Blog Tour: THE LOCATION SHOOT by Patricia Leavy

 

The Location Shoot

by Patricia Leavy

 

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GENRE: Romance

 

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BLURB: Controversial filmmaker Jean Mercier is shooting a film on location in Sweden. While spending the summer creating his latest work of cinematic art, he lives in a nearby inn with his lead actors: Albie Hughes, British veteran of stage and screen; Charlotte Reed, British indie film queen; Michael Hennesey, American TV heartthrob; Willow Barnes, fallen former teen star looking to make a comeback; and Finn Forrester, legendary Hollywood movie star. Mercier invites his friend Ella Sinclair—a beautiful, bohemian-spirited American philosopher known for her provocative writing—to stay with them for the summer. When Ella arrives, Finn is instantly enchanted by her, and soon they fall madly in love. Finn wants to plan a life together, but Ella harbors fears and convinces him to wait until the film wraps to decide their future. In a case of life imitating art, the film they are creating explores “the big questions” and prompts the stars to reflect on the crossroads they face in their own lives. How will their experiences on location affect them when they return home? The answers won’t come until months later, when the cast and crew reconvene on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival—but their revelation will make for one unforgettable night.

 

 

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Excerpt One:

 

Soon they were soaking in the tub, surrounded by the soft glow of candlelight. Ella leaned against Finn and sighed contentedly as he wrapped his strong arms around her.

 

“I thought about you all day today,” he said.

 

“You did?”

 

“I couldn’t get the image of you with those kids out of my head. You were such a natural with them.”

 

“I’m crazy for tiny humans, always have been. I love their curiosity, big imaginations, big emotions. When a toddler is overjoyed, it’s infectious. They can’t contain it and it just oozes out of them. They feel everything so fully, so honestly, with their whole selves.”

 

“Do you want to have children of your own?”

 

“Finn…”

 

He squeezed her waist and said, “Have you ever thought about it?”

 

“Have you?” she asked, turning to face him.

 

“Ella, I would love to have a family with you someday, when we’re ready. Do you want to have a family with me?”

 

“Well, yes, but…”

 

“But what, baby?”

 

“I would want to have children with you, but I wouldn’t want to have them without you.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The way I grew up, it just made me not want to do it on my own.”

 

“You wouldn’t be. We’d be together. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

“Finn, there’s more than one way to be alone. You spend your life flying around the world to shoot movies and attend film festivals. Where would that leave me? Alone.”

 

“Sweetheart, if we choose to have a family someday, some things would obviously change. I’ve been thinking about this since we met, but I didn’t want to bring it up and scare you away by asking too much too soon. But after I saw you today, I thought we could at least talk about it. It’s just a conversation.”

 

“You’ve been thinking about it all this time?”

 

“Yes,” he said, gently running his fingers down her arm.

 

“What have you been thinking about?”

 

“Well, we could take some time to be alone together, to travel. If we had a child, you would both travel with me to film sets. I can get the studio to rent us a house. We’d hire a nanny and any other kind of help we want so you could write, I could work, and we could all be together. When our oldest is school aged, I would only take jobs in LA, except maybe in the summers when we could all still travel as a family. We could show them the world. Being a husband and father would be my priority. You wouldn’t go to so much as a single doctor’s appointment alone unless you wanted to. If I had to give up acting and be a stay-at-home dad, that’s fine too.”

 

“Wow. You’ve really thought about this.”

 

“Well, yeah. I can’t help it. Our future spilled out before me when you told me you love me. But it’s just a fantasy. Sweetheart, there’s no pressure. Until today, I didn’t even know if children were a possibility. If we live our lives together, just the two of us, I’d be perfectly happy.” He planted a soft kiss in her hair.

 

“Just a fantasy?” she asked.

 

“Yeah, for now. Do you ever fantasize about our future?”

 

She nodded.

 

“Tell me.”

 

“Well, I always imagined that I’d keep working, but less than I do now. I’d want to spend time with my babies.”

 

“Babies?” he asked. “How many?”

 

“Three. Two girls and then a boy. I don’t care about gender, it’s just what I imagine.”

 

He rubbed her shoulder. “Tell me more.”

 

“They’d all look like you,” she said.

 

“Oh, see, in my mind each one of them looks just like you.”

 

She smiled and he kissed the tip of her nose.

 

“Keep going,” he said.

 

“Well, I like your idea of traveling together. I imagined that…”

 

“What, baby?”

 

“It’s silly.”

 

“Tell me anyway.”

 

“Well, it’s just a fantasy, but I can picture us buying a little house in the French countryside for summers and holidays. You know, one of those old stone houses with wooden beams on the ceilings and a wood-burning stove, with plenty of room outside for the kids to roll around in the grass and a space for me to write.” She crinkled her nose and shook her head. “I told you, it’s silly.”

 

“Not to me. I think it sounds perfect,” he said, kissing her. “So, two girls and a boy, huh? I should warn you, I’ve always liked traditional names, like Emily and Sarah. I’m guessing you gravitate toward more free-spirited names like Lula Belle or Blue Moon. I’m prepared to fight you on this.” He playfully put up his dukes, but she grabbed one of his hands and kissed it.

 

She laughed. “Actually, I was thinking if we had a girl, maybe we’d call her Betty. It’s completely traditional, but modern too. I don’t know. It’s just a thought.”

 

“Betty, huh? I love it. And you know what else? I love you.” He stopped to stroke the side of her face. “I love you so much, Ella. There’s no fantasy we can’t make a reality if we choose to. Come on, sweetheart. Let’s dry off and slip into bed. I want to show you exactly how I feel about you.”

 

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What was the hardest part about writing this book and how did you overcome it?

 

I wrote this book during the lockdown. Like so many others, I was bored at home, binge watching movies, double fisting potato chips, and filled with existential doom. I wanted to escape to someplace joyful, romantic, and creative. Due to the pandemic, I was thinking about the big questions of life, and so I decided to write a novel about a group making a film about the meaning of life and living together in seclusion. Given the topic of the film, my heroine became a philosopher, Ella Sinclair, and the heart of the novel is a romance between Ella and Hollywood movie star Finn Forrester. Because of the pandemic, I was literally immersed in the story-world seven days a week. I was doing nothing else during that time except writing the novel. It was my escape from the reality we were all living in and really, it was my whole life while I was working on it. The hardest part of writing it was when it was done. I always feel emotional when I finish a novel. It’s hard to leave the story-world and characters you’ve spent day in and day out with. I always feel a bit blue letting them go. This time it was much worse. Not only did I absolutely love writing this book and I had fallen completely in love with the characters, but it had been my whole life. Writing the book was my reason to get up each day. It was all I had during that time. Finishing it felt like a massive loss. Suddenly, my reason to get up and race to my office each day was gone. To deal with it, I dragged out my rounds of revisions for as long as I could, rereading, tweaking, adding, editing. Finally, I found inspiration for the next novel. Once I started writing it, I was fine. That’s what it always takes to leave one story behind, starting the next.

 

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than forty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than forty book honors. Her last novel, Hollyland, was featured on She Reads in “The Most Anticipated Romances of Spring 2023” and was the 2023 Firebird Book Awards 1st Place Winner in Pop Culture Fiction and 1st Place Winner in Summer/Beach Read. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine. In addition to writing, she enjoys art, reading, and travel.

https://www.amazon.com/Location-Shoot-Novel-Patricia-Leavy/dp/1647425670

https://www.amazon.com/Hollyland-Novel-Patricia-Leavy/dp/1647422965

 

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GIVEAWAY 

Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway