Author of ‘Sailor,’ a modern-day ‘Shane,’ comes to Orange Source: @ocregister #screenwriting #film #screenplay “Tom Epperson first came to the idea that eventually became his new book “Sailor” in the early ‘90s, though he thought of it first as a screenplay for Hollywood, a world in which he’d recently found a measure of success as the co-writer of the movie  “One False Move” with his boyhood friend Billy Bob Thornton. “I was going to write it as a movie and I just never got around to doing it,” says Epperson, who comes to Book Carnival in Orange to sign “Sailor” on Saturday, April 7. “But I never really forgot about it. I would think about it pretty often, but I guess always as a movie: ‘I should write that sometime.’” Four years ago Epperson published his first novel, “The Kind One,” a period mystery set in the world of Los Angeles gangsters in the 1930s. Its success prompted his agent to suggest he write another mystery, he says. “But I really didn’t have any other ideas for a crime book, because I never really thought of myself as a crime writer,” he says. It was then, Epperson says, that he returned to the story he’d come up with for “Sailor,” a contemporary story set in Southern California about a loner with a secret past and a woman and her son on the run from both her mobster husband and her handler in the witness protection program. “In terms of the initial idea, it’s kind of lost in the mist,” Epperson says. “But I know it had something to do with my favorite movie, ‘Shane.’It’s kind of a modern-day ‘Shane.’” That Shane-like character in “Sailor” is a man named Gray, a loner with strong sense of right and wrong and justice. In many ways he’s similar to Danny, the hero of “The Kind One,” Epperson’s previous book. “They could be best friends or they could be brothers,” Epperson says. “I didn’t do that intentionally, but they’re young men, who want to do the right thing, and they’re sucked into worlds of violence because they want to help someone.” Epperson wrote “Sailor” much as he’s written all of his books and screenplays, sitting on the couch of his living room, looking out the window at his quiet Culver City street and writing by hand the stories he later retypes on a computer. He and Thornton have collaborated on a new movie, “Jayne Mansfield’s Car,” which earned strong reviews at the Berlin Film Festival and is currently looking for American distribution. Along with co-writing the script with Epperson, Thornton directed and stars in it along with actors such as Robert Duvall, John Hurt and Kevin Bacon……”
View Separately

Author of ‘Sailor,’ a modern-day ‘Shane,’ comes to Orange

Source: @ocregister

#screenwriting #film #screenplay

“Tom Epperson first came to the idea that eventually became his new book “Sailor” in the early ‘90s, though he thought of it first as a screenplay for Hollywood, a world in which he’d recently found a measure of success as the co-writer of the movie  “One False Move” with his boyhood friend Billy Bob Thornton.

“I was going to write it as a movie and I just never got around to doing it,” says Epperson, who comes to Book Carnival in Orange to sign “Sailor” on Saturday, April 7. “But I never really forgot about it. I would think about it pretty often, but I guess always as a movie: ‘I should write that sometime.’”

Four years ago Epperson published his first novel, “The Kind One,” a period mystery set in the world of Los Angeles gangsters in the 1930s. Its success prompted his agent to suggest he write another mystery, he says.

“But I really didn’t have any other ideas for a crime book, because I never really thought of myself as a crime writer,” he says.

It was then, Epperson says, that he returned to the story he’d come up with for “Sailor,” a contemporary story set in Southern California about a loner with a secret past and a woman and her son on the run from both her mobster husband and her handler in the witness protection program.

“In terms of the initial idea, it’s kind of lost in the mist,” Epperson says. “But I know it had something to do with my favorite movie, ‘Shane.’It’s kind of a modern-day ‘Shane.’”

That Shane-like character in “Sailor” is a man named Gray, a loner with strong sense of right and wrong and justice. In many ways he’s similar to Danny, the hero of “The Kind One,” Epperson’s previous book.

“They could be best friends or they could be brothers,” Epperson says. “I didn’t do that intentionally, but they’re young men, who want to do the right thing, and they’re sucked into worlds of violence because they want to help someone.”

Epperson wrote “Sailor” much as he’s written all of his books and screenplays, sitting on the couch of his living room, looking out the window at his quiet Culver City street and writing by hand the stories he later retypes on a computer.

He and Thornton have collaborated on a new movie, “Jayne Mansfield’s Car,” which earned strong reviews at the Berlin Film Festival and is currently looking for American distribution. Along with co-writing the script with Epperson, Thornton directed and stars in it along with actors such as Robert Duvall, John Hurt and Kevin Bacon……”

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus