It may be useful for you remember the name Benjamin Parker, for in two years, you will find him to be a New York Times bestselling author and a Pulitzer Prize Winner. Well, he hopes that at the very least. You should really pity this unwilling book critic; he expected something big to happen after starting at the L.A. Times – a jumpstart in his career. Perhaps you could blame it on the unappealing pseudonym, Willis Huber, or his recent heartbreaking event – or maybe because it’s only been three weeks since he has entered that cigar smoky office. But it’s been much more than three years since Ben has wanted to get a book published under his own name. And that hasn’t happened yet. Nowhere near.

~

Like any other morning, at the hour of six Benjamin got up from bed, jumped in the shower, changed his clothes and had a toast with coffee, popped his hat on his head and walked out the door with a brown briefcase in hand.

Normally, our friend Ben would take bus 447 to the brass colored building, up to the fifteenth floor and to a messy desk with a battered typewriter. Today is different, and Ben can’t help but be slightly relieved of not having to go to the office first thing in the morning. But taking bus 98 to sort out the legal formalities to officially divorce his wife – that isn’t all that much better. 

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Heylo, Set in the late 1940’s no-name author Benjamin Parker and up-and-coming actress, Elizabeth Duvane meet in an elevator where she faints, both coming from the Dufton & Associates law firm. Elizabeth thanks Ben for taking her to the hospital safely and checking on her. They begin to converse and begin to get to know each other (although Elizabeth thinks he’s a divorce lawyer; he does not want her to know he works for a newspaper – for obvious reasons) and no, they do not fall in love =) Having befriended Elizabeth, Ben gets sucked into the glamour of Hollywood, and finds himself hearing and seeing things he shouldn’t. From these first-hand experiences in this world, a wave of inspiration hits him and he begins to write a book he thinks will be his “big break” – if he finds the courage to publish it, that is. Along the way, Ben begins to lose himself into this unknown world and he becomes part of the stories as well… `````````````````````````````````````````` Benjamin Parker (Penname Willis Huber): -Charming, ambitious and gentlemanly -Career is the most important thing in his life -Quite caring -Sophisticated and social -No-name author -Works at The L.A. Times as a book critic – miserable `````````````````````````````````````````` None of the genres quite fitted with the story, or vice versa - but I don't expect any serious romance should bloom, and the 'love' tag is only for the scandals of the celebrities and whatnot. Not the main focus at all. May open it for collaboration later... We'll see how it goes. Thank you!

updated Jan 3 '09 by jdxx