Author, A. J. Llewellyn

By A.J. Llewellyn

They say in Hollywood that your career is made by those you meet, not your qualifications, resume…whatever.

Some years ago, I befriended the charismatic actor Don Scribner. He was not only handsome, bright, funny and thoughtful, but oh, so talented, too. We used to talk boxing (we’re both fans) and after a stellar turn in the movie, The Cooler, Don penned a one-man show called Two Rooms in the Valley, which remains the most impressive tour de force I’ve ever seen.

I still laugh as he describes his first big movie, Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity…and cringe with him thinking about the terrible date he had with a woman who turned her nose up at his apartment…his two rooms in the valley.

Don writes like he talks. So descriptive. So real.

I was so taken by his self-deprecation and the emotion and humor in his performance, that I booked him to re-stage it for my local library. I’d known Don a long time but it was something else to see the way he prepared himself weeks in advance for this single performance.

The old ladies who relied on me to book authors for the Distinguished Speaker Series had been enthralled with the huge-name authors I’d been able to bring to the library. They were wonderfully supportive of bringing Don in with his show. I’d seen it and they trusted me when I said it was riveting. I hoped we’d draw a good crowd but none of us expected a beyond-capacity audience.

Our poor security guy was fending off latecomers for the entire ninety minutes Don told us the story of his life and career in Hollywood. He drew the biggest crowd we’d ever had. I was so happy for him!

When I wrote Phantom Lover and it was published, Don read it. He was very accepting of my choice to write M/M and very encouraging about my work. He said some beautiful things about my writing and the language…you know, the stuff authors long to hear.

Then he blew me away by offering to do the audio version of Phantom Lover. I was stunned.

Don did his usual impeccable preparation. He sat down with me in our favorite coffee shop and he asked me for exact pronunciation of all the Hawaiian words. He has a gorgeous voice and absolutely killed it in the recording of this sensual story.

Don is straight. I mention this because he didn’t balk at the full-on dialogue. When he finished recording the book, my brother put the chapters together, condensed and mixed it and I got some royalty-free music which he used at the beginning, between the chapters and at the end.

The final product was sensational. I gave it to my publisher at the time who put it on her website and Fictionwise. Then Fictionwise abandoned audio books and the audio book languished. Don asked me to give him a “character name” for his voice work.

And I did. We called him Donnie Don Don.

I finally found a great home for the audio book at Silver Publishing, with a fantastic new cover. I hope we have huge sales!

But I digress…

Don is finally allowing me to bring him out of the shadows and to identify him as THE VOICE!

Don Scribner is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood.  He’s having a huge surge work-wise and you can look forward to seeing him in the leading roles in the movies The Guide, Appleton, Newark County, and a bunch of other roles as well.

I hope we’ll also be seeing him in the movie version of his astonishing book, Who Killed Love, which has just been published.

It’s one of the finest books I’ve ever read. I’d say it’s a literary mystery with fantastic lines on every page.

I wish I’d written this book, but I didn’t.

To help my friend celebrate his huge achievement (he’s working on the sequel now) we’re offering  a special 20% discount on purchases of Who Killed Love. To sweeten the deal, if you purchase the book, I’ll send you a FREE audio copy of Phantom Lover.

What you need to know:

A synopsis for Who Killed Love:

Harlan “Harley” Saltz is a writer with a problem. He’s invited to a wedding. Weddings make Harley nervous. Especially when the bride is the woman he still loves…and she’s marrying another man.

Harley notices the details, the small moments that make up a minute, an hour, a single day. Losing Teri was his decision because, frankly, he couldn’t afford to keep her in the style in which they both feel she should be accustomed.

Life is full of ironies. She’s like the tax man, she gave and took. For example, she was the one who put the greeting card program on his trusty computer. He takes a long time to compose a proper wedding card for her. After all, what do you say to a woman who still has your heart but is walking down the aisle with some other guy?

And she took. Oh, yeah. She took. The love she gave to him…who killed it?

You can read an extended synopsis here:

http://whokilledlove.com/about-the-book/

To purchase it with a special discount code, go here: