T I K B U L C K BOO
Dear Readers, Thank you so much for choosing Love Scenes as your book club selection. I’m honored to welcome you into the life of Sloane Ford and her sprawling, complicated, one-of-a-kind Hollywood family. It’s an unbelievable thrill to have you here. Love Scenes poured out of me at a time when I wanted to create something that made me smile. My previous novels had been written from a place of intense sadness, so every day I sat down to craft this book, I made a very deliberate choice: give Sloane her struggles, but make sure to find the joy. No matter what. In the end, I built a world full of messy, bighearted people making their messy, bighearted mistakes. These characters don’t always do the right thing. Far from it, most of the time. But the love they share propels them forward. The love encourages them to grow. This story takes place on a film set as Sloane’s family shoots a romantic war drama full of literal love scenes. Hence the book’s title. Most of the real love scenes unfold in the moments between cut and action, though. With Sloane and Irish charmer Joseph, who meet again after a tumultuous previous experience working together. With Sloane and her divorced parents, two award-winning actors who have very complex relationships to show business. With Sloane and her three siblings, all at completely different points in their lives. And with Sloane and herself, caught up in a lot of personal and professional turmoil. We’ve got love in every form here, in all its intricate glory. I like to ask myself really hard questions as I write. For Sloane, I kept coming back to forgiveness. What does it take to really forgive someone? What does it mean to actually change in a good way? How do we ask for better from the people we care about? From ourselves? Love Scenes is me unworking those tight, tangled knots. Finding the joy while searching for the answers. Embracing the love. My sincerest hope is that this story cares for you in the same way it cared for me.
With much love,
Bridget Morrissey
WITH N O I T A S R E V N A CO SSEY
I R R O M T E G D I BR Tell us about Love Scenes! What inspired you to write this novel?
One of the most pivotal moments in Love Scenes came to me in a dream. Without giving away too much, I woke up obsessing over the idea of two actors with a complicated past starring in a romantic drama together. That premise propelled me forward. Along the way, I pulled in elements I love to write about, namely large, messy groups of people. In this case, it’s a famous family full of witty, guarded, creative types all working on a movie. I love thinking about who we are to each other and exploring the dynamics within complicated relationships. I also wanted to challenge myself to really examine redemption. What does it take to move forward with someone who has hurt you?
Love Scenes is your first adult novel after writing YA. Tell us about your experience writing a new genre. What did you find most challenging or exciting?
Writing YA was really fulfilling, but with Love Scenes, I had so much fun creating this world. When the idea first came to me, I immediately started drafting extensive character charts and backstories for both Sloane and Joseph. The story idea latched onto me in a powerful way. It all felt very sweeping and urgent. Almost everything I came up with in that initial brainstorm session ended up staying. Somehow, this book arrived in my brain as a fully cooked idea. The challenge was making it as satisfying on paper as it was in my head.
Sloane, the book’s heroine, takes a job acting alongside her least favorite costar of all time. Why did you choose to set this story against a Hollywood backdrop?
Acting is such a grind. Most that are lucky enough to break through have very little control over the people they work with or the projects they represent. It’s really interesting to me, because we always associate bad movies with the actors that starred in them. For the most part, those actors had no way to prevent that project from being “bad.” With few exceptions, they don’t write the scripts or direct the scenes or cast their costars. So I wanted to plant my book in the heart of that world, but also give my protagonist more
access than normal. Her entire family works in all aspects of show business, and she still doesn’t have much power or control. That was a really exciting, dynamic setup for me.
What research was required to write this book? How did your own experience as an actor inform parts of the story?
I live in Los Angeles, and the majority of my friends are actors. They were all a huge help to me as I drafted this book. I also absolutely love watching behind-the-scenes featurettes, as well as listening to commentary on various movies and TV shows. All of that played very heavily into how I constructed this world. I watched interviews, read memoirs, and took in whatever other content I could get my hands on from various Hollywood families. Particularly famous children who’ve gone on to have their own acting careers. As for my own experience as an actor, I know what it is to put on a costume and step into another life. I also know what it’s like to stand around for a long time waiting for the camera crew to reset a shot. So much of this book takes place in the real -life moments between cut and action. It helped to know the technical side, but ultimately, my past life as an actor informed the emotional beats most of all. The highs and the heartaches that come from opening yourself up to be viewed by others.
If Love Scenes became a movie, who would you cast in its leading roles?
I never want to directly inform what other readers picture, because I think a lot of the fun of a book like this is inserting whoever you want into the leading roles! Sloane should be played by someone who can strike that perfect balance between accessible and guarded. Joseph has to have a rugged charm and a palpable tenderness. Together, they need to spark off each other. There has to be a playfulness between them. They should be two people you can tell really trust each other. While directing a scene in the book, Sloane’s sibling Tyler says, “Play it with the love, not the anger.” That’s the spirit I’d want to see on screen. Two actors who are finding the love as they work through the pain of their characters’ pasts.
What do you hope readers will take away from Love Scenes?
A lot of Love Scenes is about messy, complicated people figuring how to love each other as best they can. I hope that resonates with readers, and they put the book down remembering that we all have a right to ask for better from the people we are closest to in life. We can also ask for better from ourselves! Amazing things happen when we make room for that kind of personal growth, and we let our relationships evolve. That’s ultimately the heartbeat of this story. Giving yourself permission to forgive and to change.
Joseph’s Trailer Playlist Ventura Highway
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Reelin’ In the Years
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Rich Girl
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California Dreamin’
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Helplessly Hoping
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Right Down the Line
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Have You Seen Her
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It Never Rains in Southern California
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Rock’n Me
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Night Moves
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Listen to the Music
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Ain’t No Sunshine
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Take It Easy
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What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
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Graceland
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America
Steely Dan
Hall & Oates The Mamas and the Papas Crosby, Stills, and Nash Gerry Rafferty The Chi-Lites
Albert Hammond
Steve Miller Band Bob Seger
The Doobie Brothers Bill Withers The Eagles
Jimmy Ruffin Paul Simon
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
QUESTION #1 When we first meet Sloane, she’s recently been fired from her last acting job, and she’s worried she’ll never find work in Hollywood again. Could you relate to the core of her worries?
QUESTION #2 Sloane’s mother has a reputation for being a powerful presence both on set and in the lives of her children. What did you think of her and did you find any of her actions surprising over the course of the book?
QUESTION #3 As Sloane and Joseph grow closer, Sloane has a hard time forgiving Joseph for his past mistakes. Do you think she is she right to feel apprehensive? Does Joseph show real progress toward bettering himself?
QUESTION #4 Sloane’s ex-boyfriend writes an entire album about her failures as a romantic partner. Do you think there’s any truth in his songs? What would you have found hardest in Sloane’s place? Does this make you think differently about any real-life music?
QUESTION #5 This book features a large, blended family. Did you have a favorite character? What impact do their relationships have on the movie they’re making?
QUESTION #6 Sloane’s sister, Tyler, suggests a few times that no one in Hollywood is really straight, most notably after Joseph flirts with a man. What do you make of the characters’ relationships to their sexuality in this book?
QUESTION #7 During the course of the film shoot, we learn about several past instances of mistreatment in the actors’ careers. How do you think these experiences affect their current working environment?
QUESTION #8 When Sloane and Joseph first begin getting intimate, Joseph asks to set some boundaries. Did this surprise you?
QUESTION #9 Both Sloane and Joseph come from famous parents. In your opinion, do they properly address or reckon with nepotism?
QUESTION #10 With all the challenges Sloane faces on set over the course of filming, what would you say this film means to her by the end of the book?
QUESTION #11 How do you see the effect of the Me Too movement reflected in this book’s workplace?
END SCENE
Sloane Ford
SLOANE FORD Sloane Alexandra Ford (born October 3, 1990), known professionally as Sloane Ford, is an American actress and model, best known for her work as Tess Doyle on Craig Carson’s crime drama The Seeker (2017–present). A native of Los Angeles, California, Sloane is the daughter of two-time Oscar-winner Alexander Ford and Oscar-winner Kitty Porter. Sloane worked in commercials and print until her first television break came with a guest spot on critically acclaimed time-bending drama Millennium (2012–2014), created by Orion Smith-Boyd.
EARLY LIFE
Ford was born Sloane Alexandra Ford on October 3, 1990, in Bel Air, California. Her mother, Kitty (born Katherine Marie Porter), is an Oscar-winning actor turned producer, and her father, Alexander, is a two-time Oscar winner in acting. Sloane attended New Roads School in Santa Monica from fifth grade throughout high school, graduating a year early in May of 2008. She enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles from 2008 to 2012, earning a degree in acting. Ford’s younger sister, Tyler (born December 10, 1993), is an American director and artist living in Los Angeles. Her younger brother, Powell (born May 5, 1995), is an American composer and drag queen. Her half sister, Sarai Davidson-Ford (born June 12, 2011), is the only child of Golden Globe–winning actor and producer Melanie Davidson and Alexander Ford.
CAREER
Sloane’s first major role came as a guest spot on the time-travel television drama Millennium (2012–2104), followed by a role on serial drama Lawful (2008–2014). Her
first motion picture was a low-budget horror film called Because You Said No (2013). This role drew the attention of director Gary Pacetti, who cast Sloane in his dark fairy-tale spin-off of Sleeping Beauty, called And They Lived (2014), for which Sloane was nominated for an MTV Movie Award (Biggest Badass, 2014). Sloane filmed a two-episode arc on the television comedy Holdovers (2014) before being cast as the lead in the romantic comedy A Little Luck (2015), costarring Emmy-nominated actor Joseph Donovan. After the commercial success of that film, Ford went on to shoot the campy horror flick Don’t Wake the Neighbors (2016) and indie dramas Tables and Stairs (2016) and Capital Letters (2016) before landing a two-episode arc in the Hulu miniseries Colder (2017), starring her father, Alexander Ford. The same year, Sloane was cast as a lead in the network procedural The Seeker (2017–present), where she played blood spatter analyst Tess Doyle for four seasons before leaving the show early into season five. Ford voiced a character on the adult animated series Tattlers (2017–2019) and has lent her voice to the role of Rox on the animated children series Blaster Bunny since 2018 (2018–present). On screen, she makes recurring appearances on the sitcom Hello Friends (2019–present).
PERSONAL LIFE Ford lives in Los Angeles. She dated English actor Jasper Fink from 2010 to 2012. From 2017 to 2020, Ford dated Kearns Adams, an American musician best known for his albums Marrow and Fear of the Canyon. In 2018, Sloane created the Sloane Ford Foundation, a charity organization focused on raising money for underfunded arts programs in the Los Angeles area.
Bridget Morrissey
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Bridget Morrissey lives in Los Angeles, California, but hails from Oak Forest, Illinois. When she’s not writing, she can be found coaching gymnastics or headlining concerts in her living room. This is her adult fiction debut.
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