Finding an Editor Ch. 02

In twenty minutes people were crying openly. About a dozen left the theater before the end, overcome with emotion. Benny and I cried along with them. It was one thing to read about it, but to actually see it made it even more powerful.

One national reviewer did a wonderful essay in his review.

"I imagine by now everyone has either read or seen Union Of Souls, the massive bestseller by Benny Henson. I was thinking the other day, if it had been pitched to a studio before it came out how it would have been received. Let's pretend for a moment I've written a screenplay, and I'm pitching it to a studio executive. The image of me on the right will be the writer, the image of me on the left will be the executive."

A split screen appeared. His image on the right was dressed conservatively. The image on the left was dressed far better, and had his hair slicked down. He spoke.

"So, tell me about this screenplay you've got."

The image on the right looked nervous.

"Well, it's a love story."

"Good" the other image spoke, "romance is hot right now, especially with a good sex scene or two."

"Uh, there isn't any sex in it."

"Really" he said surprised, "well we'll just throw in a few nude scenes and some hints.

"Sorry, sir. Nudity won't work in this piece."

The pretend executive frowned.

"No sex? No nudity? Sounds kind of boring. Any action? Gun fights, car chases, special effects?"

The writer looked like he knew it wasn't working.

"No gunfights. No car chases. The only special effect is some really good makeup. There's only one violent scene, if you can count one fourteen year old boy punching another in the nose. There are four curse words in the whole script. It's about a romance between a fifteen year old boy and a thirteen year old girl. There are exactly seven kisses between them during the whole thing. And it's set mostly in a hospital, there probably won't be more than fifty people in the whole film, including extras. And in the end, the girl dies."

He paused, gathering his thoughts.

"What it is, is a story of love. Pure, unadulterated love, with a little coming of age added in."

The executive looked at him for a few seconds.

"No sex, no nudity, no violence. No car chases, no profanity. And she dies in the end?"

The writer nodded.

"Get out of my office! That's the worst idea for a movie I've ever heard. Pitch that to anyone else and you'll be laughed out of the business."

The writer leaves, sadly. The clip returns to the reviewer.

"It's a good thing that never happened in real life, the movie would have never gotten made."

"Now, for my review. It quite simply may be the best movie I've ever seen, of any genre. The director, Agnes Morehead, was absolutely brilliant. This will make her career a lot more difficult. Every film she makes from now on will be compared to this, and be found lacking.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last two years, you either read the book or have been told about it. I'm not giving anything away, by now you know the last four and a half minutes of the movie is completely silent. I was startled when I found out, and had serious doubts it would work, but it is probably the most brilliant piece of film making I've ever witnessed."

He paused, obviously emotional with the memory, before he continued.

"The young boy is asleep, when the monitors on his girlfriend go off. The klaxons and bells seem tremendously loud as the doctors and nurses rush in. He is gently pushed into a corner of the room while they work. As soon as they start, the film goes quiet. Two minutes later the doctor shakes his head, says something to a nurse, and looks at his watch, stating time of death. While all this is going on we get two or three second glimpses of the boy. He starts shaking, and in the end is positively vibrating. A nurse, with tears in her eyes, goes over to console him, but he pushes out of her embrace and staggers out into the hall, where he drops to his knees and screams. You can't hear it, of course, but you can FEEL it, all the way to your bones. Then it dissolves into a collage of scenes. Her in the casket, the funeral, and finally a shot of the boy, now an adult in his midtwenties, with his new wife.

They're standing in front of her tombstone, crying together. They walk away, and the final scene is the stone and the inscription.

KARA EDWARDS-JOHNSON, BELOVED WIFE AND DAUGHTER. 1990-2003."

"I thought instead of reviewing the rest, I'd give some of the audience at a recent show a chance."

A film clip came up of people coming out of a theater. Most were crying, or sniffling. Many couldn't even comment. They asked ten people, and three of them actually spoke. "Beautiful" seemed to be the common word. It went back to the reviewer.

"Now, my parting thoughts. There were some really good films made this year. I feel sorry for them. If this film doesn't own the Oscars, I'll quit my job. Best film, best director, basically a lock. Best actor and actress, best supporting actress, best screenplay, best makeup. The score and songs were written by the legendary Wiley Patterson and his wife. Moria sings the theme song, and his musical family, Jenny Green and Freddy Johnson both do a song. He'll probably get the Oscar for the score and songs. If there was an award for best janitor on a set, he'd be nominated."

"And speaking of janitors, the writer, Benny Henson, is actually in the film. He's the gray haired old janitor moping the floor when the young boy staggers out and drops to his knees. He helps the nurse get him to his feet."

"Do I recommend the movie? No. I DEMAND you see it. Now the whole thing has stirred up emotions in me, and I need a tissue. But before I go, I think you'll want to know this. The only product tie in in this movie, almost a necessity these days, is the travel packs of tissue sold at the theaters.

Both major tissue makers worked on this. The packs are pink, and all proceeds go to cancer research. They estimate eleven million dollars in sales. It got so bad the theaters had to ration napkins. Toilet tissue usage rose thirty percent."

.................................................

The movie caused a resurgence in book sales, bringing the total to five million world wide.

His reworked third book brought in a little over four million in sales, and Universal optioned it for a million, adding half a million on the promise they could option the sequel.

Lifetime bought the rights to his second book for six hundred and seventy thousand, and allowed our production company to film it. Oxygen bought the rights to the first book for five hundred thousand, but used their own company to film it.

Benny had worked on the sequel to the third in snatches, between travel and appearances, so when he finally got a break he finished it in six months, insisting I edit it as he finished sections.

"It'll make it so much easier when Beth gets it." he said, but I knew he just wanted to keep me close to him. To our surprise, Beth made very few changes and gave me editor credit, and a check. It stayed on the bestseller lists for three months.

Benny wasn't as happy as he had been before all the success. He was thinner, grayer, quieter. After the sequel, he had finished his commitment to Harbor House. Surprising Beth, he refused to sign another contract.

"I'll sign one, Beth, you have my word. But right now, I'm going to take a break, spend some time with my family and friends. I'll call you in three or four months, I promise."

It was the end of June when he sprang it on everyone, including me. I was very happy, though, I had actually started worrying about his health.

He surprised us even further when he rented a huge compound on a Pacific island for three months. He had all our kids, plus Hilda, Jack, Sarah and Jim, and all their kids, flown out for two weeks. Beth and Jen spent a week, as did Saul, Agnes, Grace, Etta, and their husbands. We lay in the sand, went into the capitol for some nightlife, went to open air markets on other islands, and had a blast.

I think we were all surprised when we discovered most women went topless, including those in government. Hilda, Sarah, and I dared each other until we learned how to wear the native wrap and spent the rest of the vacation topless, at least on the compound. Soon my daughters, daughter in laws, Grace, Beth, Jen, and Etta joined in, as well as the children. It took some getting used to from the guys, but after a week, to their credit, they barely noticed. The only exception was Agnes.

"Nobody needs to see sixty eight year old, saggy boobs."

Saul kept after her, and three days before they were to leave she came to breakfast wearing just a wrap. She glowed a deep red while the men took turns teasing her and complimenting her breasts, but refused to cover up. By the next afternoon her only complaint was a little sunburn.

We even got to meet the King, courtesy of Mike Hogue, the real estate mogul who owned the compound. He was a giant of a man, long platinum blonde hair held back with a headband, wearing the native wrap. All us women were suitably impressed. The men were equally impressed with his companions, a striking tall blond and a shorter Hispanic woman.

When everyone left we kept the kids, all of them. Sixteen, from three to seventeen. We hired two nannies, and they stayed until school started. By then they had all adapted to the native dress, and went back sporting great tans.

Mike Hogue loved children, and was a frequent visitor. He was a huge favorite, especially with the younger ones. I had to wonder, at his age, why he didn't have his own.

We went back to the real world tanned and relaxed. I knew Benny spent two hours a day locked in the office, working. That was all the time he would allow, the rest he spent with the family.

..................................................

We went back to our hometown. We still owned my house and our little home we loved so much. True to Etta's words, we had to move because we had no privacy. We found and bought thirty acres on the other end of the county, the only access was a long private drive. Six acres were completely fenced in with twelve foot chain link, with privacy slats woven in. There was a state of the art security system, with cameras spread all over the property. There was also a guard house, with two full time security guards around the clock. You'd be surprised how many people, not just paparazzi, tried to sneak in. We even caught two guys armed with pistols, bent on holding us for ransom. They both got five years for conspiracy to kidnap and commit unlawful imprisonment.

And if you weren't on the list, you didn't get in. If you were on the list, you still had to show photo i d, and it had to match what was on file.

The property had a huge pond, so Jack and Jim were there often, to fish. Hilda, Sarah, and I would sit on the patio with a pitcher of something alcoholic, and relax while we talked about our men.

...............................................

Benny was writing, something he wouldn't show me yet, which in my mind meant it was big. He sent a bit off to Beth, prompting a phone call.

"Where did this come from? My God, this could almost be as big as Union of Souls, even if it totally different. How close are you to finishing it?"

"Less than half" he said, laughing. "I'm having a hard time writing the sex scenes. I think I'll get Bonnie to help, she's much better at them than I am."

Beth wanted to know what he meant, so he told her about my stories, and the website. She called me the next day.

"I read your story last night. Wow! It was hot. Jen read it too, and we got so worked up we had to act out a few scenes. She's pretty sore right now. Ever think about turning it into a book?"

I was shocked, but recovered and ask if she was serious.

"As a heart attack. It's a thinking mans' version of Fifty whatever, only hotter. Interested?"

Damn right I was, so I ended up writing a book that made me famous, and almost lost everything I loved.