# Caprice Crane
**Caprice Crane** is an American novelist, screenwriter, and television writer born in 1970 in Los Angeles, California, best known for comic novels such as *Stupid and Contagious* and *Forget About It* and for her work on the television reboots *90210* and *Melrose Place*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) Her books are romantic comedies, a label she has endorsed with a qualification: "I'd call my books romantic comedies before I'd say they're love stories. They're hopefully heavy on the comedy and less so on that love stuff I've heard about."[2](https://www.sfgate.com/thingstodo/article/caprice-crane-new-novel-is-with-a-little-luck-2336120.php)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, Los Angeles, California[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) |
| Parents | Actress Tina Louise, known as Ginger Grant on *Gilligan's Island*, and talk-show host and Grammy winner Les Crane[3](https://us.macmillan.com/author/capricecrane) |
| Education | New York University, film and television[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) |
| Novels | *Stupid and Contagious* (2006), *Forget About It* (2007), *Family Affair* (2009), *With a Little Luck* (2011), *Confessions of a Hater* (2013)[4](https://www.fictiondb.com/author/caprice-crane~40518.htm) |
| Awards | RT Reviews Choice Award for *Stupid and Contagious* (2006) and *Forget About It* (2007)[5](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/caprice-crane/) |
| Television | MTV and VH1 writer and producer; *90210* and *Melrose Place* reboots[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) |
| Film | First original screenplay *Love, Wedding, Marriage*, in cinemas in 2011[6](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/93947/caprice-crane/) |
## Family background
Crane was born in Hollywood, California, to two television figures. Her mother, [Tina Louise](https://www.edgepedia.org/tina-louise), is a film, television, and stage actress best known as [Ginger Grant](https://www.edgepedia.org/ginger-grant) on the sitcom *Gilligan's Island*; her father, [Les Crane](https://www.edgepedia.org/les-crane), was a talk-show host and Grammy winner.[3](https://us.macmillan.com/author/capricecrane) In a 2024 interview she described growing up on a private street in the Hollywood hills mostly alone with her mother, who had no other children, while her father took lengthy breaks from visiting; the two remain exceptionally close.[7](https://www.laparent.com/caprice-crane-writer-mom-royal-orchard-clothing/) She attended New York University, where she studied film and television.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/)
## Television and screenwriting
After university, Crane worked as a writer and producer at MTV Networks, which she described as almost like going to a second college, and she also wrote for VH1. Her MTV credits include providing content and comedy for the [MTV Video Music Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/mtv-video-music-awards) in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) • [7](https://www.laparent.com/caprice-crane-writer-mom-royal-orchard-clothing/) After leaving MTV she continued as a music supervisor for film and television, and she has also founded a record label and created a line of custom jewelry.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) • [8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/crane-caprice)
Her television writing credits include the first seasons of the reboots *90210* and *Melrose Place*.[6](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/93947/caprice-crane/) The exact dates differ by source: IMDb's biography places the *90210* reboot at 2008 to 2009 and *Melrose Place* at 2009 to 2010, while Macmillan's author page lists *90210* as 2008 to 2013.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/) • [3](https://us.macmillan.com/author/capricecrane) Her first original screenplay, *Love, Wedding, Marriage*, starring [Mandy Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/mandy-moore) and [Kellan Lutz](https://www.edgepedia.org/kellan-lutz), was in cinemas in 2011.[6](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/93947/caprice-crane/) She has also sold pilots and developed television projects with NBC, CBS, and 20th Century Fox.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/)
## Novels
Crane's debut, Stupid and Contagious, follows two twenty-something New York neighbors, Heaven Albright, a public relations executive turned waitress, and Brady Gilbert, an aspiring music producer, who travel from New York to Seattle hoping to pitch [Starbucks](https://www.edgepedia.org/starbucks) founder [Howard Schultz](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-schultz) an idea for Cinnamilk. Publishers Weekly praised Crane's "giddy, playful prose" and noted that she fills the story with pop culture references from the 1980s to the present.[9](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-446-69572-5) The novel was published in fourteen countries.[5](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/caprice-crane/)
Her second novel, Forget About It, centers on Jordan Landau, a young woman who fakes amnesia after a minor head injury and uses the charade to remake her job, her boyfriend, and her life. Even before publication it was optioned for a film starring [Scarlett Johansson](https://www.edgepedia.org/scarlett-johansson), adapted by Elizabeth Kruger and Craig Shapiro for New Line Cinema.[8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/crane-caprice) *Stupid and Contagious* and *Forget About It* won the RT Reviews Choice Award in 2006 and 2007 consecutively.[5](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/caprice-crane/)
Family Affair (2009) turns on a divorcing couple, Layla and Brett Foster, who fight for custody not of a child or a pet but of Brett's entire close-knit family, which took Layla in after her mother died during her teens. Kirkus called it a satisfying comic premise while judging that the couple's "often silly problems don't always make for compelling conflict."[10](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caprice-crane/family-affair/) With a Little Luck (Bantam, July 26, 2011, 320 pages) follows Beryl "Berry" Lambert, a superstitious Los Angeles radio DJ who expects a third failed relationship after two disasters and instead finds fellow DJ Ryan Riley; Kirkus called it a "satisfying romantic comedy minus a too-sweet aftertaste."[11](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/33234/with-a-little-luck-by-caprice-crane/) • [12](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caprice-crane/little-luck/)
Her first young adult novel, Confessions of a Hater (Feiwel and Friends, 2013, for ages 13 and up), follows 15-year-old Hailey Harper, who uses her popular sister's diary, "How to Be a Hater," as a "roadmap to cool" to infiltrate the popular clique at her new Hollywood high school, then abandons it for a group of artistic "Invisibles." Publishers Weekly noted the novel's portrayal of teenage nastiness amplified by near-instant replays on social media.[13](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250008466)
## Esther the Wonder Pig and animal rescue
Crane's passion is animal rescue, and in 2014 she founded a 501c3 non-profit called Gauze for Paws.[14](https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/caprice-crane-0) She co-authored three books about Esther, a miniature pig who grew to about 650 pounds, with Esther's owners Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter: *Esther the Wonder Pig: Changing the World One Heart at a Time* (2016), *Happily Ever Esther* (2018), and the children's picture book *The True Adventures of Esther the Wonder Pig* (2018), illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld.[15](https://www.librarything.com/a/23581/Caprice-Crane)
## Public profile
Crane has a following for her humor and satirical observations on social media and was named one of The Huffington Post's "50 Funny People You Should Be Following on Twitter."[5](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/caprice-crane/) • [14](https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/caprice-crane-0) Her writing has also appeared in the essay collection *It's a Wonderful Lie: Twenty-six Truths about Life in Your 20s*, edited by Emily Franklin, and in 2014 she was quoted in the American Chemical Society's *Hollywood Chemistry* volume on the influence of forensic television.[8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/crane-caprice) • [16](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Publischer/A/American%20Chemical%20Society%20US/Symposium/1139.%20Hollywood%20Chemistry%20-%20When%20Science%20Met%20Entertainment%20%282014%29%20c20140203%20%5B312%5D.pdf) In 2024 she reported developing a television pilot while running Royal Orchard Clothing, a line she started after the WGA strike curtailed television work.[7](https://www.laparent.com/caprice-crane-writer-mom-royal-orchard-clothing/)
## References
1. [Caprice Crane - Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680346/bio/)
2. [Caprice Crane: New novel is 'With a Little Luck', San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.sfgate.com/thingstodo/article/caprice-crane-new-novel-is-with-a-little-luck-2336120.php)
3. [Caprice Crane, Macmillan Publishers author page](https://us.macmillan.com/author/capricecrane)
4. [Caprice Crane Books in Order, FictionDB](https://www.fictiondb.com/author/caprice-crane~40518.htm)
5. [Caprice Crane, Hachette Book Group contributor page](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/caprice-crane/)
6. [Caprice Crane, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/93947/caprice-crane/)
7. [Meet Caprice Crane: L.A. mom and Hollywood writer, L.A. Parent (March 6, 2024)](https://www.laparent.com/caprice-crane-writer-mom-royal-orchard-clothing/)
8. [Crane, Caprice, Contemporary Authors via Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/crane-caprice)
9. [Stupid and Contagious review, Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-446-69572-5)
10. [Family Affair review, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caprice-crane/family-affair/)
11. [With a Little Luck, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/33234/with-a-little-luck-by-caprice-crane/)
12. [With a Little Luck review, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caprice-crane/little-luck/)
13. [Confessions of a Hater review, Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250008466)
14. [Caprice Crane, Bookreporter.com](https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/caprice-crane-0)
15. [Caprice Crane, LibraryThing author page](https://www.librarything.com/a/23581/Caprice-Crane)
16. [Hollywood Chemistry: When Science Met Entertainment, ACS Symposium Series (2013)](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Publischer/A/American%20Chemical%20Society%20US/Symposium/1139.%20Hollywood%20Chemistry%20-%20When%20Science%20Met%20Entertainment%20%282014%29%20c20140203%20%5B312%5D.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Fiction writers: novelists and genre › Romance and popular fiction writers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license