It was Lauren Conrad’s final stop on her two-week book tour, and the reality television star and author was filled with nervous energy, smiles and the type of restless you get after being away from home for a while.

That didn’t matter to her fans. She was sitting on the third floor of BookPeople on North Lamar Boulevard. On the floors below, more than 600 fans from toddlers to grandmothers were waiting for their 15 seconds to meet Conrad during a book signing for Conrad’s new book, “L.A. Candy” ($17.99, HarperCollins).

From the looks of the scene, Conrad, who’s wealthy, pretty and tanned, has become a celebrity for the moment. Her fans, who know her from her time on two MTV hit shows, spent hours waiting in line for her to sign their books. Unlike traditional bookstore visits, she didn’t do a reading. She simply offered a string of pleasantries to her fans and scribbled her name on books.

Conrad, 23, is best known for her roles on “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” and its spin-off reality show, “The Hills.” (After five seasons, she walked away from the show.) And in that short time, she has become the type of celebutante who rivals the Jennifer Lopezes of Hollywood.

That means Conrad is not only a reality television star, she’s also an actress, spokeswoman, fashion designer and now an author. (While she was mum about her upcoming projects, I’m sure, as is the path celebrity moguls take, a Conrad fragrance probably is in the works. That wouldn’t surprise me.)

Her book, which has received mixed reviews, is a fictional account based on Conrad’s own life as a reality-show star. The book, the first of three she’ll write, deals with, well, you probably guessed it, a teen who moves to L.A. for an internship and eventually lands a deal for a reality show. (She has finished the first draft of the second book.)

“As for reviews,” she said, “I don’t read them.”

After signings in Houston and Dallas, the California native told me she was ready to get back to her hub in Los Angeles. For the record, the size 0 Conrad wore a neutral-colored Nikki dress by Lorick and clunky shoes, and her hair was in long blond tresses. The look was surprisingly Austin considering Conrad has spent little time here. She also chewed gum and kept a can of Red Bull with her.

“I get to go straight to the airport from here,” she says of her return to California.

Before the steady stream of fans, some bearing gifts and cameras, I chatted with Conrad as she signed several copies of her book in advance for BookPeople. (For the record, Conrad and I had our moment of bonding. Turns our she liked my ring, a piece a bought from the now-defunct Factory People.)

Why do a book?

“I became interested two years ago,” said Conrad, who dates “My Boys” actor Kyle Howard.

She had approached her publisher, HarperCollins, about penning a book on dating. When that didn’t grab attention, her publisher suggested writing a fictional book for teens. And hence, “L.A. Candy” was written.

What are the essentials for summer 2009?

“A very good fitting bikini,” she said. “Finding a bikini that flatters your body is key. (Also) bright colors and neons are big.”

In March, Conrad announced she was taking a break from her own line, the Lauren Conrad Collection. The line debut at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles in 2008. That year, Forbes reported that Conrad makes as much as $1.5 million a year from her various projects.

For now, she’s working with retailer Kohl’s on a fashion line called LC Lauren Conrad, which will hit 300 stores in October and later expand nationwide. (News reports say the line might include intimates, footwear, handbags and jewelry.) The line will have prices ranging from $20 to $60 unlike her high-end line that was only carried at boutiques.

During her run of bookstore appearances, she said she has been doing trend research and taking notes on what women are wearing these days.

“It’s fun,” she said of her many jobs. “I get a little bit of work ADD.”

Right before, we finished our chat, I started to ask her, “And life after ‘The Hills’ …”

Then she quickly stated: “… is awesome.”

“My mom told me I’m a whole new person,” Conrad said.

But her fans didn’t seem to mind.

Source: statesman.com

Lauren Conrad is your quintessential girl next door — provided you grew up in the affluent neighborhood of Laguna Beach, Calif.

Beautiful, blond, tan and wealthy, Lauren was born to have the world at her feet. But it was her natural look and innocence that made her stand out to the MTV producers on the prowl for a star for their reality show, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. Conrad was such a hit on the show that she was featured in the spinoff The Hills when she moved to L.A.

Now, after five successful seasons, she has moved on from reality TV. And her fans are following. Alice Soto, 65, drove from Corpus Christi with granddaughters, Amanda Guerrero, 21, and Allison Priddy, 16, to join the crowd of 100-plus people who showed up recently at Blue Willow bookshop in west Houston to meet Conrad as she was signing copies of her first book, L.A. Candy ($17.99, Harper Collins).

“About two years ago I wanted to start writing a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to write about,” she said. “Originally I thought about doing kind of a fun dating book and then a fashion book.”

Her publisher came up with the idea of a fiction novel. So she wrote what she knew. L.A. Candy is inspired by Lauren’s experiences starring in a reality TV show, on- and off-camera. The book follows Jane Roberts, who moves to L.A. for an internship. One night at a club, Jane and her witty, loud-mouthed BF, Scarlett, are approached by a producer to be on a new show, L.A. Candy, a “reality version of Sex and the City.”

Conrad says she identifies with her main character, Jane, and originally planned to tell the story from Jane’s point of view. But as she started writing, she decided to show certain scenes through different characters’ eyes. “Scarlett was how I could use sarcasm. Jane was a little bit sweeter, so she could be more naïve and more affected. I had reasons for making the characters a little bit different to have different ways of looking at things.”

L.A. Candy is the first of a three-book series , which will continue to follow Jane and Scarlett , but with new characters introduced.

What’s next for the star? She is already at work on the second novel, and she has a new collection for Kohl’s due in stores in October, which she describes as “California chic made more accessible.” And she plans to produce a TV version of L.A. Candy some time in the future.

Will The Hills fans continue to watch the show now that Lauren is out and her arch frenemy from Laguna Beach, Kristin Cavallarie, is the star of the show?

Soto said her family will watch the new season, even though they don’t care for Kristin. “We are Team Lauren.”

Source: chron.com