I had a wonderful opportunity to meet some fans this week. The Itasca Country Club has a book club where members pick a monthly story to read and discuss. Their most recent book was my novel, STEELE BLUE: The Forgotten Crime. The women invited me to join their discussion and I accepted.

Due to COVID and the weather (the rain impacting the outdoor seating), not everyone from the club was able to attend. While it was hot, the cool breeze made the night pleasant, until the heavy rainstorm pounded loudly on the tent where we were seated.

We all had a great time discussing the book. And yes, they managed to pry out of me little pieces of information concerning the sequel (STEELE BLUE was designed as a trilogy). After sharing some of the differences between the book and my recently awarded screenplay, we took time to brainstorm potential actors for the film roles.

I was amazed at how everyone picked the exact same actors for 95% of the characters. There were only a couple of roles that weren’t perfectly aligned. For the character of Samantha, the character could be played by Selena Gomez or Demi Lovato. For the role of Diaz, Antonio Banderas was mentioned along with another actor whose name I don’t remember, but would be someone like Javier Bardem.

Everyone was 100% aligned with the actors mentioned for the other roles we discussed. The conversation generated strong sentiment about how well the actors would be able to play the main characters.

The fun developed into an interesting discussion on some of the underlying plot threads that I held back from the sequel. Everyone voiced how much they were looking forward to the second book in the trilogy and suggested I release it soon. They even shared some of their hopes for the characters.

Unfortunately, I had to let them know that I was still working on the story. While I heard a few boos, everyone was adamant about learning where the next story was going to head, but I shared very little. This resulted in the women sharing their wonderful ideas about the second book with various possible rabbit trails, red herrings, and elements of mystery.

Everyone requested a photo before we parted. One woman asked me to sign her book. A couple others sadly announced they had bought the Kindle version, which made me understand why some authors carry headshots of themselves to autograph. I’d feel a bit awkward carrying photos around, but maybe someday I’ll print extra frameable book covers that I could sign.

On my way home, I realized how excited I was to get back to my characters and work on the sequel. However, it might have to wait a bit as I just received notice that my screenplay made it into the Burbank International Film Festival. It is my hope that it will be noticed by the right people and a door or two opened that leads to production.

Copyright © 2020 by CJ Powers