In a world where make believe is a multibillion dollar industry, it’s hard to know where the fantasy ends and real life begins. When Collette Stroud, an influential Hollywood actor and director, takes a chance on two young actors for her romantic teen movie, three lives converge in a complicated web of publicity, passion, lust, and lies.
The web is cast when Stroud, a woman with a few skeletons in her closet, hires two young artists in her low-budget film. She handpicks Liliana Addison and Devon Maddox to be Hollywood’s next big stars. Former child star Liliana has had limited success with her previous roles but hopes to take the world by storm under Collette’s tutelage. While Devon is an out of work actor, he never stops dreaming about making it big. The director’s interest in him assures Devon his dreams are about to become reality.
Sparks between Collette and Devon set their lives ablaze, but the studio has other plans. Executives concoct a fictitious romance in order to drive box office sales and launch careers between Devon and Liliana. When the studio offers to make the young actors into bona fide stars, will the price be too high to pay, or will the deal be too sweet to pass up?
Can the trio handle the pressure of a hidden romance coupled with a phony public relationship? Will love be enough to conquer the promise of fame, fortune, and a lasting legacy, or will it be an easy sacrifice?
All three will tread the thin line of Hollywood Lies and genuine passion on the most important red carpet walk of their lives.
Category: Romance / Erotica
Publication date: Jun 20, 2013
ISBN (paper): 978-1-61213-181-8
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-61213-182-5
Buying link: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/90
But now isn’t the time to contemplate Liliana Addison. It’s time to impress, so I decide to be honest. “Yeah, I’m nervous. Terrified, actually. Both of you are kind of heroes of mine.”
My words did what I intend them to do. Both Liliana and Collette look at me with curiosity, obviously wanting me to expand.
“The movies you guys make are just . . . well, I mean, Edge of Night and Six Ways? Those are daring and intelligent films.”
Collette laughs quietly. “You have read this script, right?”
“Of course, I have,” I say with a bit of confusion.
“Then you know we don’t always make daring and intelligent films.”
She has a point. The film I’m auditioning for is geared toward a teenage audience, meant to titillate more than illuminate. I feel like at twenty-three, I’m too old to even star in it, but I’m certainly not going to say that. I need the work. “Well, I . . .”
Collette continues as if I haven’t interrupted. “This business is about compromise. Directing this film is mine, but that’s not to say I don’t like the material. Love stories featuring disfigured young people just aren’t my normal thing.”
“I know.” I try to think of all the ways this film fits a similar mold as some of her previous work. “You like movies that challenge the audience’s perception, and movies with strong themes like drug abuse and mental disorders. And Tortured Devotion is exactly one of those films. Nothing challenges perceptions like questioning what love is and who can experience it. And if you look at Maya and Jamie’s characters, they both suffer from some kind of disorder. Maya lives in a fantasy world most of her life, and Jamie is a depressed son of a bitch. When they discover each other, they become obsessed and instead of being addicted to drugs, they become addicted to the love, the feeling, of each other.”
The whole room turns silent. I think for a moment I’ve said something wrong.
“Wow,” Liliana whispers and looks at me with something like awe in her expression while Collette’s eyes examine me as if I’m a science experiment. Liliana licks her lips.
“Well said.” Collette smiles. She nods toward Julie who is staring at me with a certain kind of hunger I usually only see in bars and clubs when women are beyond tipsy and looking to get laid. It boosts my confidence, and I stand up straighter. “Julie’s set us up over here.” Collette points to the couch and chairs. “You don’t mind if we record the audition?”
“No,” I answer as I sit down. Liliana sits down next to me, while Collette sits in the chair and Julie perches on the arm.
“You don’t mind doing the audition in my office, do you? I know it’s a bit cozy, but I’m here all the time. If you prefer, we could go into my editing room, or the conference room down the hall.”
I feel a bit awkward about how comfortable she tries to make me. Maybe my fear has translated onto my face. I try to shift my expression into something neutral and say, “No, this is fine. It’s almost bigger than my apartment, but I feel good here.” Jesus, that sounded stupid. “I mean, I think this is just fine for the audition.”
“Good. As long as you’re relaxed. You’re on a very short list of actors for the role,” Collette says. “That video you sent in was pretty incredible. I was going to ask you what you thought of the script, but you’ve already shared that with us, so tell me why you want to play Jamie.”
I respond with what I rehearsed with Natalie. Although it isn’t as passionate as my words before, I can tell by their nodding and smiles that the women like it.
“Well, let’s start with the reveal scene.”
I look around for my script. I thought I’d set it down on the sofa when I got here, but now I can’t find it. I don’t have any of the lines memorized. “Uh, I can’t . . .” Damn, I left it in the car.
“Need a script?” Julie asks, rising to give me her copy.
I take it and give her a faltering smile before flipping quickly to the scene in which Jamie shows himself to Liliana’s character. I clear my throat and begin.
"Maya, you don’t know what you’re—”
“Talking about?” Liliana cuts in right on time. “You’ve been messaging me, asking me to trust you, promising me that we’ll meet, and you never follow through. You haven’t even sent me a picture! I mean, what is it? Are you, like, disfigured or something? I don’t get why you don’t come out from the shadows and let me see you. I want to see you!”
The scene is set in a darkened high school auditorium, so I imagine Jamie hiding in the safety of darkness while Maya stands in the middle of the aisle, surrounded by empty seats. I need to be on my feet, so I grab Liliana’s hand, pull her up, step away from the couch, and place her in the middle of the room while I slink away. I curve my back because I think Jamie would try to keep hidden, out of the light.
“You don’t understand,” I read with inflection. “I can’t send pictures, or meet you at the coffee shop after school.”
“Why? Why can’t you?”
“Because I . . . because I’m . . . I’m not like other boys.”
“Jam–”
“I am disfigured, Maya!”
“What?”
“I was in an accident when I was five, and now—”
Liliana cuts in. “You don’t have to lie, Jamie. If you don’t want me, don’t want to be with me, just tell me.”
“I don’t just want to be with you. I need to be with you. I can’t think of anything else, but I’m not stupid enough to think you’ll be able to love me once you see me.” I pause for dramatic effect before straightening my back and take a step toward Liliana who is looking the other way. “I . . . I want to show you, but I’m afraid.”
“Are you being serious?” Her voice is soft and holds all the insecurity needed for the character.
“Who would lie about this?”
Liliana changes her voice into something a little more snotty. “Lots of people, you know, guys who’ve started something they can’t finish.”
“Well, that’s not me.” I pause, then take another step forward. “Here I am,” I say with a strong voice that shows both Jamie’s willingness to prove himself to Maya and his fear of doing so. Now close behind Liliana, I hover my free hand over her shoulders, and just like in the script, she has goose flesh.
“Great. Wonderful. That was . . .” Collette turns to Liliana.
The younger woman nods.
Collette says, “Well done. Now, could you both turn to scene ten, where Maya convinces Jamie to take their relationship to the next level?”
Based in the American Midwest, N.K. Smith is a Technical Writer for a Fortune 100 company. The author of the Old Wounds Series, she is a mother of two who finds the time to write very early in the morning when the rest of the world is still fast asleep.
An avid lover of history, art, music, books, and people, she is interested in telling stories that speak to the human condition.
{my thoughts}
WOW! This books was just...WOW! It draws you in and makes you feel as if you are experiencing the Hollywood drama. And it is HOT! From the first pages you will be taken into a whole other world full of drama, passion, lies...everything that is acting. I loved it! It was a difficult book to put down! {giveaway}
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