Lights, Camera, Action!

We had an exciting week at BayShore Books! Let me tell you about how this all got started first. Months ago I received a phone call from Roger Rapoport, who published a book called Waterwalk by Steven Faulkner. He found my blog about the book and the author’s visit to BayShore Books about two years ago and wanted to know if he could use the information to market the movie version he was producing. I gave him permission and then went back to find the blog. To my horror it was this smart a** piece more about my parenting skills, or lack thereof, than about the book!

Months later Roger called to ask if they could film a scene outside the bookstore. Who am I to say no?? Weeks later he made a surprise visit to check out the store and we discussed what would be needed. He said filming would begin in the end of August and would take a total of 28 days throughout Michigan and Wisconsin. Tuesday he called to let me know they would be here the next day.

The cast and crew arrived around 7pm and there was a bustle of activity. This case needed to be moved, more books here, bring a chair out, print up a sign, everyone moving and talking at once, thanking us while barking out orders. Suddenly they were all gone. One minute the lot was filled with people, the next it was completely empty. It turns out the moon was in a perfect position for the river shots, so they quickly packed up and headed toward the city docks. The female extra from Milwaukee returned to the store a number of times for costume changes, other than that we just waited.

Shortly after 10pm the activity resumed and it was definitely worth the wait. It’s very interesting to be a spectator on the set, watching the actors run through their lines while the director makes suggestions, one camera man needs more light, the other needs less, sound is perfect, QUIET ON THE SET! Action! Of course that’s the moment a car speeds by and the process needs to start all over again. The scene, which will probably be about five minutes in the completed film, wrapped up just after 1am.

The beautiful woman on the left was browsing the bookstore after hours. They operate on the honor system, just choose a book and put the money in the slot. It is perfect for addicts like her; she actually met her husband in the fiction section. The gentleman in the white shirt is the sound guy getting ready for the shot. The man in the shorts is the talented Robert Cicchini playing Steven Faulkner and the one behind him is absolutely adorable eighteen year old Chase Maser playing Faulkner's son.

The entire cast and crew helped haul books, cases, and furniture back into the store even after working since 7am that morning. They were amazing! They signed autographs, thanked us, shook hands or gave out hugs and were on their way. A dark independent bookstore on a quiet street in a small town once again by 2am.

*Find out more about the movie at waterwalkthemovie.com

And the award for the best parent goes to....

Can you imagine spending two months in a canoe? How about two months with a sixteen year old? Add those two factors together and that doesn’t sound anything like my dream vacation! Steven Faulkner is a much better parent than I will ever be.

Steve felt like he was losing touch with his sixteen year old son – something I can relate to, although he handled it much differently than I. Instead of showing up at whatever location his son and his friends were hanging out at to become “one of the guys”, Steve took his son on a two month canoe trip. Instead of screaming until he was blue in the face, he taught his son about French explorers Joliet and Marquette as they followed the same route taken in 1673. Steve even brought his son home after the expedition! How tempting would it be to encourage him to spread his wings by leaving him at any one of the many stops along the way?

It’s not all my fault that I am not and never will be the parent Steve Faulkner is. My children are not and never will be the son Justin Faulkner was. For this thousand-mile voyage in a sixteen-foot canoe, the Faulkners brought along only a few supplies and a couple of books to read together. My kids would rather swim home after an hour of canoeing than to go any longer without their cell phones, I-pods , computers, and their posse of friends. And to be seen with mom? No way!!

Tomorrow Steve will be at BayShore Books to sign his book about this adventure, Waterwalk: A Passage of Ghosts . How will I react to meeting this icon? Do I bow at his feet or simply hand over my children?