Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 01:27:18 -0400
To: kelpie.wilson@truthout.org
From: Cedar
Dear Kelpie Wilson,
I am a highly dedicated fan of your book Primal Tears. Sage is one of my favorite fictional female characters of all time. Sometimes I feel frustrated by the fact that Sage isn’t a real person. I admit I have a bit of a crush on her.
I wanted to ask you some questions.
1. Would you consider setting up a Primal Tears Fan Fiction page on your website?
2. Do you have any plans in mind for a sequel?
3. Would you enjoy seeing Primal Tears turned into a movie?
4. Will you be putting out a Primal Tears audio book?
I had some ideas about the sequel and the movie that I wanted to share.
A .THE SEQUEL: I refer to Primal Tears 2, as ‘The Blood of Trees.’ This is a reference in part to Sage’s line “The blood we share is the blood of trees” and also to a scene in the imagined sequel, in which Sage makes a blood oath to a tree, after returning from a conference in Washington D.C to discover that a large portion of her mountain home has been burned down. Sage smears some of her blood on a tree stump, and vows that she will bring it justice.
1. Sage meets a young lesbian named Tanya, who works at a rape crises clinic, and is the daughter of conservative Catholics. There are hints of romance tossed about, but it takes a little while for them to actually become lovers, due to Sage’s unfortunate experience with Virgo Jane and Tanya’s fear of upsetting her parents any further. Tanya is shy when it comes to relationships, but overcomes her shyness at work.
2. Carver leaves his medicine practice to pursue a career in animal rescue, after he finds an abandoned kitten, and drives it to the vet, only to discover that it will not make it. This idea was inspired by the fact that my niece and nephew are big fans of the Animal Cops shows on Animal Planet.
3. Richard Martin is threatened with the loss of his job if he does not collect Sage’s tears. Eventually he does the right thing, and is thrown a congratulatory retirement party by the staff at Stonewell.
4. Some of the members of Tree Nation get together at Savage Ranch, and decide to make Tree Nation an official environmental agency. Stonewell Primate Lab funds the project and soon the official TN Inc. offices are built directly across from Bonobo House. Sage is elected President.
5. Sage and her friends learn more about the Kristian Kommand, when some of the TN Inc. members volunteer to go undercover at secret Kommand meetings. Sage learns from her spies, that the man responsible for the burning of her mountain is also the C.E.O of the oil company that Virgo Jane committed suicide over. I refer to the man as Jack, and he is also a member of a very secret and appalling operation being conducted by the Kommand.
6. After discovering all of the horrible things Jack has done, Sage buys a gun, and runs away to the oil company’s headquarters to kill him. Along the way however, she is attacked by a group of angry loggers, and is taken in by a kindly African priestess living in the area. The priestess and Sage talk about lots of things, and by the time they are done, Sage has decided to forgive Jack. She tracks him down to his office at headquarters, and has an emotional conversation with him. At the end of it, she tosses her gun on the floor, and tells Jack to dispose of it if he has any heart. Jack, unfortunately, attempts to shoot Sage. He is gunned down by a cop who went to Jack’s office when Richard Martin informed the local police of Sage’s plans. The kindly Sage grieves for him.
7. Sage also decides to have a baby, and it is born in the last chapter. She names it in the story’s final sentence.
What I’m actually imaging is a ‘Sage Trilogy.’
B. THE MOVIE: One activity that gives me great pleasure is drawing conceptual art for various characters, and scenes that might take place in the Primal Tears movie. I spend a great deal of my time writing amateur script samples, and sketching out storyboards for my own amusement. I have thought up very basic summary ideas for 68 episodes worth of ‘Primal Tears T.V.’
C. ACTORS: I fantasize that cast members will include Mariska Hargitay as Sarah. Tom Hanks as John Stengers (I have given him my own personal award for ‘Most Interesting’ male actor). Johnny Depp as Kevin (my award for ‘Second Most Interesting’), and maybe Anthony Hopkins as Bo Breaker. Who are you hoping to see in the movie? I am also envisioning Kanzi the talking bonobo as Dexter. Wouldn’t that be neat?
D. FILMING: The way I imagine it, the cinematography for the movie would be done in a way that makes it seem very haunting and mysterious. It would feature extensive use of that creepy zoom in and out simultaneously effect during moments of tension (such as when Sarah is walking down the hall to Hixton’s office). During Sage’s frustrating teen years, as she struggles between her human and animal personalities, she is often depicted in Film Noir style as if to convey the peculiar aspects of her character. By the end of the movie however, things become brighter, when Sage finally makes peace with herself.
How do you hope it will look?
And finally:
E. THE SOUNDTRACK: I’m hoping that the soundtrack will include a remixed version of ‘The Sunshine of Your Love’ by a modern rock band, and another version sung by Kevin and young Sage. I also think it would be neat to have ‘R-e-s-p-e-c-t’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Lovely.’ Some of the other artists I hope to hear in the soundtrack include Melissa Etheridge, Pink, The Indigo Girls, whoever ends up playing Marleybone, The Dixie Chicks, and Alix Dobkin. And finally a traditional tribal song, sung by the Tree Nation chorus featuring Sage.
Which artists are you hoping to hear in the soundtrack?
NOTE: I have also written lyrics for a song called
‘Your Okay’ inspired by the character of Sage.
Well I had a fun time writing this. Rest assured I will be the first in line to preorder the sequel if you ever write one, and one of the hopefully thousands in line to buy tickets for the premiere of the film.
Respectfully,
Cedar
Sage rocks!
Bye.
