December 12, 2024

Aimee Gauley’s ‘Hunter and Prey’ headed for the box office

By Curt Swarm

I’m usually not one for murder-mysteries, but, I’ll have to say, Aimee Gauley’s, “Hunter and Prey, When the Stalker Becomes the Stalked,” grabbed me from the first line and didn’t let go until the last. Aimee reminds me somewhat of Margret Atwood. Before Atwood hit it big with “Handmaid’s Tale,” she wrote a couple of pretty well received mysteries. Aimee Gauley’s book is, in my estimation, better.

I have never read or thought of a plot such as what Aimee wrote: when the stalker becomes the victim of another stalker. It comes from her own experience. Her creative mind seeks retribution, and finds it!

I’d like to take credit for Aimee’s creative genius, as she started “Hunter and Prey” in my creative writing class that I “teach” once, sometimes twice a year. But like an old coach who can’t do push-ups anymore, but can recognize and manage up-and-coming athletes, I know raw talent when I see it. So did the other students in the class, as they kept begging for more and more chapters from Aimee, and speculating (wrongly) on who the “Hunter” was. “Hunter and Prey” is a page turner’s, page turner.

But writing what very well may be a best seller is the easy, fun part, as most writers know. It’s the marketing of the book that is the hardest, but most important. A lot of great American novels go by the wayside for lack of marketing, and a lot of second rate novels make it big because of good marketing. The marketing end is where Aimee really shines, like a firecracker on the 4th of July!

Aimee is a well-known cosmetologist in Ft. Madison. A little over a year ago, she was asked to be the make-up artist and associate producer for a movie, “Intent Unknown,” that was being filmed locally in Ft. Madison and the surrounding area. Aimee knows opportunity when it knocks. She went to work on set, sometimes 12-to-15 hours a day, while still maintaining her business, and taking care of family.

Aimee is an extrovert. She was not shy about going up to the movie director, Terence Gordon, and asking him if he’d look at her book when she finished it. Gordon said he’d be happy to, but why not let him look at what she’d written so far? Aimee was more than happy to accommodate.

Wham-o! He loved it. To make a short story even shorter, a movie is going to be made of “Hunter and Prey” called “Hunted” and Aimee Gauley will be a script writer and producer of the movie. (Personally, I think Aimee’s title, “Hunter and Prey” has more crowd draw.) Did she know how to write a script? Nope. But she learned real quick by taking classes and working with Beth Deacon, the script writer for “Intent Unknown.” You see Aimee not only has talent, but she’s a hard worker: a dynamite formula for spectacular success!

Aimee has been publicizing her book all over the place — on social media, radio stations, newspapers, word-of-mouth, Barnes & Noble, etc. You can find her book, both soft-and-hard cover, on Amazon, under her name and title, Aimee Gauley, “Hunter and Prey.”

She will be conducting a book signing at Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St., Burlington, on Saturday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Books will be available there.

The only problem with Aimee’s book, as far as I can tell, is that it is so intriguing trying to figure out who the Hunter is, that one tends to read the book way too fast. And then it’s over, leaving the reader wanting more of Aimee’s quicksand writing (it sucks you in). Not to worry, she has a couple more books in the works. That girl doesn’t rest on her laurels.

She is also available for public speaking. Her phone number is 319-561-1722.

Contact Curt Swarm at curtswarm@yahoo.com