Authors Interviewing Characters: Shelby Saville

And They Had a Great Fall is a love story about a secret relationship between a single mother and a rising celebrity. Their romance started during the pandemic, a time when the entire world stopped. This unlikely pair reunite a year later in Copenhagen, after the world has reopened. What happens when they have to face the reality of their lives and the risks that come with being together?

Shelby Saville Interviews Jake Laurent and Kat Green.

Jake Laurent is one of the hottest celebrities in entertainment. He started his meteoric rise with a series of films including Cloud Catcher and the most recent, Zero Code. Although he lives his life in public, he has been notoriously tight-lipped about his personal life. He’s currently linked with Kat Green, a high-powered executive for Path Mobile, but he has never spoken about their relationship … until today. I sat down with this private power couple a few weeks ago in New York’s East Village where they live, along with Kat’s six-year-old daughter, Becca.  

Enjoy this rare conversation with Jake and Kat as they talk about their relationship and what it’s like living life in the spotlight.

Shelby: Jake and Kat, you are considered one of the most private couples in entertainment. So, I appreciate you taking time to talk to me today.

Jake: Of course. Nice to meet you. Actually, I think this is the first interview we’ve ever done together. 

Kat: I usually hide in the other room. I don’t know why people even care and …

Jake: This might be the last interview she does with me, so we better get started.  

Shelby: Let’s go. I am flattered that I’m your first. I think we should start the beginning, how did you two first meet?

Jake: Ahh, the beginning. It was 2020 … yes, during that time. We lived across the hall from each other. All film productions were halted, so I was back in New York for the first time. We were quite literally stuck together. 

Kat: We weren’t exactly stuck together. You just wouldn’t leave my apartment. 

Jake: Okay fine, I felt stuck. I did NOT do well being in lockdown. I was going nuts. Until I met Kat. Meeting her felt like the world made a little sense again. It was like I could take a deep breath again. 

Kat: You never told me that, Jake. It was a tough time, for sure. But meeting you was the best part.

Shelby: So that’s when you met. How did you end up together again in Copenhagen of all places? 

Kat: Jake was shooting a film in Copenhagen, and I was there on business. 

Jake: Tell them why you were really there, Kat.

Kat: Haha. Okay fine. I was really there because Jake called and asked me to come. He was having a rough time, so he reached out and asked for my help. He’d never asked for help before and I could tell he really needed someone. 

Jake: I never thought she’d come. But she travelled 3,864 miles to see me.

Kat: Well, I did need to come for a work project! 

Jake:  Yea, yea, yea..

Shelby: That’s a big ask. Going all the way to Copenhagen, from New York City?

Kat: Yes it was. But I had to admit to myself that I missed Jake. It was an easy yes, since my job needed me there too. 

Jake: Would you have come just for me?

Kat: Let the interviewer ask the questions. 

Jake: Would you?

Kat: Yes, I think so.

Jake: Think so?

Kat: To be fair, It had been a year since you left and over six months since I’d heard from you, I wasn’t sure what we were at that point. 

Shelby: Months? Were you in a fight?

Jake: No, we just … uh … left everything very non-committal when I left New York.  

Kat: Well, I was mad at you. 

Jake: Oh right, that. 

Shelby: What happened?

Kat: Let’s just say, it was an unfortunate mix up. 

Jake: I was an idiot. She’s being nice. 

Shelby: Haha. I’m getting the sense we should move on. Kat, I am sure our readers would love a peek into what life is like with Jake Laurent.  If you had to describe him in 2 words, what would they be?

Kat: Two Words. First off, Jake can’t be contained in two words, but I’ll try. Hmmm. Let me think. Charm and Chaos.

Jake: That sounds like a series on Netflix. 

Shelby: Maybe that will be your next project! Jake – Same question. How would you describe Kat in two words?

Jake: This is easy. Steady and Focused.

Kat: Jake! You make me sound boring!

Shelby: You actually sound like a nice complement to each other.

Kat: I once called him the human equivalent to Friday. I guess that makes me Monday. No one wants to be a Monday. 

Jake: I, for one, love Mondays. They are a new start. No matter what happened the week before, you can start over on Monday. In fact, Monday is my favorite day of the week.  

Shelby: Jake I like your take on Mondays and Kat, I doubt you are boring. There is a lot of interest in your lives. Do you think, by being so private, you are creating MORE interest in your relationship? Why is it so important that you keep your life private?

Jake: Great question. This is one of the reasons we are doing this interview today. We want to cut down on the consistent … what do you call it?

Kat: Insanity? Annoyance?

Jake: No … umm… fervor … maybe. I understand there are questions, but I’m always surprised by the focus on our relationship. 

Shelby: With social media, everyone feels like they have the right to know your every move. That must be exhausting. 

Jake: This topic is very important to me. I think for me, I live so much of my life in public. This feels different, sacred. To some degree, it’s a life I chose for myself. Kat did not choose this life. 

Kat: But I chose you. So, I did choose this … at least this, with you. The person who didn’t choose this is my daughter, Becca. We will never be an open book because of her.

Jake: Yes, and before you ask … we don’t talk to the press about her specifically … ever.

Shelby:  I understand. Jake, before we go, can you fill us in on your next project? Maybe a sneak peek?

Jake: I am very excited by my next project. I have optioned a book, And They Had a Great Fall, and I’m looking to executive produce my first limited series. The story really struck a chord with me.  I can’t wait to try my hand behind the camera. 

—

Shelby Saville resides in a suburb west of Chicago, but she grew up in a town of 2,000 people and is still a small-town girl at heart. Her first writing job was for the Lacon Home Journal, where she covered local news. But the city was calling, and when she got her dream job in the advertising industry, she moved to Chicago. She’s spent the last twenty-five years at Publicis Media, where she’s focused on media investment—how advertising space is bought and sold. When not at her computer, Shelby can be found in the cafes of Chicago and Elmhurst, IL, or hanging at home with her husband, Scott, teenage daughter, three dogs, and one mean cat.

AND THEY HAD A GREAT FALL

For fans of Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You, a debut contemporary romance about a celebrity and a single mother who push and pull against each other as they teeter between a carrying on a secret affair and living an authentic life.

If Jake Laurent is the “human equivalent of Friday,” Kat Green is “Monday.” Nevertheless, the two shared a secret (if casual) affair during the pandemic, and now, almost exactly one year later, they’ve reunited in Copenhagen, the “city of fairy tales.” Only neither one of them is living a fairy tale.

Jake is a young actor who’s cracking under the public pressure that comes with rising celebrity. Kat is a single mother at the top of her career who believes she’s holding it all together but is barely living. Each one is a simple escape for the other—until the security Kat has worked so hard to build for her tiny family comes under threat, and Jake has to decide if he can keep Kat a secret even if it’s at the expense of his own fame.

And They Had a Great Fall is the story of two people who are going through the motions in life—until they finally look inside themselves to figure out what it takes to find a happily ever after.

BUY HERE

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing