Interview with Patricia Leavy, Author of The Location Shoot (Giveaway)

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.

Where did you grow up? 

Brookline, Massachusetts which is just outside of Boston.

When did you begin writing? 

I’ve loved creative writing since I was a little girl. My mother recently found some of my first stories, which I also illustrated and bound with old wallpaper and glue to make them look like books. On the back of one, it says I was only six years old.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments? 

Usually during the day. I write seven days a week, no matter what. Weekends, holidays, vacations. It’s a non-negotiable for me. When I’m on vacation or something like that, I usually only write in the mornings. I’ll often set an alarm in a hotel to make sure I have some time to write, or sneak into a café or museum coffee shop in the afternoon. I’ve even brought my laptop or a book manuscript to the beach on many occasions.

What is this book about?

An eccentric filmmaker is shooting a film in Sweden over the summer where he lives in an inn with the lead actors. Before arriving in Sweden, we get a glimpse into the lives of the actors in the cast—each at a personal crossroads. The filmmaker invites his friend Ella Sinclair, a beautiful, free-spirited, provocative philosopher to join them for the summer. Hollywood star Finn Forrester is instantly enchanted by her and the two fall madly in love, embarking on a sexy and romantic affair. Meanwhile, the film they’re all making is about the meaning of life. The subject of the film and the deep bonds the group builds over the summer push everyone to reflect on their own lives. When the shoot ends, each returns home, changed. The group reconvenes months later on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival and we see the impact of their summer together. In the simplest terms, The Location Shoot is a love story. At the core, it’s about living and loving with everything we have.

What inspired you to write it?

It was a lockdown project. 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.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride? 

I was fortunate that I had changed fiction publishers with my previous novel, Hollyland. I had an outstanding experience with my publisher and finally felt like my fiction had the right home. Luckily for me, they were willing to invest in me long-term, so I signed on for The Location Shoot and several other forthcoming novels. At this point in my career, I’ve published over 40 books, working with about 10 different publishers, so I’ve had a huge range of experiences, and of course stacks of rejections along the way too. It makes me deeply appreciative to feel like my fiction has a good home.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently? 

I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years as an author, and I see missed opportunities. That said, regret is a rabbit hole. Everything we go through gets us to where we are. I can’t undo any of my life experiences and assume I would be the same person having just written the same book. So even though there are things that I wish had gone differently, I wouldn’t change anything. I’m happy with where I am now, and I love the books I’m writing.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book? 

The Location Shoot is available everywhere books are sold. Here are the links for Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but you can also go to your indie retailer or favorite store and if they don’t have it, they can order it for you. 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Can you share an excerpt with our readers?

She paused and said, “Albie, tell them about how you met Margaret. It’s such a wonderful story. I’m sure everyone would love to hear it.” 

“I would,” Finn said as he and Ella exchanged a smile. 

“Me too,” Charlotte added. “In the many years we’ve known each other, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this story.” 

Albie smiled. “All right,” he said. The waitstaff returned and passed around plates, each with a slice of tart and generous dollop of freshly made whipped cream. 

They all began eating and Albie said, “I met her at a party in London thrown by some aristocrat. Completely pretentious. I was the lead in a play on the West End, and the director invited me. You know how that blue-blooded set loves to have a celebrity in their midst, something to gab about when they’re at their holiday homes.” 

Everyone laughed. 

Albie took a bite of his tart and continued, “I brought a girl with me, some actress, can’t even remember her name. We were all dressed in absurdly formal attire, could hardly tell the guests from the waitstaff, eating catered, crustless watercress sandwiches or some such rubbish. All of a sudden, in walks a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a simple, sky-blue frock and holding a pie. It’s hard to overstate how extraordinarily out of place she looked. I was immediately transfixed. She had the biggest, most beautiful eyes, and her hair fell in waves.” He paused, as if reliving every detail. “Anyway, the host’s wife ran over, greeted her, and ferried the pie over to the dessert table. I couldn’t take my eyes off this woman. The way she moved, her smile, the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. I watched her for hours. I asked someone about her, and they said she was an elementary school teacher who happened to know the sister of the host. Eventually, I saw her standing alone at the dessert table and decided to make my move. The table was covered in mile-high meringues and fancy chocolate tortes encased in sugar domes, no doubt from the finest bakery in London, and there was her humble homemade pie off to the side. I sidled up to her and said, ‘Everything looks good.’ She smiled at me and I felt like I was struck by lightning. I picked up a plate and a serving utensil and said, ‘I think I’m going to try this one,’ and I took a slice of the blueberry pie. She looked at me and said, ‘I made that. To tell you the truth, I feel like a bit of a fool. I didn’t know what kind of party it was.’ I said, ‘I’m Albie, what’s your name?’ In her angelic voice, she said, ‘Margaret.’ I’ll tell you, I fell completely in love with her then and there.” 

“What about your date?” Michael asked. 

“Broke up with her at the party. I called a car for her and sent her home. Felt terrible about it, but when you meet the one, you can’t let anything stand in your way. True love is the greatest gift in the world; one mustn’t squander it or be foolish enough to think it will simply wait until it obliges our schedules.” 

“So, it really was love at first sight,” Charlotte said wistfully. 

“Indeed. Anyone who tells you that love at first sight isn’t real, well, those unlucky bastards have just never experienced it. Take it from an old fucker like me: when you get hit by lightning, you surrender to it. All the details, the little things you don’t know about each other, you’ll learn those over time, and if you really love each other, most of it won’t matter. There’s no replacing that inexplicable, inconvenient, all-encompassing feeling of love. Standing there in that moment, holding that slice of pie, I knew I couldn’t live without her. These days, people court each other like they’re applying for a job or running through a checklist. But this is where the artists—the poets, the novelists, the filmmakers—have always known better: true love has no reason.”

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

Develop a relationship with your work that isn’t dependent on anything external, praise or critique.

What is up next for you? 

I loved writing Ella and Finn’s love story so much, that I didn’t want to leave it. My next novel, After the Red Carpet, picks up where The Location Shoot ends. It comes out in September 2024 (She Writes Press). I’m also working on a series of romance novels that explore different dimensions of love. It’s a special project and I can’t wait to share it.

Is there anything you would like to add? 

When I was writing this book, all the love on the pages lived inside of me too. It filled me with joy and affection. It gave me all the good feelings. I hope it does the same for readers.

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway