually because their attitudes toward their possessions are so unintentionally revealing.

Visit Michael Chessler's website.

--Marshal Zeringue