What a trip!
I picked up the legal newspaper in town today to read a column about a newly published legal thriller titled Special Circumstances. The author is Sheldon Siegel.
I went to law school with Shel Siegel – he got me through Tax and I think I got him through Estates, or maybe it was ConLaw, I don’t even remember now. He was one of my good buds! We stay in very sporadic touch – I think it might be three years since last we talked.
Anyway, the article says that this book is great, and that the author got an $850,000 advance for this, his first book, and option on a new one.
So I called Shel at the office, left a voice mail, and half an hour or so later he calls me back. He’s at home, on a two month sabbatical from practicing law, and about to start heavy duty publicizing of the book. He’ll be here in LA (he lives in Northern California) at the end of the month, and we’ll have lunch or dinner or something.
Now – get this: in the midst of this conversation, after we talk about the spouses and kids and I ask him about the book, he goes: “Mel, I was just thinking about you the other day – Mel, DON’T SUE ME!”
“Shel . . .what did you do???”
Well, it seems that his protagonist in the book is a criminal defense lawyer. Shel decided that the character needed some history, some “baggage.” He happened to think about me and hubby – and so he made this character be an ex-priest (most of you know that my hubby is an ex-Jesuit priest)!
Pretty cool, y’know? And he says that he’s got a movie agent – they’re talking about making a movie out of it! And – although I haven’t looked for it yet – he tells me there’s a website at sheldonsiegel.com, that has a couple of the chapters on it and everything.
Now, you gotta know that Shel is the nicest guy in the whole world. His wife works doing computer graphics in the entertainment industry (she got a credit in Phantom Menace), and they have twin eight year old sons. He’s still driving that little '81 Chevette (his wife has the mini-van). He likes cats. He has no intentions of moving from where they now live – they like the schools and the neighbors. This is a real person, and a nice person, that something really fantastic has happened to.
And he’s my friend, so I just had to brag. Thanks for indulging me!
-Melin
