CAPTAIN FIN
based on a screenplay by Kevin James O’Neill
Hannah Gunner, once a carefree child, is faced with secrets, lies, and betrayal. A life-changing event during her adolescent years forces her to confront a past that she no longer recognizes. Now, questioning everything she thought she knew, Hannah struggles with the person she is supposed to be! With the help of her boyfriend and her closest friend, they discover several clues that may hold the missing links to her life.
A tattered box filled with worn-out letters holds some of the answers that she needs, but not all of them. With an assist from her aunt, and a visitor from her past, Hannah manages to track down the only person in the world who can answer her questions—the Captain! But why did those closest to her lie in the first place? Will Hannah ever find the answers that she needs to bring her peace?
Writer/Director/Producer Kevin O’Neill &
Author Amanda M. Thrasher
on Turning a Script into A Novel
Kevin O’Neill: I began writing and directing films twelve years ago through my production company Olive Ranch Road Productions. One of my first and absolute favorite stories was “Captain Fin.” I would eventually write and direct that story as a short film. The film was a big success in festivals, so I then wrote the feature-length script. But, it wasn’t until I was introduced to Amanda M. Thrasher years later that I would see the depths that this story could really go.
Amanda has molded the lead character Hannah into a beautifully enriched soul with incredible layers. Amanda’s novel goes so much deeper into the life that Hannah led after so much misfortune fell upon her as a little girl. Her story takes us on a gripping journey as she weaves us through Hannah’s unrelenting pursuit of her past.
This is my second feature film script that has been written into a novel, and it is without a doubt my absolute favorite! Amanda’s kind and caring soul is so deeply embedded in this amazing novel…it will touch people on so many levels.
Amanda M. Thrasher: When Kevin approached me with this idea, like most people, I knew it would be an inverted process. Most screenplays are based on novels, not the other way around. However, after listening to him describe his screenplay, I agreed to read it. Screenplays are pretty skeletal. For an understanding of the differences, the screenplay is sixty-eight page, and the novel four hundred and thirty-two pages. Actors visually bring a movie to life via a screenplay, but authors must bring readers into the world/story of a novel via ink/words.
After reading the screenplay and visiting with Kevin, I fell in love with the character Hannah, and the life that I believe she would have or could have led, given her circumstances. My mind started spinning immediately, and the direction that I wanted to take the novel was the very reason Kevin approached me in the first place. It was the young Hannah, merging into the adolescent while living in her chaotic world that grabbed me. He agreed, and I got to work.
There were a couple of challenges. It was necessary to include and get down the major points and backstory from the screenplay while introducing young Hannah and bringing to life in words what she was actually doing in her home, room, and while at play with her father. This way readers could ‘see’ what I needed for them to grasp, and they’d be able to relate to or at least understand why these games, stories, and memories were so significant to the plot. Also, challenging was modernizing the novel. The screenplay is set in the seventies, but I brought it up to date, and added new characters.
Amanda M. Thrasher was born in England, moved to Texas, and resides there still. Amanda has authored picture books, middle-grade chapter books, early readers, young adult pieces, and a graphic novel written specifically for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center.
Amanda is a multiple Gold Recipient of The Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA) for YA, General Fiction, and early reader chapter books, a Readers’ Favorite International Book Award winner for YA Social Issues, an NTBF winner for YA and General Fiction, and she was awarded a New Apple Literary Award for YA and general fiction.
As Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Progressive Rising Phoenix Press, she assists other authors with their work and shares her writing process and publishing experience with them. Her latest release, CAPTAIN FIN, was based on a contract to adapt a screenplay into a novel for the director, actor, and producer Kevin James O’Neill. Her works-in-progress are the sequel to CAPTAIN FIN and the fourth installment of her Mischief Series.
+ $25 Starbucks Gift Cards
THREE WINNERS: Signed Copies of Captain Fin
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6/4/19
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Author Interview
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6/4/19
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Character Interview
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6/5/19
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Review
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6/6/19
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Guest Post
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6/6/19
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Deleted Scene
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6/7/19
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Excerpt
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6/8/19
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Review
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6/8/19
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Review
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6/9/19
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Review
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6/10/19
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Scrapbook Page
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6/10/19
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Top Ten
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6/11/19
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Guest Post
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6/12/19
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Review
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6/12/19
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Review
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6/13/19
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Review
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Forgotten Winds 