Virtual Tour + #Giveaway: Beautiful Mess by John Herrick @JohnHerrick @GoddessFish

Beautiful Mess

by John Herrick

GENRE: Mainstream fiction (romantic comedy) -- multigenerational ensemble cast

BLURB:

A fallen star. Four Los Angeles misfits.
And the Marilyn Monroe you only thought you knew.

Del Corwyn is an aging relic. An actor who advanced from errand boy to Academy Award nominee, Del kept company with the elite of Hollywood’s golden era and shared a close friendship with Marilyn Monroe. Today, however, he faces bankruptcy.

Humiliated, Del is forced to downgrade his lifestyle, sell the home he's long cherished, and fade into a history of forgotten legends—unless he can revive his career. All he needs is one last chance. While searching through memorabilia from his beloved past, Del rediscovers a mysterious envelope, dated 1962, containing an original screenplay by Marilyn Monroe—and proof that she named him its legal guardian.

Del surges to the top of Hollywood’s A-list overnight. But the opportunity to reclaim his fame and fortune brings a choice: Is Del willing to sacrifice newfound love, self-respect and his most cherished friendship to achieve his greatest dream?

A story of warmth, humor and honesty, Beautiful Mess follows one man's journey toward love and relevance where he least expects it—and proves coming-of-age isn't just for the young.

Excerpt:

“In that case, the first thing we need to do is establish its authenticity. I’ll get the proof lined up and we’ll keep it in our back pockets. Next, we’ll hold a press conference to announce the existence of the screenplay—but let the press speculate about whether it’s authentic. We’ll hem and haw for a while, tease them a bit, make them think they have us cornered.”

         

Del didn’t want to look like a fool in public, regardless of how temporary or intentional, but he was willing to hear the rest of the idea. He stroked his chin and clasped his hands upon his chest. “And what happens next?”

“Then, when attention is at its peak, we release the evidence. It’ll be good for another round of marketing. So instead of releasing the evidence at the first news conference, we’ll get twice the bang for our buck.”

“Makes sense to me.” Del felt much more at ease. He exhaled and took a swig of water. The bottle’s thin plastic crackled in his grip.

“We’ll need some time to strategize this while the thumbprints are verified. I know a guy who can get it done under the radar. Meanwhile—and I’m sure you know this, but I’ll stress it anyway—don’t breathe a word of this until the day of our big announcement. Not to the media, the studio people, producers—not even to the chef at your sushi restaurant. The element of surprise will strengthen our bargaining position. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

Arnie exhaled, as though in relief, and scratched his bald head. His fingers left behind red streaks. “This is big, Del.”

Del’s pulse increased with anticipation, yet he maintained his composure. He finished his water and crumpled the bottle.

‘Big’ didn’t do it justice.

This wasn’t just Marilyn’s final chance.

It was Del Corwyn’s, too.

Interview with John Herrick

What inspired you to write Beautiful Mess?

It all started by reading a Marilyn Monroe biography. When a close acquaintance betrayed her trust, that betrayal forced Marilyn into a mental institution against her will. I had never heard about that. Marilyn struggled there alone, imprisoned in a place she knew she didn’t belong, with no chance to escape and no one to believe her when she insisted she was sane. But Joe DiMaggio, her ex-husband and baseball legend, kept his faith in her and helped secure her release. How could that experience not leave its scars? It must have changed her perception of people. That was the initial inspiration for the novel.

I’ve posted more about Beautiful Mess , including excerpts and bonus content, at www.johnherrick.net.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you have planned for the future?

I have another romantic comedy ready to go, tentatively scheduled for late 2018. It has a tone similar to Beautiful Mess, but the characters are on the opposite end of the age spectrum from Del. Beyond that, I’m in the planning process for my next novel. Lots of starts, lots of sputters, lots of planning that won’t come into play today, but material I can pick up and run with when the project’s time is ripe. I’d like to say I have a concrete system for how I write a novel, but the truth is, each of my books come into existence in different ways. I’m not a writer who can allow himself to toss a bunch of crap out there. I consider it integrity. Hopefully I’m right.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Beautiful Mess?

Beautiful Mess is a humorous coming-of-age story about a 78-year-old man who lives in his own fictional world. Del Corwyn hasn’t had a hit film since his Academy Award nomination 40 years ago. He’s desperate, a forgotten legend—until, while combing through personal memorabilia, he discovers an original screenplay written by his once-close friend, Marilyn Monroe, who named Del as its legal guardian. Suddenly, Del’s dream comes to pass: Hollywood is banging on his door again, begging for his attention. But that status comes with a new set of challenges and choices he didn’t anticipate.

In terms of the other characters, Nora is a hot new actress, a modern parallel of Marilyn Monroe. Tristan is an online wellness coach with zero qualifications—but his work occurs online, so nobody has figured that out! And Del’s love interest, Felicia, is a former-hippie-turned-minister, a woman in a profession overwhelmingly populated with men. Each of my characters is, in some way, a misfit in their own world. Beautiful Mess takes a fun look at what happens when those misfits collide with each other. And of course, Marilyn Monroe makes a few cameo appearances—along with a couple of other celebrities. Badass! (Sorry, quoting Del there.)

You know, I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

My favorite author is John Grisham, but it’s for personal reasons. You see, when I was younger, I always had a book in my hand—when I wasn’t writing, that is! But once I entered high school and college, I stopped reading for pleasure. When they require you to read particular books, you’re more concerned about memorizing facts for a test than savoring the beauty of what the author has created. The summer before I started college, I picked up John Grisham’s The Firm, which was only two years old at the time. What a page turner! I tore through it. The next summer, I read The Client. Same thing happened. So John Grisham is the reason I fell back in love with reading. Once college ended—along with all of its required textbooks—I became an avid reader again.

If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?

I’m a big believer that past is prologue and that history is cyclical, so I would travel to the past, where I can take what we see today and witness it in seed form. I love American history, especially politics, so I’d start with 1770 and travel from there. I’d love to witness the American Revolution and writing of the Constitution; watch Grover Cleveland minimize new legislation; see the Dredd Scott case in St. Louis; watch the construction of the interstate system under Eisenhower; and see the Sixties firsthand. I’d love to see the era Mark Twain brought to life in his work—I live an hour away from his hometown of Hannibal, which is like a step back in time.

Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

No, I don’t want the vet bills! But I’m an uncle who LOVES being an uncle, and my niece and nephews are still young enough to snuggle. Gotta enjoy that while I can!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today.

Thanks so much for letting me stop by to chat about Beautiful Mess! And readers—including not-yet-readers—feel free to visit with me at my socials. They’re on my website at www.johnherrick.net.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A self-described “broken Christian,” John Herrick battled depression since childhood. In that context, however, he developed intuition for themes of spiritual journey and the human heart.

Herrick graduated from the University of Missouri—Columbia. Rejected for every writing position he sought, he turned to information technology and fund development, where he cultivated analytical and project management skills that helped shape his novel-writing process. He seized unpaid opportunities writing radio commercial copy and ghostwriting for two nationally syndicated radio preachers.

The Akron Beacon Journal hailed Herrick's From the Dead as “a solid debut novel.” Published in 2010, it became an Amazon bestseller. The Landing, a semifinalist in the inaugural Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, followed. Publishers Weekly predicted “Herrick will make waves” with his novel Between These Walls.

Herrick's nonfiction book 8 Reasons Your Life Matters introduced him to new readers worldwide. The free e-book surpassed 150,000 downloads and hit #1 on Amazon's Motivational Self-Help and Christian Inspiration bestseller lists. Reader response prompted a trade paperback.

His latest novel, Beautiful Mess, folds the legend of Marilyn Monroe into an ensemble romantic-comedy.

Herrick admits his journey felt disconnected. “It was a challenge but also a growth process,” he acknowledges. “But in retrospect, I can see God's fingerprints all over it."

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BUY LINK: Amazon

Giveaway:

Kindle version of Beautiful Mess, plus free Kindle versions of entire John Herrick backlist

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