‘A MOST AGREEABLE MURDER’
By Julia Seales, Random House, 352 pages, $27.
before she submitted a manuscript to publishers.
The process took a year to get on their desks. But it would be another 18 months before “A Most Agreeable Murder” found its way onto shelves. She was 30 years old.
“It was very unreal,” she said. “Even though for this project it seemed fast, I had been writing books for so many years and working with a manager for years — it was a culmination of so much what I was working towards.”
Although she was thousands of miles away from her hometown when she wrote the fiction story, the small English township where her book is based reminded her of Nicholasville in many ways.
“Everyone has secrets, they care about their reputation, and there are good elements about caring about the community and supporting one another,” she said. “There is a funny thing of people wanting to be involved in people’s lives and going so overboard, which is great for comedy.”
Two months after she sold her manuscript, the book was auctioned by TriStar to be adapted for the big screen. Seales was hired to write the script, gaining membership into the Writers Guild of America. It required her to remove her writers’ hat and put on her screenwriters’ hat.
But with the writers and actors strikes and the industry’s ongoing adjustments in the streaming era, the movie process has been put on hold.
Regardless, Seales said her involvement in the screenwriting adaptation for her book was an amazing experience — despite not knowing the future of the movie. Most recently, she heard there was a search for a director and lead actors to attach to the film.
Whether it is on film or in the book’s pages, Seales hopes that people laugh and have a good time when engaging with “A Most Agreeable Murder.”
“I wanted it to be entertaining and funny and whisk you away and let you forget about the outside world for an afternoon,” she said. “I also really wanted to write a story where it’s a coming of age, with her learning to follow her strengths and interests and passions. I want people to feel really empowered reading it.”
Based on her story and experience, Seales encourages people aiming to accomplish a goal to not give up.
“It is not always about huge things happening. You can take small steps take each day to reach a goal,” she said. “Thinking about writing a book and getting it on the shelves, that is overwhelming, but 2,000 words a day is achievable.
“For anyone wanting to do something, it may be hard to break into, and statistically maybe not a lot of people do it, but someone gets to do it. So why not you?”