Marshall T.J. Langlois
Pronounced Lan-(g)waah
At least in my dad's small south Louisiana town, a Marshall is an elected political position, similar to a police chief or sheriff, in towns that aren’t big enough to have a police force but still need more than the parish sheriff.
I based Marshall T.J. Langlois off of Marshall Russell in my dad’s hometown. He is friends with everyone and, like Marshall Langlois, he's a big dude, but that's about where the similarities end. He’s got a deep rolling southern ...
Wine and chocolate
I wanted a sensual experience for Tori.
This is a slow awakening (hah!) of her senses and her appetites. You don’t just throw someone in the deep water to swim, and you don’t start with whips and chains the first time someone calls you Master.
The Chocolate
I did a little research (not a lot) about pairing chocolate with wine. As I grew into adulthood, I became a dark chocolate lover. Milk chocolate is great, of course, but there’s something special about the bitter-sweet depths ...
Film Terms
As fictional as this book is, I do want to keep some things true to life. There’s only so much disbelief a reader is expected to put on hold. Frankly, I want to use that quota in other ways, not when discussing something simple like incorrect film jargon in a pre-production meeting.
Line Producer – the dude or lady who is in charge of a film’s budget. They’re basically the film’s lead accountant and they make sure all the bills are paid.
Production Designer – these men and ...
How did the picnic on the pier get set up? Answer: Meet Jack.
The picnic on the pier…
How did it get set up and taken down?
In my head canon, Nate has a minion. That minion’s name is Jack and in polite company, Jack is called Nate’s personal assistant.
Jack is a (no pun intended) jack-of-all-trades who grew up in the California foster system and got into UCLA's film school on talent and scholarship. Once he graduated, he needed a job, and applied to an anonymous ad on a Hollywood job search website for a personal assistant. Come to find ...
Drunk Brunch
I got an editor note back for Chapter 16 suggesting that I change “drunk brunch” to “hangover brunch”. And even though I’ve been friends with my editor for nearly 10 years, I guess I never mentioned drunk brunch to her. . . Oopsie.
I don’t know if it’s a Louisiana thing or a my-friends-from-college-in-Louisiana thing, but every Sunday (and some Saturdays) during college when we all lived in dorms, we would meet around 11 AM in the LSU Student Union for drunk brunch.
Somet...
Actors and Directors and Producers, Oh MY!
A Tiny Insight into the Film (and Television) Industry
Producing/Directing/Acting
This is something I didn’t know until I actually was in the industry. In simple terms:
Actors are the “talent” (they’re literally called that *eye roll*). They’re the faces that make the story real. I guess that’s why they make bank (sometimes, depending, not the bit parts).
Directors direct the movie. It’s their vision how the script comes alive. Their job is to make sure that there’s ...
Tori wears Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm
This is what I used to wear when I waited tables. It made your lips soft all night, but, better yet, it would stain your lips so even if you talked your lipstick off over the course of your shift, your lips would still have color that wasn’t blotchy or feather-y.
I would absolutely recommend it for easy lip color.
(Now in my personal life, I wear lip liner and lipstick, usually in red.)
Burt's Bees Website - Red Dahlia Tinted Lip Balm