A lot has happened since my last post. Mainly, life has happened. Storms, marriages, deaths have all visited. But, I write tonight a fortunate man. My health is good, thank God. I’m still at my full time job of being a business attorney which I dearly love. Two of my children work with me. I see them everyday. What a blessing. My third child, a daughter, works in health care. I’m so proud of them all.
The third book originally entitled “Suppose…” has been published. Unlike the others, I completely changed the title after I finished it. It is now “7”. After the editing process, this seemed most appropriate. It’s political with the president in the book declaring marital law and putting off the next election until the “trouble” is over. It’s scary with strange events happening over the globe. St. Peter’s is destroyed and the Vatican is sacked. The mob seems to rule. One man rises to take advantage of the chaos. Cloe, J.E. and the monsignor mobilize to combat this terrible evil but he is very strong. Cloe is betrayed. There are new characters including a mystical seven year old boy and a hundred pound English bulldog which may be something else. Seven souls converge on New Orleans for a purpose they do not know but they are driven. Famine, plagues and wars abound and the pope is thought murdered. Can this evil be beaten? The answer is in Cloe’s research into the journal which takes her all over the world only to end in one of the most ancient crossroads known to the pre-Christian world.
I hope you will enjoy the book. Let me know.
I’m twenty-five chapters into the fourth book tentatively entitled the “Tentmaker”. It’s the story of St. Paul’s mythical voyage to Spain. For you readers of the New Testament, specifically the Acts, you will know that St. Paul promised to spread the faith to the ends of the earth which in that day on the western side was the precursor to Spain. Did he get there? Maybe. You’ll see in the Tentmaker.
Another bit of news is that an independent film company has contracted to make a movie of the first book, Judas the Apostle. How about that? The company is Film Incito which has produced a number of movies including Gods Not Dead, Caged No More, etc. The thing I really like about this is they are Louisiana people, serious people, and we have a lot in common. They understand the venues in the books in Louisiana and have a successful track record. They understand Cloe and her roots.
We have just finished the screen play, adapting the book to the film format. I was able to consult with them on the adaptation. It was a fascinating change in perspective from a book where you had to write the scenes for the reader to visualize to the screenplay which includes a visual element. You don’t have to write: “Cloe saw the man enter the room”. The actor just enters the room. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it was very interesting trying to adapt from having to write all scenes, emotions, dialogue to letting the actors do a large part of that.
Well, the screen play is complete and it will be copyrighted. The next step is Film Incito is putting the budget based on the screen play. Then it goes to the executive producers who put up the money for the production. If we get the financial backing, the next step will be a lot of fun-its the casting. I really need input from my readers. Who would you like to see play Cloe? The Kolektor? Let me know.
The movie will mainly be filmed in Louisiana. That’s pretty exciting. If we are able to complete the film, it will be distributed. The old movies studios still control a lot of the movie theaters but there are now many more outlets that crave content. There are cable channels, internet channels and foreign distribution. You know my books are liked and have sold well in Britain. What a ride. I’m not giving up the day job but stay tuned and we’ll see. Best.
Van R. Mayhall Jr. 