We all have our guilty pleasures. One of mine, that proves
useful at the most random times, is my love of entertainment and celebrity
news. Some people check their daily horoscopes or fantasy football stats- I
check up on what’s going on in Hollywood. One of the most utilized apps on my
phone (aside from Facebook, of course) is my EOnline app. Several times a day I
troll the latest entertainment headlines and oh and ah over photos
from recent celebrity sightings across the globe.
If you’d ask me why I’m so intrigued with the happenings in
movie and TV land and the people who inhabit them, I wouldn’t have a good
answer. In a way it’s like asking an avid reader why they like to read so much.
You just do, and it feels at times like it’s programmed into your DNA. It’s a
hobby of sorts for me, but one I take very seriously.
I enjoy my role of being the first one in my social circle to
know the latest break-ups and hook-ups in Hollywood, what movies have recently
gotten green-lighted, and who has been cast in the next big blockbuster movie.
It makes for good happy hour conversation if nothing else.
It’s easy to point to the reason for celebrity watching as a
kind of envious observation from afar. These beautiful people make a living
playing out fiction for our entertainment. They can choose to be anyone they
want to be, there’s the appearance that they make a lot of money, and since we
always see the same faces in front of the camera, we assume their life is
glamorous and fascinating in a way that we ordinary humans will never
experience.
But once you start peeling back the layers, you realize that
choosing to live your life in the spotlight brings just as many negative
aspects as it does positive ones. Watching an emotional Halle Berry and
Jennifer Garner testify in court in an effort to protect their children from
harassment by the paparazzi shines a much different light on the whole topic.
That’s the level that I wanted to explore in one of the
major subplots in Grounded By You. The hero of the story, Carter “Sam” Groveson,
is plucked from obscurity to star in the film adaptation of a well-known and
loved literary novel. His life is changing forever and he has to learn to
maneuver living life in front of the cameras. How that impacts his relationship
with woman he cares about, and wants to build a future with, is one of the main
obstacles that he needs to overcome.
Ironically, a real story came out around the casting issues
for the Fifty Shades of Grey film
adaptation that showed a parallel to Grounded By You. The original actor
cast as Christian Grey decided to drop out partly due to the pressures of being
thrust into the limelight. While this isn’t exactly what happens with Sam in
the book, it was a relevant example of an actual situation where life happened
to be imitating my art.
While I enjoy the glitz and glamour stories of Hollywood
today, it’s the stories that show the human “in real life” side of the business
that truly interests me. Probably because it’s nice to know that despite their
jobs, at the end of the day, the people involved in creating those fairy tale,
fictional worlds are more like us than we give them credit for.
Book
& Author Details:
Grounded By You by Ivy Sinclair
Publication date: November 20th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Synopsis:
Lights, camera, and passions flare as a small
town boy gets the break of his career. As the lines of life and art blur
together, can he also find a way to win the love of the girl who got away?
Carter Samuel Groveson.
His
name is on the lips of every woman in the country who has a pulse. An actor
pulled from obscurity to star in the most anticipated movie of the century, he’s
an enigma to all. Everyone wants a piece of him.
Except
her.
Amelia
St. John isn’t about to follow the life plan that her father set out for her.
She refuses to be tied down or commit to anyone. A year ago, she ran as far and
as fast from Sam Groveson as she could. But when he reappears in her life and
asks her to be the friend he needs to keep him tethered to reality in the midst
of the chaos, she can’t say no.
Unfortunately
for Sam, his big break comes with expectations that threaten his career if he
doesn’t toe the line. In this high stakes game of love, everyone is watching.
Purchase:
AUTHOR
BIO:
Ivy Sinclair cut her romance teeth on classics like Gone
With the Wind, Casablanca, An Affair to Remember, and Sabrina. She is a firm
believer in true love, a happily ever after ending, and the medicinal use of
chocolate to cure any ailment of the heart. Ivy's guilty pleasures include
sushi, endless Starbucks lattes, and wine. Readers of Ivy's stories can expect
smoldering sweet stories of romance that tug at the heartstrings.
Author links:
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