About the Book

Book: Getting Reel

Authors: Alyssa Roat and Hope Bolinger

Genre: Christian Sweet Contemporary Romance

Release Date: August 5, 2023

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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About the Authors

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

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.

Author Interview with Alyssa

Q: What was the inspiration behind this novel?

Alyssa: In this series, Hope and I (Alyssa) wanted to explore what life and calling looks like for people in the arts—writing, music, theater, and now film. Hope has done a lot of acting for plays, and I spent a semester in L.A. in college for film, but we both did a lot of research to make up for where our knowledge is lacking.

In the book, Ryan and Zinnia are two people trying to follow God’s calling even when it’s hard and unconventional. As writers, Hope and I know what that’s like. This novel was inspired by our interest in film and the arts, as well as our experiences as creatives. And of course, who doesn’t love a little romance along the way?

Q: Do any of the novel’s characters hold a special place in your heart?

Alyssa: In this novel, I wrote from Ryan’s perspective, while Hope wrote from Zinnia’s. I had a lot of fun writing about his cat and dog (having owned both myself), but most of all, I related to his struggles with control and being afraid to trust others to help. Ryan also works hard to manage his OCD, something I struggled with as a teen, and I think it’s important to be able to see characters who deal with the things we deal with in real life—characters who are flawed and imperfect but still lovable and worth rooting for.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from this novel?

Alyssa: We hope creatives are inspired and encouraged in their journey of following God’s calling. And we hope that readers in general are inspired and reminded that God has unique plans for all of us, and how art points us to the greatest Artist.

Q: In what setting do you enjoy writing the most?

Alyssa: Hope is a writing wizard who I think could write a novel on a pile of napkins in a crowded room in under twenty minutes. As for me…I need my little drink, maybe a little snack, my music playing, a comfy seat, and to be isolated from any other human being I might be tempted to talk to. I have the attention span of a goldfish, so I need to be shut away and given plenty of things to fidget with so I don’t get distracted and start doing something totally unrelated to writing.

Q: Where can readers find out more about you and your novel?

Alyssa: Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even our websites. All of our social media links are here: https://linktr.ee/alyssawrote and https://linktr.ee/hopebolinger

More from the Authors

Something many people don’t know about me (Hope) is that I’d planned to go into film before college. I did an internship at a great Christian film company my senior year of high school.

And I’m actually dating someone who had worked for Netflix and Disney for a while.

Even Alyssa, my coauthor, did a semester in LA to learn all about film.

So why did all of us leave it?

Well, we felt called to publishing instead. As for my boyfriend, he’s waiting for that next door. Perhaps it’ll be opened by the time this post goes up.

In the book, we tackle not only the film industry, but the idea of control. I think, if we’re honest with ourselves, we like to micromanage whatever we can. Alyssa and I each wrote a character whose circumstances are way beyond their control.

Zinnia feels like she’s too old to jump into the Hollywood scene now. And Ryan feels torn between his love of film and the pressures his family puts on him to join their business.

The entire cast of characters seems to want to control everything.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but let’s just say—like Alyssa and myself—the characters do have to learn how to put their plans in God’s hands. Knowing that whether or not he allows them to continue into the world of film, that he has everything under control.

And maybe we as readers need that reminder too.

That no matter if we’re being controlling, or have someone in our lives who is trying to micromanage everything, ultimately, we have a powerful Creator who knows the number of hairs on our heads.

It was bittersweet to end this series with Alyssa, our last coauthored work together. I don’t know when we will get a chance to coauthor again, but hopefully we can.

This process has taught us about control. Letting go, letting other ideas in. Knowing that book deadlines and publication dates don’t always go to plan.

And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.