From a young age, Pippa Scott was made to feel damaged for simply being different. A highly sensitive child prone to emotional outbursts, she was sent away to a rigid British boarding school. Instead of taming her, the experience of abandonment and isolation intensified her longing for acceptance and comfort.
Set amidst the changing eras from the 1980s to the 21st century, Paper Girls Burn follows Scott as she becomes a young woman and increasingly turns to sex with sometimes cruel, occasionally dangerous men. Beyond her countless one-night stands, she becomes obsessed with men who reject her and chases belonging while she hooks up with a rock star in London, trains to dazzle on Broadway, works for jaded film execs in LA and probes the depths of Vancouver's drag world.
At age thirty-five, Scott finds answers through a comprehensive diagnosis: borderline personality disorder with ADHD, OCD, PTSD, and depression. From there, she begins her journey towards healing and inner peace.
More than one woman's story, this memoir offers reassurance to anyone who has been made to feel damaged for simply being different and yearning to be loved. Pippa Scott is a writer and an award-winning photographer. As a singer, she has performed on BBC TV's Star for a Night, trained on Broadway, and studied opera under a renowned contralto. She spent over a decade working in the film industry in London, New York City, and Los Angeles for agents, directors, casting executives, and talent. She lives in Canada with her two children. Find her at pippaleighscott.com.
"A shocking, propulsive and brave account of a woman's journey through childhood wounds, obsession, addiction, serious mental health issues and a heartbreaking litany of toxic men. Pippa takes us on her riveting quest for love with courage, vulnerability and raw truth. It's a wild ride."
-Cori Howard, award-winning author, journalist and poet, The Fifth Season
"An indelible, sharply detailed life story that's earnest and engrossing."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Pippa Scott's debut memoir is deeply vulnerable and incredibly intimate, a rollercoaster ride that is bold and brazen on one page, and heartbreaking and harrowing on the next."
-Christina Myers, former journalist and award-winning author of Halfway Home: Thoughts from Midlife
"Darkly funny, brutally honest, and achingly familiar, Paper Girls Burn wrecked me in the best way-a rare mix of defiance and tenderness that only comes from surviving yourself."
-Genevieve LeDoux, EMMY-winning producer, writer and creator of Star Forest
"A courageous work of heart. Pippa Scott poignantly walks us through the painful terrain of her disorganized attachment experiences and into the hopeful work of learning to radically accept and love herself."
-Eli Harwood MA LPC, Therapist and bestselling author of Raising Securely Attached Kids and How to Deal with Your ___ So Your Kids Don't Have To 1. Darling, If I'm Crazy, So Are You
2. There Must Be Something Wrong with Her
3. Please Don't Leave Me
4. The City So Nice They Named It Twice
5. An Old Soul
6. Nothing PG About This
7. The Disunited States of Marriage
8. C'est Tout ou Rien
9. Smoke and Mirrors
10. Bad, Rejectable Girl
11. Love, Kinks, and Hollywood
12. Waveship: The Undefined Relationship
13. Wise Mind
