Writing a Novelization: Behind the Scenes from “Movie to Book”

In December I received an unexpected phone call from my agent. Would I be interested in writing a novelization of a movie?

“What movie?” I asked.

“Moms’ Night Out.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Moms’ Night Out? Really?!” I was just a little excited. I’d seen the trailer at a recent blogger conference, and it looked really good.

Trailer:

I liked the concept of the movie, mostly because it reminded me of my life.

Moms’ Night Out is an endearing true-to-life family comedy that celebrates the beautiful mess called parenting. The movie stars Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, and Trace Adkins. It opens in theaters May 9.

It’s about mothering. It’s about the mess of mothering. It’s about friendships and relationships. It’s about life—my life.

Obstacles

Of course I wanted to work on this project but there were just a few obstacles:

• I had a non-fiction book for teen moms I needed to finish.
• Christmas.
• A family vacation to DisneyWorld.

I wanted to write the novelization, but I was worried I wouldn’t have enough time. Yet as John and I both prayed, we felt that God would make a way. We both had a sense that this was a project I had to do. So I said, “Yes.”

The Process

I fell in love with the movie the first time I saw it. It was great. Really great! Then I got to work. How?

Read the rest of this post on Writes of Passage!

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