Eight years after her fiancé’s betrayal rips her world apart, Amelia Wright is at the pinnacle of career success. Using heartbreak as her muse, she’s authored Shattered, a best-selling dystopian series that’s headed for the big screen. Fearing her ex, Noah Bradley, will recognize himself in her work, Amelia writes under a pen name. But in a world of Instagram and iPhones she quickly learns it isn’t easy to hide in plain sight. When a paparazzo steals a shot of Amelia in a steamy tryst with the star of her upcoming movie, her world flips upside-down. In the midst of the tabloid frenzy, she uncovers a secret about Noah’s betrayal and finds herself faced with a choice: Will she move forward with her new life of Louboutins, limos, and bullying paparazzi, or succumb to the pull of a past she thought she’d finally written off?
By Arielle Deltoro
Today I am thrilled to share my review of Stacey Wiedower’s latest novel Now A Major Motion Picture in addition to a fabulous interview with the author!
Now A Major Motion Picture by Stacey Wiedower
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Published: June 11, 2015
My Review: To an outsider, Amelia’s life looks great. She’s a successful novelist, whose first book is about to be made into a major motion picture. What people don’t realize is that she’s falling apart inside. She hasn’t even started writing her third novel of the four contracted in the series, and she’s increasingly anxious that Noah will find out about the books and realize they’re all about him! And just because she hasn’t fully put her past behind her, doesn’t mean she’s not ready for the future…right?My heart wrenched in sadness for what Noah did to destroy his relationship with Amelia all those years ago. It’s incredible how one bad decision can ruin someone’s entire life, especially when that other person is your whole world and the foundation for your entire future. How do you move past total grief over the ultimate betrayal? Not only did Noah’s betrayal lose him his fiancée and his future, but it made him lose his belief in his ability to love.Noah and Amelia are both finally moving on in loving relationships with other people, but they both keep getting distracted by the other. They’re not fully over their shared history, and I’m not sure if they ever will be. They both are ‘in love’ with their current flame, but is that love as great as the love they had with one another all those years ago? Will anyone else ever be as perfect for them, or feel as right?The biggest theme in this novel was the idea that communication is so incredibly important. Often times things aren’t the way they first appear on the surface and you have to dig deeper to find the truth. Sometimes uncovering the truth can lead to happiness about knowing the truth about a situation and being on the same page. On the same token, not communicating can lead to a world of hurt and pain. The twist of events in this novel was completely unexpected on my part and I enjoyed every minute of the journey! I thoroughly enjoyed the story with all of its twists and turns, and I really connected with the author’s writing. I can’t wait to read her other novels and I highly recommend you get a copy of all of them for yourself too!
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
Stacey Wiedower is one of those multi-hyphenates: journalist-interior designer-novelist. She writes about homes for The Commercial Appeal, worked for a design firm in town (which she has described as being like Designing Women), and recently released her second novel, Now a Major Motion Picture.
Did Wiedower always want to be a writer?
“Actually, no,” she says. “I was the only journalist walking around who didn’t want to write the great American novel, and I meant it.”
Ironically, it was when Wiedower was working for the design firm when the urge to write hit. She says that one day the idea for a book flashed in her head and she then spent the next three hours fleshing out the idea.
That idea was for Now a Major Motion Picture, which she wrote first. The second book she wrote, 30 First Dates, was released first in January 2015.
Wiedower says she finished both books before she sought out an agent and publisher. She landed with Gemma Halliday Publishing, which she says was a good fit amid all the vampire and dystopian novel publishers.
Both 30 First Dates — about a woman who writes a bucket list to be completed before her 30th birthday — and Now a Major Motion Picture — about a woman who becomes paparazzi-famous after she writes a novel series — can be considered chick lit or romantic comedy. Wiedower, who reads just about everything from classics to popular fiction, calls rom-com her favorite, “my comfort food.”
Wiedower’s protagonists have been on the verge of 30, at the cusp of “finding yourself in life, your career. They’re not remotely autobiographical, but there are parts of me. I try to write strong female characters.”
Wiedower is currently at work on her third novel about an interior designer in Memphis. “Still not autobiographical,” she swears.
Stacey Wiedower signs Now a Major Motion Picture at the South Main Book Juggler, Friday, July 31st, 6 p.m.
