Guest Post: Alyssa Roat and Hope Bolinger & Getting Reel

Posted August 5, 2023 by meezcarrie in Alyssa Roat, Author Interview, Christian, contemporary, Hope Bolinger, romance / 1 Comment

Please join me in welcoming Alyssa Roat & Hope Bolinger back to the blog today to talk about something one of them learned while writing Getting Reel!

GETTING REEL by Alyssa Roat & Hope Bolinger
SERIES: Roseville Romances #4
GENRE: Contemporary Romance (Christian)
PUBLISHER: Mountain Brook Ink
RELEASE DATE: August 5, 2023
PAGES: 269

When explosive personalities collide, can a control-freak director and last-chance actress work together to win a film competition?
Ryan Torino loves the feeling of control, especially when it comes to his photography work and indie movies. And when he gets the opportunity to enter an indie film festival—rumored to have Hollywood bigwigs attending—he can’t afford for anything to be less than perfect, especially the casting of his leading role.
Enter Zinnia Preston, who has been trying to break into the acting scene since college. Now in her late twenties and working the not-job-of-her-dreams, Zinnia knows this indie film project may be her last chance to make it onto the screen.
Ryan is intimidated by Zinnia’s strong personality, but he can’t deny she’s the one for the job. Meanwhile, Zinnia wants to throttle Ryan for his perfectionistic tendencies, but she needs this gig. The tension between the two threatens to derail the project, and to both of their frustration, clashing visions aren’t the only reason sparks seem to fly every time they interact.
When an old nemesis arrives back in town, Zinnia and Ryan will need to set aside their differences and work together to have a chance at winning. If not, they can kiss that Hollywood riding-into-the-sunset ending goodbye.

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by Alyssa Roat & Hope Bolinger, co-authors of Getting Reel

This book taught me about narcissism.

This wasn’t exactly something I’d expected to put in a romance book. And this book is co-authored, but for the sake of protecting the identity of which co author learned about narcissism, I’ll go unnamed in this.

I learned about narcissism through a close friend. A friend who had been treating me poorly for years, but I hadn’t detected the patterns.

To keep a long story short, about a month before we started the first draft, the friend had said some very unkind things. They knew what would hurt me, and they decided to tell me what would send me spiraling into a depression.

So when my coauthor and I planned the book, I didn’t know if I could share about my experiences. I figured it could backfire. Maybe the friend could see that I had a narcissistic character in the book, and would come after me. One of our main characters deals with a confrontation with a narcissistic family member. As many of the book’s themes revolve around the idea of control, it made sense to have a character with undiagnosed NPD (narcissistic personality disorder).

I really fought the idea of having an antagonist like this. And so my coauthor and I prayed about it.

But then I thought of something else. I remembered that there may be readers who have gone through something similar. Where they had a friend or family member treat them poorly, and convince them that they’re crazy (through a sad thing called gaslighting). Maybe they needed solidarity and steps toward healing. I researched a ton about narcissism and found myself appreciating hearing the stories of others. Knowing I wasn’t alone.

So I went ahead and wrote the character. We wrote about the confrontation, and we penned how the main character forgave and made steps toward deleting all the lies a narcissist had told her.

Sometimes books lead you down odd paths. Ones you’re uncomfortable going. But if this story can help one person heal, it will be well worth it.

And even if someone isn’t dealing with someone with NPD in their lives, I hope the story is a beautiful exploration of letting go of control and letting God lead the process.

For the readers who are diving into this, thank you so much for joining us on the journey. It’s been wonderful to pen these adventures together, and I hope these books bring joy, discussion, and most importantly, hope.

Alyssa Roat is a multi-published author and has worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as an agent, editor, writer, and publicist. When not reading and writing, she likes to swordfight, rock climb, throw axes, and generally engage in tomfoolery with her silly cats. Her name is a pun, so you can find more about her at alyssawrote.com.

Hope Bolinger is the managing and acquisitions editor at End Game Press and the author of 25+ books. When she isn’t accidentally writing a book in seven days, she likes to model, do theater, and hike around northeast Ohio. Find out more about her at Hopebolinger.com.

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