Cinematic Destinies is a sweeping, heart-filled continuation of the love story between Ella and Finn Forrester. It moves the spotlight onto their adult children and explores the complexity of family ties and personal growth. What inspired the setup of your story?

It’s the third and final book in the trilogy, and honestly, I never intended there to be three books. Each one inspired the next. The second book, After the Red Carpet, sees Ella and Finn building a life together and starting a family in the shadow of Hollywood. I wanted to explore the lives of those three children when they were grown up. How would the public fascination with their parents’ love story affect them each and their love stories? Ella was always fascinated by what love might look like and feel like over a lifetime, so I also wanted to know how that unfolded for her and Finn. I could see it all so clearly it just flowed.

I loved how different each of the children are, how they each had their own story to tell. What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

Thank you so much. I truly loved writing each of them. Because each is different—their personality, their struggle, where they live—as a writer it was an incredibly fulfilling project. There was so much to explore. If I had to pick a favorite to write, it would be Georgia. I loved the way her story mirrored her mother’s from The Location Shoot. Writing about a film shoot in Iceland was also a lot of fun, although it did present challenges, essentially writing a story within a story. I really had to take my time getting that right.

What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?

Jean Mercier is a controversial filmmaker with a dystopian outlook. His films tackle the big questions of life. To him, artists are truthtellers, they shine a light in dark places, and sometimes they have to go dark so that others may see the light. Beauty has an underside and so sometimes it’s guardian is ugly. It keeps things honest. For all three books I’ve had a blast writing Jean. In Cinematic Destinies there’s a scene in the book in which Jean and Michael, the lead actor, discuss what the film is really about. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was by far my favorite scene to write. I was laughing the whole time.

Where do you see your characters after the book ends?

Enjoying their lives, living to the fullest, and embracing the messiness of the good times and bad. To me, the book is really about what it means to live a life and to do so with passion and love. So I know the characters are well and are living their best lives. I think they’re spending time together too, which is always so much fun. When they’re together, they’re a riot and the genuine love they have for each other always comes through.

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