Long and Short Reviews YA welcomes author/model Mark Perini whose debut novel Halfway Perfect, co-written with Julie Cross, was recently released. Read our “Best Book” review here. Enter the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of the book plus a one-year subscription to Cosmopolitan.
If you weren’t modeling, what would you choose to do?
Right now I run a Web Design/Social Media Consulting company called Icee Social. What I dislike about modeling is that you can’t take ownership of anything. You can be on the biggest billboards in the world, but I didn’t have a part in the creative. There is this constant feeling of emptiness. That’s why I love writing and developing. I take a blank page and turn it into something amazing.
Tell us about your career journey.
When I was 17, I worked at an Abercrombie Kids store at the Smithhaven Mall. One day the manager said there was going to be a casting for the campaign held in NYC, and they wanted me to represent the store. I ended up booking the Hollister Campaign and did a job for Abercrombie and Fitch soon after that.
After that a scout named Arri Taylor (who originally scouted me for Hollister) contacted me and said I should go into NYC and grab an agency. The rest is history, been modeling ever since.
Share with us your most embarrassing moment while modeling.
I once did a test (which is a free job for your portfolio and for the photographer’s portfolio) when I first started modeling where I had on a swimming cap, a trench coat, a Speedo, and Doc Martins, I believe. Needless to say any pose in such an outfit was humiliating, not to mention we were on top of a roof in NYC. Never saw those pictures and I don’t think I ever want to.
Bestselling author Julie Cross teams up with Ford model Mark Perini to pen a poignant and gritty YA novel about love and the dark side of modeling and the fashion industry.
Eve’s time as a fashion model nearly destroyed her-now she’s determined to build a career behind the camera lens. But landing a coveted photography internship brings her face to face with her dark past-and her ex.
While Eve is snapping pictures, up-and-coming male model Alex is launching his career-which, for him, involves maintaining a fake relationship with his co-star, Elana.
But Alex is falling for Eve, and Eve won’t let herself get hurt again. If Alex can pull off a fake love with Elana, can he convince Eve to risk a secret affair with him?
About the Authors: Mark Perini is a New York City-based author debuting his first YA novel, Halfway Perfect. Additionally, Mark is a featured author in the NA anthology, Fifty First Times.
Mark began his career as an international fashion model ten years ago, while simultaneously obtaining a business degree from Seton Hall University. He has a passion for traveling the world, and he’s made a blood pact with friends to see all seven wonders of the ancient world before he’s thirty. Four down, three to go.

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