This is based on a true story.
Well, not quite, but these days accomplished international movie-maker and local film professor at Confederation College Lee Chambers has switched hats.
Well, sort of.
While he’s put pen to paper often enough in terms of fine-tuning scripts or writing the plans and proposals needed to get his projects off the ground and into winners’ circles at film competitions and festivals, now Chambers steps forward as author of a catchy paperback thriller entitled The Pineville Heist.
When asked tongue in cheek if it’s based on a true story from his past, Chambers grinned. “Gee, I wish I had the millions from the heist still in my pocket; I don’t!” He then spoke candidly about the when and how of his riveting page-turner.
“Some of it goes back to when I was a kid. A key moment in the book has our young lead character hiding underneath a canoe, witnessing the aftermath of crime gone wrong. In my own life I must have been 10 or 12; I was on a school trip at a camp, playing hide and seek and praying no one would look under the canoe. All I could see were feet scurrying by; they didn’t find me. Guess that moment stuck in my brain.”
Chambers went on to describe his disciplined daily writing routine: making notes, elaborating on ideas.
“It wasn’t until three years ago I was shuffling through papers and stuff, when I found my notes on this one little scene. Not the full idea yet but instantly I could see where and how this story could fly.”
Available in hard copy and online, Chambers’ latest creation has attracted good reviews.
The US Review of Books calls The Pineville Heist “an electrifying debut novel that begins with a bang and ends with heart-stopping suspense.”
What elevates it a notch or two: it’s also the blueprint for a feature-length movie for which some wheels are already in motion, Chambers having recently returned from L.A. and preliminary negotiations around the lead for his film. Currently the director has 17-year old Twilight star Booboo Stewart in his sights.
And, back to screenplays for a moment: that version of The Pineville Heist, co-written by Chambers and his Sault Ste. Marie hometown friend Todd Gordon, was awarded a grand prize at the 2011 Canada International Film Festival.
Bodes well for the big screen thrill audiences will get when the plot of the heist unfolds in Technicolour.
Meet Chambers at Chapters tomorrow (Saturday, Oct.22) from 4 to 6 p.m. and pick up his book; then dear readers, hold your breath in suspense for the movie, coming sooner than you think to a theatre near you.
