Hello Everyone,
We have something special for you all on Book Reviews by a Chick Who Reads Everything today. We have award-winning author Patricia Leavy on today. She is the author of the new book Cinematic Destinies. You can see my interview with her down below.
Emily: What inspired the “Red Carpet Romance” series?
Patricia: It started during the pandemic when we were in lockdown. Like so many others, I was bored at home, binge watching movies, double fisting potato chips, and filled with existential doom. I’ve always turned to creative writing in difficult times, so I decided to write a romance novel. I wanted to escape to someplace joyful, romantic, and creative. Someplace affectionate where you could hug and kiss people without fear of killing them. Due to the pandemic, I was thinking about the big questions of life, and so I decided to write a novel following a group making a film about the meaning of life and living together in seclusion. Jean Mercier is an eccentric and controversial filmmaker. He curates an unexpected cast and invites his philosopher friend, Ella Sinclair, to join them for the summer. Since the film is about the meaning of life and I was writing during a global pandemic, a philosopher seemed like the natural choice. When Ella arrives on set in Sweden movie star Finn Forrester is instantly enchanted by her and they fall in love. That’s the first book in the series and it’s called The Location Shoot. When I wrote it, I never intended for it to become a series, but I loved the characters so much that although the lockdown was over, I wanted to continue. So next came, After the Red Carpet and finally, Cinematic Destinies. To me, the series is about what it means to live life and to do so well. It’s about love, the search for beauty, becoming who we’re meant to be, and the magic of art.
Emily: What inspired Cinematic Destinies in particular? Will there be any more installments?
Patricia: Each book in the trilogy inspired the next. The second book, After the Red Carpet, sees Ella and Finn building a life together and starting a family in the shadow of Hollywood. After I finished that book, I wanted to explore the lives of those three children when they were grown up. How would the public fascination with their parents’ love story affect them each and their love stories? Ella was always fascinated by what love might look like and feel like over a lifetime, so I also wanted to know how that unfolded for her and Finn. Finally, what ever happened to Jean, the filmmaker that brought them all together in the first place? What does it mean to create art for a lifetime? How might one look back? All these questions inspired Cinematic Destinies. Although it’s hard to let go of characters I love so much, there won’t be more novels about them. I feel like the trilogy is complete and I’m happy where they are. That said, there are years between After the Red Carpet and Cinematic Destinies and I’ve always seen scenes from those missing years in my mind. I see the potential for writing a collection of novellas or short stories that may include these characters.
Emily: The book focuses on Finn and Ella Forester’s three adult children Betty, Georgia, and Albert and their journeys to find love and happiness. Which one do you relate to the most and why?
Patricia: In different ways, I relate to each of them. I’m an artist like Georgia and I’m shy like Albert. But if I had to pick, I relate to Betty the most even though unlike her I am a total hopeless romantic. Betty feels the most different from her family of origin and she went off to New York to create her own life. I relate to that a lot.
Emily: You have published more than 50 books. What made you want to write?
Patricia: I’ve loved writing more than anything since I was a little girl. When I was really young, I would recite stories which an adult would type and then I would illustrate them and bind them with old wallpaper scraps and glue to make them “books.” I have one in my desk drawer that my mother saved in a plastic storage bag. I was six when I made it. To me, storytelling is magical. There’s nothing better than getting lost in a story world, especially one that you’re creating. I try to write things that I think could do some good in the world—stories infused with hope.
Emily: What is your writing routine?
Patricia: I write every single day—weekends, holidays, vacations. I don’t write all day every day, but I do write every day. It’s different depending on what else I have going on, such as promoting a book. On weekdays I usually write every afternoon after attending to other work obligations. On weekends and vacations, I usually write in the morning, although my idea of a good vacation is also sitting in a café somewhere writing. I just spent two and a half weeks in Denmark and Sweden. I spend most of the trip writing in little coffee shops and museum cafés.
Emily: What was the easiest scene to write? What was the most difficult?
Patricia: The easiest scenes to write were the ones with Ella and Finn because it’s my third book about them and I know them so well. Aside from that, I’d say when Georgia arrives at the inn in Iceland and sits and chats with Jean and Michael and then Roo joins them. Jean was the first character I created in this series, and I know his voice. I knew exactly how I wanted the scene to unfold, and it just flowed out of me. The hardest scene to write was Albert and Ryan at the party. I don’t want to spoil anything for readers, but that scene required a lot of sensitivity, and it was important to me to get it right.
Emily: One of my favorite scenes is when Georgia and Roo watch various movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. What are some of your favorite films to see with your significant other?
Patricia: Thank you. We watch a ton of movies, all kinds. We love biopics about artists like Bohemian Rhapsody and Love & Mercy. We also enjoy thrillers like The Fugitive and Juror #2. I adore rom coms, so we watch all the new ones as they come out and rewatch the classics. My all-time favorite movie is Cinema Paradiso, but the downside is that it has me sobbing for days.
Emily: Where do you see the characters after the story ends?
Patricia: Happily living their lives.
Emily: I run the “Adapt Me Podcast,” where a guest and I talk about books that have never been adapted and how we would go about it. Who would you cast as the main characters?
Patricia: That’s so hard. I could imagine many actors in these roles. Given their age in Cinematic Destinies, I could see Rebecca Gayheart as Ella and Kiefer Sutherland as Finn.
Emily: What are some projects that you are working on now?
Patricia: I have a nonfiction book, part memoir part guidebook, called The Artist Academic coming out in October. It’s the first book I’ve written of this kind, and I’m excited to share it. My next novel comes out March 24 and it’s called Twinkle of Doubt. It’s the second book in a big series I’ve written called The Celestial Bodies Romances which follows the healing love story of a novelist and federal agent. For people interested in the series, the lead title Shooting Stars Above is available everywhere books are sold. I have many other romance novels that are already written and waiting to be rolled out and I’m currently working on a novel about a pop star.
Emily: Where can people find you?
Patricia:
Website: www.patricialeavy.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenWhoWrite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricialeavy
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/PatriciaLeavy
Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Patricia-Leavy/222280294
Cinematic Destinies by Patricia Leavy is out now. You can get it wherever you get your books.
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Book Reviews by a Chick Who Reads Everything 