'The Bling Ring' Author Sits Down On The Couch

NEW YORK (WLNY) -- The story of a ring of Hollywood teenagers robbing celebrity homes is so crazy, it has to be true.

The true story -- which became a magazine article and then a movie, is now a book. Titled "The Bling Ring," the work tells the entire sleazy account behind the 2008-2009 crimes which affected Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom.

Award winning journalist Nancy Jo Sales penned "The Bling Ring," and she joined us on The Couch to discuss the true story, which inspired the Sofia Coppola film about a gang of fame-obsessed teens who ripped off Hollywood and shocked the world.

The case was filled with intrigue from the beginning.

"It just seemed to hit the zeitgeist right at that moment," Sales said. "It was teenagers, crime, celebrities, starlets, burglaries -- it was sort of everything all wrapped up in this crazy package."

She said never initially planned to write a full length book after completing the article.

"I had no idea it would become all of these things," Sales said.

"There's never been more technology promoting celebrity," she said. "There's never been more celebrity news....and there's a self-broadcasting going on - with Twitter and Instagram and Facebook and all of these things. So fame is now a different thing than it used to be, and it's much more pervasive as an aspiration."