SHOOTING STARS ABOVE
Patricia Leavy
For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.
Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.
The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the Interview:
Creative, compassionate, clumsy.
2. Cast your book. Tell us who would play the main characters in a movie and why.
I know most authors can do this, and for a lot of my books I can, but not this one. Maybe it’s because I see them so clearly in my mind and they aren’t modeled after celebrities or maybe it’s because I don’t want to jinx anything. I will tell you that if there was a movie based on the book, which would be beyond amazing, I wouldn’t see it. Just like the main character Tess Lee who is also a novelist, I need my characters to live in my head as I’ve created them.
3. What’s your favorite love scene from a movie?
Ooh, so many. I love the scene in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days when they fall for each other in his family’s house and go into the shower. I also love the end of Breakfast at Tiffany’s when they kiss in the rain. My favorite love scenes are usually the sweet and sappy romantic ones. I’m a sucker for those.
4. What’s your wildest fantasy?
3. What’s your favorite love scene from a movie?
Ooh, so many. I love the scene in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days when they fall for each other in his family’s house and go into the shower. I also love the end of Breakfast at Tiffany’s when they kiss in the rain. My favorite love scenes are usually the sweet and sappy romantic ones. I’m a sucker for those.
4. What’s your wildest fantasy?
I’m super boring or maybe just hopelessly middle aged. I did a lot of wild things when I was young. Now, my greatest fantasy is taking a day off to watch Christmas movies all day (the cheesy love story kind) and eat all my favorite guilty pleasure foods like fried mozzarella sticks. I’d wash it down with a bottle of Sancerre. To me, that sounds fabulous! It’s “wild” compared to working every day and eating fish and salad with green tea.
5. If you were to lose one of your senses, which would you rather lose and why?
Smell. There are a lot of things that don’t smell good. On top of that, my husband is definitely hard of smelling. So, if there’s something rancid in the refrigerator or somewhere, he never notices, and it drives me nuts.
6. What is the naughtiest thing you did as a kid?
My friend and I once stole a math test and hid it. Other kids egged us on. Of course, we got busted and got in trouble. We still had to take the test. I did not do well.
Now for an Excerpt:
“So, what do you do?” she asked.
“I’m a federal agent with the Bureau—counterterrorism. I joined the military right out of high school, Special Forces. I was in the field, often deep undercover, until about a year ago, when I took a desk job as the head of my division.”
“Wow, you’re like the real-life Jack Bauer. You even look a little like him, with that whole rugged, handsome hero thing you have going on,” she said.
He blushed and ran his hand through his light brown hair. “I promise you I’m no Jack Bauer, even on my best day. People thought that character was so tragic, but the real tragedy is that Jack Bauer doesn’t exist, and you’re stuck with guys like me.”
She smiled. “What made you choose that line of work?”
“My parents raised me and my siblings to value community, to be patriotic. My father was in the military and then became a firefighter. The idea of service always seemed important. I wanted to serve my country, to protect people. It’s hard to explain, but when I see someone innocent being threatened, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to protect them. I know it sounds cliché, but I feel like it’s my purpose in life.”
“That’s noble,” she remarked.
He shook his head. “The lived reality often isn’t. When you spend most of your life in the abyss, it gets pretty dark.”
“A residue remains, right?” she asked.
He looked at her intently, a little surprised. “Yes, exactly.”
“I understand. You convince yourself it’s all been for something that matters more than you do, that whatever part of yourself you sacrificed was worth it, because it simply has to be.”
He looked at her as if she had read his innermost thoughts. “Yes,” he said softly. “Tell me, what do you do?”
“I’m a novelist.”
“What are your books about?”
“That’s a difficult question to answer. I guess I wanted to write about everything: what it means to live a life, why it’s so hard, and how it could be easier. To walk people through the darkness, in a way. Perhaps my goals were too lofty, and in that respect, each book fails more spectacularly than the one before.”
The bartender smirked.
Tess wistfully said, “Maybe reality can never live up to our dreams.”
About the Author:
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 fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Recently, her novel The Location Shoot was featured in Ms. Career Girl's “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and She Reads in “Novels to Read if You Love Classic Movies” and was the 2024 Best Book Awards First Place Winner in Women’s Fiction. 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 and serves on the board of the London Arts-Based Research Centre. In addition to writing, she enjoys movies, art, reading, and travel.
Website: https://patricialeavy.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Stars-Above-Celestial-Romances-ebook/dp/B0CYJ76ZXK/ref=sr_1_1
a Rafflecopter giveaway
5. If you were to lose one of your senses, which would you rather lose and why?
Smell. There are a lot of things that don’t smell good. On top of that, my husband is definitely hard of smelling. So, if there’s something rancid in the refrigerator or somewhere, he never notices, and it drives me nuts.
6. What is the naughtiest thing you did as a kid?
My friend and I once stole a math test and hid it. Other kids egged us on. Of course, we got busted and got in trouble. We still had to take the test. I did not do well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, what do you do?” she asked.
“I’m a federal agent with the Bureau—counterterrorism. I joined the military right out of high school, Special Forces. I was in the field, often deep undercover, until about a year ago, when I took a desk job as the head of my division.”
“Wow, you’re like the real-life Jack Bauer. You even look a little like him, with that whole rugged, handsome hero thing you have going on,” she said.
He blushed and ran his hand through his light brown hair. “I promise you I’m no Jack Bauer, even on my best day. People thought that character was so tragic, but the real tragedy is that Jack Bauer doesn’t exist, and you’re stuck with guys like me.”
She smiled. “What made you choose that line of work?”
“My parents raised me and my siblings to value community, to be patriotic. My father was in the military and then became a firefighter. The idea of service always seemed important. I wanted to serve my country, to protect people. It’s hard to explain, but when I see someone innocent being threatened, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to protect them. I know it sounds cliché, but I feel like it’s my purpose in life.”
“That’s noble,” she remarked.
He shook his head. “The lived reality often isn’t. When you spend most of your life in the abyss, it gets pretty dark.”
“A residue remains, right?” she asked.
He looked at her intently, a little surprised. “Yes, exactly.”
“I understand. You convince yourself it’s all been for something that matters more than you do, that whatever part of yourself you sacrificed was worth it, because it simply has to be.”
He looked at her as if she had read his innermost thoughts. “Yes,” he said softly. “Tell me, what do you do?”
“I’m a novelist.”
“What are your books about?”
“That’s a difficult question to answer. I guess I wanted to write about everything: what it means to live a life, why it’s so hard, and how it could be easier. To walk people through the darkness, in a way. Perhaps my goals were too lofty, and in that respect, each book fails more spectacularly than the one before.”
The bartender smirked.
Tess wistfully said, “Maybe reality can never live up to our dreams.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author:
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 fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Recently, her novel The Location Shoot was featured in Ms. Career Girl's “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and She Reads in “Novels to Read if You Love Classic Movies” and was the 2024 Best Book Awards First Place Winner in Women’s Fiction. 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 and serves on the board of the London Arts-Based Research Centre. In addition to writing, she enjoys movies, art, reading, and travel.Website: https://patricialeavy.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Stars-Above-Celestial-Romances-ebook/dp/B0CYJ76ZXK/ref=sr_1_1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a Rafflecopter giveaway
5 comments:
Thank you featuring SHOOTING STARS ABOVE today.
I enjoyed the interview.
This sounds like a good book.
This should be a very interesting novel. Thanks for sharing.
The book sounds like an interesting read.
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