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By Rama K. Ramaswamy
Elizabeth Carter Wellington, author of “Circus Girl: A Novel,” and Wellesley Books hosted a book launch that included an author reading/signing event last week. Wellington read an excerpt from her novel, answered many questions and let attendees know that she was imminently off to Los Angles to pitch her book as a feature film or TV miniseries.
When Wellington returned to Wellesley, she was very happy to announce: “I just learned that four different studios in Hollywood are considering “Circus Girl: A Novel” as a feature film or TV miniseries - the highest number of requests for a book at the book-to-screen pitch-fest in Beverly Hills.”
“I was encouraged by my son, Tito W. James, who recognized the potential for the story and the characters,” Wellington said. She described her work as “one of those projects in a drawer that eventually saw the light after 45 years.” She also said, “when I finally stopped teaching as a Spanish professor, I knew that I needed to put all my creative energy into writing up the stories I have chronicled over the years in hundreds of diary pages. Fortunately for the circus story, I also had over 100 photographs I’d taken in 1971 to refresh my memory.”
Wellington has already published a book of literary criticism, “Reflections on Lorca’s Private Mythology,” for academic circles. “‘Circus Girl,’” however, as she’s quick to point out, “is my first work of fiction.”
Wellington also teased a potential prequel to “Circus Girl” that might be in the works.