Even One-Hit Wonders Deserve a
Second Chance
How often have you thought about an
old TV show or movie you enjoyed and wondered whatever became of the stars who
kind of faded from view? When you see Sixteen
Candles on AMC, for example, you don’t have to search far to find Molly
Ringwald or Anthony Michael Hall because they’re still active, but oh…what
about Jake Ryan? ;) Every once in a while I’ll see a “where are they now”
click-bait story revealing the whereabouts of former actor Michael Schoeffling,
and others like him, and it’s this curiosity that partly inspired my newest
romance, Finish What You Started.
I’m not an actor, but I have
undergone the career shift from teaching to writing. When we hear stories of former
child stars it seems some are bleaker than others. A few transition to
adulthood and keep their careers, some fall into financial or legal trouble,
and others retire from the public life and start over. Finish What You Started is about two former child stars determined
to shed the images thrust on them by their iconic TV roles. Gabby wants to work
behind the camera, Dash wants to be a serious actor and leave the geek
character he played behind. Initially it doesn’t work out, but when these two
meet up after ten years they have a second chance at fame, and love.
All Dash wants to do is prove he has
talent beyond his Urkel-like character on TV. Hollywood is ready to dismiss him
as a one-hit wonder or one-trick pony, but he’s about to prove everybody wrong.
What is your favorite one-hit
wonder? It could be a show, song, a movie, whatever. I’d love to know. I’d also
love it if you entered the giveaway below. I’m sending out to one winner a
prize pack featuring a delightfully snarky coffee mug, a gorgeous mini-notebook,
and one audiobook from my backlist, to be gifted via Audible. Good luck!
Finish What You Started by Kathryn
Lively
Contemporary
Romance
Totally
Bound Publishing
Buy:
https://www.totallybound.com/book/finish-what-you-started
About
the Book
In this business, it gets hot under
the spotlight…
Once a teen idol, Gabby Randall now
spends her time behind the camera. With her show Danse Macabre scripted and
greenlit for a popular streaming site, she has everything she wants…except her
star. Deadlines are looming and she’s desperate to cast the role of a
modern-day, motorcycle-riding Grim Reaper. She never thought she’d end up
hiring her former co-star, TV’s most beloved geek…and her ex-husband.
Until the day he dies, people will
remember Dash Gregory as Freddie “Grody” Grodin, the token geek friend of the
cool kids at Wondermancer High. After years of casting agents overlooking him
for plum roles, Dash wants to show Hollywood he’s more than a one-note player.
He’s ready to break the vicious typecasting cycle, and he’s set his sights on
the lead role in a sexy new series too hot for network TV.
When the director yells “Cut!” the
star wants to keep up the action behind the scenes. Are Dash and Gabby willing
to make ratings history again?
Excerpt
When he returned to the main room,
he found the trays folded and back on the rack, and Ace snuggled into Gabby’s
side. “Later, buddy.” He snapped his fingers and the terrier bounced toward the
bathroom. “He’s too suave for his own good,” he told Gabby with a smile, which
soon fell on seeing her suddenly melancholy.
“What’s wrong? Was it dinner? Do you
need—?”
“No, everything was great. Perfect.”
She moved to sip her wine, but instead set it on the coffee table. “I was just
thinking of what we had here tonight, and it played out like a typical night at
home.” After a beat she added, “Well, a typical night if we—I—were a couple.
Married…whatever.”
“I hear you.” Damn, she looked cute
when she rambled. “I haven’t done typical in a while, and it’s not bad. I still
owe you a dinner out, though. I do want to celebrate with something fancy.”
“I’d rather do this again.” Gabby
kicked off her shoes and tucked one foot under her. Comfy, at home, not bad at
all. “I’ve wanted to do something like this every day for the last ten years.”
With you. She didn’t say the words,
but he imagined them on her lips as she bit down.
He sensed a flood coming as she
blinked rapidly, and he looked around for something to help stem it. He never
bought tissues, usually used TP if he needed to blow his nose, and the idea of
handing her a full roll seemed absurd. He settled in next to Gabby, ready to
lend a shoulder.
“We don’t have to talk about it if
it hurts too much,” he said, more for himself. His mother had once offered to
pay for therapy to help him through the worst of the breakup, but he’d refused.
Work served him well, when he got it, and he preferred to keep his feelings
about Gabby to himself.
Well, himself and one other person.
“I’ll be fine.” Gabby stuck a pinkie
finger in her eye to rid it of a tear. “You know me, I’ve always been an
emotional gal. Remember when we filmed Doctor Arturo’s death scene?” She sighed
and looked at him. “I bawled for days.”
“So did he. He’d just bought a house
when he was written out.”
“I also don’t normally wear skirts this
short,” she said.
He had no reason to object. “Yeah, I
wondered about that. You were always a conservative dresser.” Product of a
Catholic family, he guessed, but he liked that about her. Gabby wore everything
well, but his mind kept returning to the naughty librarian fantasy. Maybe stick
a few pencils in her hair, done up in a bun with a few tendrils hanging loose…
“What’s that look on your face?”
“Hm?” The bubble popped, and he
shrugged. “I just remembered I need to renew my library card.”
“You are so silly. What does that
have to do with what we’re talking about?”
He chose not to say. “I’m sorry.
Just a crazy day. So there’s a reason for the wardrobe change?”
Gabby smiled, flushed. “It goes back
to that ‘special friend’ misunderstanding.”
“Ah.”
“I hoped to outdo her. Yes, I’m
shallow.” She rolled her eyes.
“No, you’re a human with
insecurities. Just like me. It doesn’t help we both grew up in show business
families where that sort of thing is encouraged.” He could spend the rest of
the evening reminding her of all the crap stage parents foisted on their
children. You had to have a cuter face than the other boys reading for your
part. Your dimples had to go deeper, your freckles had to cross the bridge of
your nose just so. How often had Walter and Marie drilled the importance of
looking better than every ingénue in California into Gabby’s head?
It didn’t go away easily. He could
relate. Though his mother hadn’t been as bad as Marie Randall, she’d put
pressure on him more than once during casting calls.
He stretched out his arm, inviting
her close. For a moment they sat on the sofa and he held her, and it felt nice.
It felt like home, like what the last ten years should have been for them. “You
will always have a special place in my heart,” he said. “Whatever happens
between us on this show, it can only result in good things.”
She pulled back a bit to regard him.
“I want to tell you something.” After a beat she added, “Since our first time
in Vegas…there hasn’t been a second time for me. With anybody.”
Huh? “For real? Why are you telling
me—”
“I’m not asking for you to say the
same thing, Dash. I never expected you to go celibate, and I didn’t think it’d
be this way for me. I just got busy with work.” She shook her head. “I wanted
you to know because…” she swallowed hard, “I never wanted another first time
with anybody else.”
She gazed into his eyes. Her deep
brown gaze, smooth as chocolate and calling to his soul, drew him closer. He
was done for.
About
the Author
Kathryn Lively is an award-winning
writer and editor, Slytherin, Whovian, and Rush (the band) fan. She loves
chocolate and British crisps and is still searching for a good US dealer of
Japanese Kit Kat bars.
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