Introduction

"It's true what they say, you know: If you talk to God, you're religious; but if you hear from God, you're schizophrenic." When a car accident leaves a famous movie star in a coma, nurse Kemp McAvoy thinks he has found his ticket to the life he's always wanted. As a med school dropout who was on his way to becoming an anesthesiologist, Kemp has the knowledge to carry off the crazy plan he concocts: adjust the star's medication each night and pretend to be a heavenly visitor giving her messages. He recruits her agent and a down-and-out publisher to make sure the messages will become the next spiritual bestseller and make them all rich. But his girlfriend's daughter, Leah, keeps telling people that she is seeing angels, and her mother and her teachers are all afraid that something is wrong. Before it's all over, they'll all learn a few things about angels, love, and hope.

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Excerpt

Beverly Hills, California

So tell me. What did you think of the script?”

“I loved it. I devoured it. It was genius.”

She was lying. In twenty years of acting, Olivia Hayden had

never read an entire screenplay from cover to cover. Liv didn’t

like to read—it bored her. Whenever the studios sent over a

script, she simply passed it on to her agent, Morty Biederman.

She always let Morty digest the thing and evaluate her part,

then run off the pages containing her dialogue and send them

back to her, reducing the 120-page screenplay to a manageable

few sheets of Courier 12-point text. Liv always told the

tabloids that she didn’t like to read because she was dyslexic,

because that’s what Tom Cruise had told them and it seemed

to work for him—and Liv could stand a little more sympathy

from the rags these days.

The young director let out a sigh of relief. “I was afraid you

might not like it.”

“It’s brilliant,” she said with just the right touch of breathless

awe.

When the director glanced down at his feet in modesty,

Liv used the opportunity to quickly look him over. I wonder if

this kid has a driver’s license? she thought, shaking her head ever so slightly. The guy couldn’t have been more than twenty-

five—

he probably had his UCLA Film School diploma still

rolled up in his back pocket. But hey, the kid had a script and

he had a studio backing him, and a part is a part. Is that a

pimple? Man, I’m old enough to be his . . . older sister.

“You know, I cowrote this script,” the director said.

“Astonishing. A multidimensional talent.”

Liar. Who did he think he was fooling? Morty had already

filled her in. The kid had just stumbled onto a decent story

concept, then hired himself a second-string writer to hammer

out a treatment and first draft. He probably bought the script

outright and then pasted his own name on the cover to negotiate

a better deal as a writer-director hyphenate, inflating his

salary and granting him casting privileges. That’s the only reason

Liv was sitting there: if this kid wasn’t casting the film she

wouldn’t even be talking to him. She rarely spoke to a director

before a deal was signed, and writers—well, everybody in

Hollywood knows that writers are basically pond scum.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to find out you were

available,” he said.

“You were lucky,” Liv said. “I happen to be between films

right now.”

Way between. Ten years ago she wouldn’t have taken a second

glance at a half-baked script like this, but it was a lead role,

after all, and good parts were getting hard to find.

“What’s the title again?” she asked.

“Lips of Fury.”

She winced. “Catchy.”

“I think some of the dialogue still needs a little tweaking,”

he said.

“Don’t you dare change a thing. It’s perfect the way it is.”

Why bother? She never argued about a script before she was on the set anyway. Once production started the clock would

be ticking and money would be flowing like water—then she

would have leverage and she could rip the script to shreds. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. Kemp thinks he has the perfect plan to make him rich and give him the life he’s always wanted, but his plan goes awry. What do you think was his first error in judgment? Do you see any way this plan could have worked?

2. Natalie tells Matt, “You can’t believe in something unless you’re at least willing to believe it’s possible—otherwise you’ll never take a second look.” Do you agree with her? What are some things that you think you’re willing to believe? What do you know you’re not willing to believe?

3. Emmet is much more than a janitor, at least to Natalie and Leah. How would you describe him? Do you think he’s a person who looks out for others, or is he something more?

Suggested by Members

by MelAdair (see profile) 09/15/10

Weblinks

»	Author Tim Down's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Tim Downs' Facebook page
»	Tim Downs' Twitter Account
»	Read Chapter One

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Recommended to book clubs by 7 of 7 members.

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