I'm joined today by the phenomenal Canadian writer/director, Lee Chambers, author of The Pineville Heist. Lee has offered to stop by Bookish to talk about his soon-to-be-made-into-a-major-motion-picture (and wicked awesome) book, the inspiration behind it, as well as writing and books in general. Please, enjoy the interview, check out the awesome pictures and make sure to enter to win the wicked cool Pineville Heist T-shirt and a signed paperback of the book!
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| Lee Chambers at Chapters with his awesome book in the background! |
1. Welcome to Bookish, Lee! Thanks so much for joining us today! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I live in Canada and teach film production at a community College... more on the creative side than technical. Travel a lot and lived around the world. When I am not working with my film students... I write and direct my own stuff.
2. Who or what inspired you to write “The Pineville Heist”?
I was robbing this bank and thought to myself… is this a dream or am I actually robbing this bank? Turns out it was just a dream. But from that dream came a brilliant idea.
3. Do you mind telling us how long did it take for you to write it?
It started it as screenplay first and then took 2 years to get it down to a really good draft. From there I converted it into a book.
4. What was the most fun part of the novel for you to write?
My favourite part is the turning point where the reluctant teen hero makes a decision to steal the money from the bank robbers. It was influenced by a real event when I was 12 years old playing hide and seek. I was under a canoe trying not to get caught. I could only see so much but they couldn’t see me at all.
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| Lee Chambers w/a friend (and cinematography nominee Damien Gilbert) |
5. After hitting the Amazon's Bestseller List, your novel has attracted attention in Hollywood (congrats!). Can you tell us a little bit about the upcoming movie adaptation? Did you have any say in choosing the cast?
Well to be honest, the screenplay I drafted up with my buddy Todd Gordon did that before the book. Casting? I have a lot to say about casting as… I’ll be directing the movie version! The whole story revolves around my jump from directing short films to feature films. I was looking at who I would want to play Aaron Stevens in the movie version and Booboo Stewart from Twilight was perfect. Luckily, he agreed to read the script and he loved it!
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| Booboo Stewart w/a copy of The Pineville Heist |
6. Have you always wanted to be a writer? At what point in your life did you decide that writing is something you want to do?
I like telling stories. Whether it’s via movies, short stories, scripts or books… there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing that making an audience laugh or cry or be shocked.
7. Are you a plotter or a pantser? (Do you outline your books in advance, or do you "go-with-the-flow"?)
I am a plotter… I plotted the treatment, layout, character and plot for the Pineville Heist for a year… the first draft then took 18 days. Converting the book took a bit longer. I was a rookie and needed to find my voice. My work is more conversational in style. Once I found that groove it was smooth sailing.
8. Which of your favorite books would you recommend everybody to read?
To each his own I say... I like a good mystery… thriller. Currently enjoying indie writers at the moment. Reading solid work from Russell Blake at the moment. Check him out!
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| Me, The Pineville Heist and the wicked cool T-SHIRT! |
9. What’s next in line for you? Are you working on a new book now?
I am in the middle of converting another one of my nominated scripts into a book for a summer launch. ‘The Sum of Random Chance’ is a supernatural drama about an eager rookie reporter for a small town paper who stumbles upon a mysterious girl foiling a robbery at a grocery store.Desperate for success, he sets out to make his name on her unique gift. From the homeless man on the street to the cafe owner where she works, she seems to positively affect all she meets and he becomes increasingly intrigued by her presence. Is she special in some way or are all the magical moments pure coincidence? Do the random choices we make in life lead us down a path of no return or will this young reporter gain a sense of self-worth before he sells her out?
10. If The Pineville Heist had a soundtrack to accompany it, what songs would be on it?
Umm… Collective Soul, The Cult, INXS, The Fixx, Snow Patrol and Rush.
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GIVEAWAY
Lee Chambers has generously offered to give away a SIGNED copy of The Pineville Heist and a wicked awesome Pineville Heist T-SHIRT to one lucky Canadian/USA winner!
OPEN to: CANADA/US
Ends: June 10th
Enter through Rafflecopter below (after the page break, click READ MORE)
19 comments:
Haha, "Am I robbing a bank or is this just a dream?" Love that! I'm pretty excited to get a copy of this. Bank robberies on film always look really cool, so reading about one seems even better! And I love that Boo Boo Stewart is interesting in the story... he was a great addition in the Twilight movies. :)
Thanks for this giveaway! You ROCK!
I love the idea that the concept was inspired by a dream...
Robbing banks I so cool, I bet there are a lot of action in it...
Thanks for the giveaway
Putting a picture of booboo in the interview was a great strategy :) He definitely intrigues me!
Shae @ Understanding Shae's Story
Love the story and the interview. Great to see another Canadian boy makes good story. Stoked to maybe win a copy of this book. Thanks for hosting.
Interesting how the movie was in the works before the book! That was cool! Thank you for the giveaway!
Great interview! I hadn't even heard of this book until now! It's awesome that's it's being turned into a movie too. Thanks for the giveaway!
Good interview. Book sounds great! I always like getting a book before a movie comes out. Makes me feel like I knew about something first :)
I love to read the book before all the movie hype comes out. Just added this to my wishlist.
lizzi0915 at aol dot com
I would love to read the book. It sounds very good. Thanks for the giveaway.
I appreciate the fact that it took you two years from screenplay to novel form. I am attempting to get all my thoughts and ideas down on paper and think that it should be done a lot quicker than two years. Maybe I can go back now and look at myu timeline more realistically.
The inspiration question really made me laugh out loud. I'm looking forward to reading The Pineville Heist, especially before the movie comes out!
The Sum of Random Chance sounds really good too!
It's pretty interesting that the author was inspired to write the novel from a dream. Makes me wonder how often authors gain inspiration from dreams (part of their subconscious?). Thanks for the chance to win; I'd love to win a copy.
Thanks so much for the very interesting interview! I hadn't heard of this book before, but now I have to read it! Congrats on getting to direct the movie version of your book, too! What an awesome accomplishment :) I can't wait to read the book and see the movie - thanks so much for the giveaway!
This interview made me laugh out loud at parts- thanks for the laughs!
I love that he's a Plotter. I wish more Writers were plotters! (With as much hair as he has..one might say he's a Hairy Plotter!!) hahaha!
I LOVED the interview! Also now i can't wait to read the book:)
-JennyC
I loved the answer of how he came up with the idea. I do like a good mystery/thriller! that's super awesome the book is going to be a movie, and Booboo Stewart liking the script. He's a good actor. :)
-lauren
Thanks for the interview & giveaway! Giveaways are a great way for teachers like me to bring books to students :)
Interesting how the concept for this book came! I really love how he was able to use his film creating skills for this book– it really creates a more action-packed plot! Great to hear about this book and love the interview :D
Rabiah
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