War Serenade
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Fantastic News About War Serenade Audiobook!
Take a peek at “Jill Wallace’s new book “War Serenade” receives a warm literary welcome” from Digital Journal, about the audiobook for War Serenade, narrated by the amazing Peter Noble. Jill xx
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August 2021 Newsletter Reprint
Helloooooooooo and welcome to another trip in my safari jeep to explain the Untamed, Unexplored and Unforgettable. (NOTE: The book signing was a resounding success! Thank you to all who attended!) FIRST AND FOREMOST, YOU are cordially invited to the very informal christening of Zebra. Pop in and raise your tot of Amarula in true South African style to toast to his future as you nibble on some biltong and have some fun. WHEN? 12 September, 2021 from 2pm to 4pm. WHERE? Beauty Forever Skincare, 107 N. Palm Ave., Indialantic, FL 32903 Today we’re taking a magical detour—camo jeep and all—to Santorini, Greece, where a miracle happened. UNEXPECTED! Every year for…
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Writing Pangs
WAR SERENADE, my first novel, started as a screenplay which was optioned by two different production companies over seven years. At my lowest ebb, a dear author-friend said, “To hell with them all. Write a book.” So, I did with the help of an amazing writing group called “STAR.” The transition from script to novel was at once thwarting and exhilarating. What? I could share my characters’ thoughts with my audience? Hard not to get carried away with thatliberty after worrying about expediently cramming each page with titillating plot, character and setting because as a script, one page equals one minute of screen time at a cost of $100,000 per…
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Code Name: War Serenade
What started as a true story my mom told me in lieu of a fairytale when I was four, muddled around in my head for decades. I never heard a love story which touched me more. Finally, I decided to transpose it from my head and heart into a script, the most logical landing place, I felt, because these characters and their great love were larger than life and deserved to be on a movie screen. That true story became “War Serenade”—the screenplay. I pitched “War Serenade” the movie to producers in Hollywood. Miraculously I received a call and Allan, the producer, said “This is a hell of a love…
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Mountains, Miracles, And Santorini
I am all about “If you dream it you can do it.” War Serenade in tangible form is proof of that. I dreamed about “her” for 40 years until I did something to make her happen. I learned the screenwriting craft only because the story demanded it – I saw it in moving pictures, and writing a script was the means to an end. What came in the guise of my first miracle was a one year movie option – wow! One year to work with a producer to raise the $8 million needed and shine my script into something special people might pay to see. I – the antithesis…
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Listen
One of my very best birthday gifts from my husband a decade ago was a week’s worth of boot camp for screenwriters given by one of the most sought after gurus in LA. I flew across the country with completed script in hand, excited and somewhat confident. It was, after all, the second screenplay I was working on – my first was optioned – so I was as high as the 747 whisking me off to Hollywood. Jim Mercurio – our esteemed pundit – not only taught master classes in screenwriting, he directed and produced movies. Jim’s irrepressible energy, dynamic delivery, and years of experience blew the minds off our…
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Published At 60! (And It Only Took Me 58 Years!)
War Serenade was first brought to life by my mother. It was my favorite bedtime story, not just because it was true and quite quite thrilling, but because in the excited telling, my mom’s expressive hands made her bracelets jingle. Though this epic love story was only named War Serenade a scant 18 years ago, it’s been a living organism in my soul for more than a half a century. I’d always imagined this WWII true romance set in South Africa, in moving pictures. War Serenade took nearly 40 years to spill from me as a 60-page essay. Like a precious gift long lost and just found, it delighted me anew. Who needs…
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Next Time I’ll Be Super Cool!
Last Sunday my wonderful friend and Face Whisperer, Ivette Griffith, held a book signing for War Serenade in her tranquil salon: Beauty Forever Skincare. Shortly after 2 pm we happily rendered this beautiful space, tranquil no more! The African-esque scene was set a week before in Ivette’s gorgeous picture window. With Darlene’s help and Ivette’s eye, I muddled through my first window-dressing experience. Thank goodness for the incredibly thoughtful MOVIE POSTER of War Serenade my SeaGal Jen-Jenns made for me. It dominated center stage and set the intention of things to come. (Always putting my movie-or-limited-series-dream for “my baby” out into the universe :o)) What fun! My South African friends…
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With Gratitude
What an immense and beautiful high I experienced on Friday night! It was so powerful and so euphoric, I managed to capture it so I can go back there whenever I need to! Not even being jolted back into my world of real estate early Saturday morning, could mar my bliss! Truly, each and every one of your beloved faces at my wonderful launch for War Serenade was one I will cherish forever. To share such a huge milestone in my life WITH YOU, was simply wonderful. I wish I could adequately express HOW MUCH it meant, your being there for me. My brain is dismally lost for words to describe how special you made…
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Save A Life
Shout LOUD if you love it & save a life! This week my baby was born. She was bouncing and fat, weighing in at a hefty four-hundred and sixty-six printed pages. If you have her on a Kindle Large Print, it will run you 1,350 pages :o) So many people have been supportive and kind, and many have even invested in her. I can only hope she brings some pleasure to all who get to inhale her pages, or some joy to those who downloaded her pretty font, picked by my cover designer/chief/editor/publisher and friend, Chris Kridler. On the day she launched, I had lunch with the well-known author, Martha…