The Universal Casting Studio

by Barbara Cadwell

Slightly embellished with scriptural authority, dreamers scrutinize the four letter word above the portal through which they shall pass, step back and note the cornerstone, 1782 A.D. Hesitating briefly before entering the granite structure overlooking a saltwater river, whisperings bewitch the lonely as the door opens with a great creaking.
UCS, enter the Universal Casting Studio.
An old song on the eternal hit list, customers know the lyrics to ‘Conditioned Behavior.’ Sensed with humor in words just so, as creators of our own lives, we all write the books, choose the roles we wish to play, stage, script, arrange the footlights, and hoping everybody else will cooperate, we try to run the show.
Stage set.
Lights, camera, reaction!
An account of life unedited, the story features a cast of real people running down the dream. From Casting to Theatrics midway down a darkened corridor, to the Gathering Hall famous for Relationship Seminars facilitated by legends Jim Morrison & Janis Joplin, the UCS attracts players rife with sentiment, 119,000 homeless children graced by Man’s Best Friend, and Co-star Ben Langley, a VT Contractor standing by until Leading Lady Anna Lee comes upon Outlaw Bob Dalton one last time.
We are all the love story.
No one travels life’s highway alone, and no one does. We just think we do until those footlights are adjusted!
So the music plays on.
And who knows?
As the credits roll, one of these characters just might resemble someone whose name you sign.
Sweet dreams!

345 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Short & Sweet, as Career’s Day Speaker at a New Hampshire High School, I told a classroom of aspiring young writers that the word ‘career’ was not part of my vocabulary.
Try adventure!
Also an author of Westering themes, Louis L’amour said of his love affair with learning that school interfered with his education and, even as I can relate, I have been an English Teacher of college-bound students & remedial students classified as juvenile delinquents. Time later, to meet monetary needs after being abandoned in marriage with three small children, I bought, restored, and sold antique homes, and I even taught my kiddos how to sheetrock walls!
As literistic instincts continually flared, I began writing a book about a man of a thousand dreams before working an award-winning NH newspaper as reporter, photographer & freelance feature writer. Roads beyond, I engaged as housekeeper, or, as I prefer defining the role, ‘Keeper of the House.'
Chance encounters?
Still looking for that one man who will love me as do the central male characters love the leading lady in my books. Am I a dreamer or a creator? Both, and now I will share an auditory dream of three years ago: “Barbara, I’ve been looking for you all my life.”
“Well,” I’d like to ask, “on the page or on the set?”
Thus, the creative nonfiction book about messengers with a poignant message, ‘Outlaws & Angels’ commingles thematically with the contemporary romance novel, 'The Backside of the Page.' And even though romance novels are considered books for women, 'The Backside of the Page' is also a good read for men. Why? As we’ve all been on the backside of the page, I’d say it’s time we all asked the real question!
Subsequently, believing that Act Three of 'Outlaws & Angels' could be a book of its own, sensed in words just so, I brought Leading Lady Anna Lee front & center in 'The Universal Casting Studio.' As I had some difficulty summing up exactly how the abridged version differed from 'Outlaws & Angels,' upon hearing me digress, a friend said, “UCS is distilled down to its purest essence.”
So I’ve got Cowboys & Indians blazing trails!
And O, there’s another brand of four-legged forged in loyalty, the timely Life Segment cut from ‘Outlaws & Angels’ about a character whose namesake still rides the silver screen with Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, none other than Etta Place!
Or, 'Just my dog...'
So saddle up & ride over to the Address Bar!
‘Outlaws & Angels’
www.createspace.com/3489331
‘The Backside of the Page’
www.createspace.com/3889984
‘The Universal Casting Studio’
www.createspace.com/3977394
‘Just my dog…’
www.createspace.com/4224425

Happy trails!