From an early age, Jenna Baker knew she wanted to be a writer. In particular, she was interested in screenwriting. So at the tender age of 23 after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University, she picked up from New York and drove west to Los Angeles. It was the same summer that a television series called Survivor was premiering. Jenna caught an episode of the show in a hotel room somewhere in Texas and instantly became hooked. She was so smitten, that she changed her travel itinerary around to ensure that she would not miss a single episode.

When she arrived in Los Angeles, Jenna landed an assistant job for a company called Rocket Science Laboratories (RSL). They were producing yet another ground-breaking reality television show called Temptation Island. The idea behind the show was to separate couples on a beautiful tropical island and “temp” then with sexy singles. Jenna stayed with Rocket Science for several years moving up from an executive assistant to an associate producer. She worked on reality specials for the Fox network such as Surprise Wedding I & II in which women in long term relationships gave their boyfriends the ultimatum – marry me tonight or lose me forever. She also worked on a flop called Married By America in which a studio audience paired up couples who then lived together in “arranged” marriages to see if they could make them work. Not surprisingly, no one made it to the altar.

After some time Jenna left Rocket Science to further advance her career. She ended up on a Fox series called Paradise Hotel and worked there for two seasons. The premise was a familiar one – hook up or go home. Jenna worked in story editing, working day and night with the editing team to craft the stories against the strict 72-hour deadline. Jenna moved up the ranks to segment producer when she took her next gig on The Swan – a plastic surgery beauty pageant show.

Working on reality shows was a blast, but it was extremely difficult for Jenna as it meant completely giving up her own life in order to follow someone else’s. The hours were brutal and the competition was fierce, but mostly it was the mantra “anything to get the shot” that ultimately forced Jenna to choose a different career path. She moved back to New York where she worked on a cooking show called Go Ahead, Make My Dinner for the Discovery channel before ultimately hanging up the television towel. What she took away from her reality television career was a ton of hilarious stories about doing anything and everything to make the show work. Her novel Real Sharpe compiles some of these stories into a light-hearted tale about working in the “bowels” of the entertainment industry. It offers a unique look from an insider’s perspective on what really goes on behind the scenes.

Jenna now lives on Long Island with her husband and children Austin and Avery. She currently works in pharmaceutical meeting planning – a whole new world of crazy.