About the Book: THE PRINCIPALS
Paul Wheeler. CEO of the Wheeler Enterprises empire. At age fifty-two, he's a pillar of Atlanta society and a brilliant businessman. But Paul is out of the picture even before the opening credits -- shot dead during an armed robbery.
Julie Rutledge. A savvy, cultured, and attractive Southern woman, seasoned by a stint of study and romance in Paris. She owns the city's most successful and sophisticated art gallery on Peachtree Street. She was also Paul Wheeler's weekly companion at the hotel where he was murdered and was hand in hand with him at the time of his death.
Derek Mitchell. A defense lawyer of renown. Successful, handsome, and despised by the Atlanta PD for his courtroom victories, he goes to the mat to make a case for every client - and headlines for himself. A guilty verdict is not an option. Yet he's not entirely without a conscience, as proven when his life takes a terrible turn toward the cinematic.
Creighton Wheeler. The prodigal nephew of Paul. With movie-star looks and guileless blue eyes, the twenty-eight-year-old playboy has a penchant for call girls, fast cars, and designer clothes. But his passion is movies. He studies them, quotes them...and lives them. Even those closest to Creighton can't be sure when he exits reality and enters the fantasy world of films.
STORYBOARD
The murder of Paul Wheeler has all the elements of a blockbuster: family rivalries, incalculable wealth, and a prominent man dying in the arms of his beautiful mistress. It's a case that could earn Derek Mitchell even greater star power. When the Wheeler family approaches him about defending Creighton for his uncle's murder -- even before he's charged -- he jumps at the chance.
But Derek soon discovers that Julie will stop at nothing to secure justice for Paul -- and that includes preventing Derek from defending Creighton. Infuriated, Derek realizes that his hands have been tied in a way that could not only cost him the case, but ruin his entire career.
Although Creighton has a rock-solid alibi, Julie is convinced that he is responsible for Paul's murder. But the homicide detectives have another theory. Caught in several lies, and keeping secrets from Derek and the police, Julie is suspected of casting blame on Creighton to cover her own crime. Meanwhile, Derek fears he's once again being duped...yet he burns with jealousy when he thinks of Julie with her late lover.
But the more Derek learns about Creighton and his darker side, the more he doubts the young man's innocence.
And hiding in a squalid motel under an assumed name is the one man, a career criminal, a killer, who knows the truth.
The clock ticks down toward a shocking ending as Derek and Julie seek to learn whether Creighton's fascination with movie murders is merely a bizarre hobby or depravity. Has he begun reenacting cinema's goriest scenes...and, if so, who will be his unwitting costars? They won't know until the final SMASH CUT.
Behind the Book: As they say in movie jargon, SMASH CUT is in the can.
I've just finished reviewing the copyedited manuscript, and the book is now ready for the publisher to put into production – which is always a nice feeling. By the way, if you're curious about the title, and unfamiliar with this script writing term, check the video on the ...... page of the website, where I explain it.
You know I usually tell you how the idea for a story first came to me. With SMASH CUT, two elements began nagging me simultaneously. Honestly, I can't say which began pestering me first. But both demanded my attention, so rather than discarding one in favor of the other, I decided to incorporate them.
One was an event, which I can’t tell you about here because it became a catalytic and pivotal scene, and I don't want to spoil any surprises. The other was a character, who, right off the bat, proclaimed himself the villain, and, in my imagination, soon proved himself to be.
The heroine is a woman every woman would like to be. Julie Rutledge owns her own business and knows her own mind. She's independent, smart, and cultured. Some of her polish she picked up during the years she lived in Paris. She's the beloved of the wealthy and influential Paul Wheeler -- and she's at his side when he's brutally murdered.
Derek Mitchell, has a sophistication to match Julie's, but underneath he has the must-win soul of a junkyard dog. He's a hot-shot criminal lawyer of renown, the scourge of prosecutors and policemen, but a trial attorney who's earned their grudging respect and fear.
Derek has met his match in Julie, who'll stop at nothing -- and I do mean nothing -- to see that Paul's murderer is brought to justice. Julie and Derek are adversaries who soon find themselves with a common goal, that of stopping a role-playing sociopath, who's constantly rewriting a script of his own making and assigning parts to unwitting co-stars.
I hope you'll find this story as riveting to read as I did to write. Sometimes even I didn't see the twists coming. Or in this case, the SMASH CUTs.
