Based on a true story?

The mom is in prison now after the Department of Children's Services caught her.

Here is an article I found and the link: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/ent_index/79527.php

"The Perfect Man" is based on a story that seems so preposterous, it could only come from Hollywood:
A teen girl writes fake love letters to her single mother, convincing her that she has a secret admirer who is the man of her dreams, leading to a torrent of trouble, which forces the girl to tell even more lies.
Kind of tough to swallow, until you hear that it actually happened in real life. In Tucson, no less.
The film is based on actual events from the lives of 53-year-old Tucsonan Jan Robinson and her daughter, Heather, 26, who now splits her time between Tucson and Los Angeles.
These days, both Robinsons are dynamic, up-and-coming film writers and producers, with one big-time Hollywood project behind them and several more on the way.
Heather and Jan nearly always seem to be on the same page, finishing each other's sentences and interjecting and correcting comments into stories. Mother and daughter seem to be in a perpetual state of editing each other. And with several more projects on the horizon, Hollywood is listening.
The Robinsons' success can be traced back to a harrowing ordeal in 1993, when Heather was a student at Sahuaro High School who lamented that her divorced mother lacked romance in her life. Heather and a mischievous friend, whom she declined to name, began writing her mother love letters and e-mails, posing as a man in love with Jan.
Heather and her friend based the "perfect man" on an Air Force pilot with whom they worked, and a faux relationship developed between Jan and her make-believe suitor.
Heather's ruse - which both she and Jan attribute to a misguided scam born out of deep love and caring - got out of control.
Heather and her friend, who showered Jan with flowers and gifts for eight months, decided it was time for the man to propose to Jan. The friend stole a credit card to purchase an engagement ring. In 1994, the friend was convicted of credit card theft, Heather was convicted as an accomplice, and both Heather and Jan were emotionally devastated.
Walking away from the courthouse after the ordeal, Jan, who could have been bitter at her daughter's actions, had a sense of humor about it.
"Well, this would make a great movie," she told Heather.
Heather spent a night in juvenile detention and was sentenced to house arrest and 120 hours of community service that she completed in the Wright Flight program, which teaches students about aviation.
Heather says working at Wright Flight helped her find direction. She agreed with her mother that the events would have made for a great movie and sought career advice from a friend, actress Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia herself. Heather had been communicating with the "Star Wars" legend in a chat room while working at an America Online call center.
The actress-author told Heather to write a treatment, a summary that describes how a story will play out on screen. Heather and Jan wrote the treatment, then poured all their spare income into getting the film sold, spending between $20,000 and $25,000 flying back and forth from Los Angeles, setting up meetings and working contacts.
Heather was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and struggled through the illness in 2001 and 2002. Jan says she was in such dire financial straits she nearly lost her house.
They managed to sell the treatment to a small company in 1999, but after a year of the project mucking around in "development hell," the rights reverted back to the Robinsons.
Screenwriter Michael McQuown, who had heard of Heather's project, contacted her online and worked with her to turn the treatment into a screenplay. McQuown's contacts got the script to Hilary Duff, who liked the project and helped get it sold to Universal, which fast-tracked the film into production in 2004.
Hollywood could not have written a more appropriate happy ending to the mother-daughter story, but then Heather's life was again thrown into turmoil. She suffered from a surgery-related infection and was hospitalized for four months last year. Heather endured eight surgeries and was at serious risk of dying.
"The summer was lost, I felt lonely," Heather said. "A lot of the obstacles make this a sweeter experience, though. The money is great, and to have a movie inspired by our lives is exciting."
And it's only the beginning. Although Universal had the screenplay for "The Perfect Man" rewritten by Gina Wendkos, Heather Robinson received a "story by" credit.
What's more important is that doors have been opened to advance the movie careers of both women. "E-Girl," a story about Heather's time working for AOL, has already been sold, and Heather and Fisher, who will play herself in the film, will co-write the screenplay.
Heather, who is now in good health, and Jan are also collaborating on other film projects, including one on the Wright brothers, as well as several TV series and a memoir.
Life is sweet for the Robinsons, and they say their ordeals and successes have only solidified and enriched their relationship.
During a recent Star photo shoot at their home, the women playfully teased each other and gushed with compliments about each other.
The women both seem down-to-earth, dwelling in a house with a Cost Cutters magnet on the refrigerator. Jan continues to work as an administrative assistant at a local television station, and Heather has none of the pomp and arrogance you might think would be associated with a woman who's a Hollywood screenwriting success in her mid-20s.
The Robinsons bubble with excitement and gratefulness, as well as overwhelming love. They excitedly gabbed about the upcoming red-carpet movie premiere like high school girls primping for the prom, and with just as much of a sense of playfulness. When bored while posing together for a portrait, Jan pinched Heather, to which Heather replied, "Stop touching me there!"
Then they flashed instant smiles until the next camera flash, before digressing to their ongoing commentary/conversation.
"You owe me," Heather said with a smile, to which Jan replied, with just a tingle of the pain from memories of the wild events that would soon be coming to the screen, "You owe me more."
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or [email protected].