Why I Turned My True Story Into a Screenplay

Long before This Masquerade, The True Story became a book, I wanted it to be a movie.

The life I lived with Gino often felt like one.

There was love, music, excitement and dreams—but there was also deception, crime, addiction, jealousy, danger and moments so unbelievable that you might think they were created for a Hollywood screenplay.

But they weren't. I lived them.

Years ago, I wanted to write the screenplay first. Jim, who came into my life later and became the true hero of my story, gave me some advice that changed everything.

“Write the book first.”

So I did.

I began putting my life on paper—the good memories as well as the painful ones. I wrote about being a young woman with dreams of becoming a singer, falling for a charismatic drummer, raising my children, moving from place to place and slowly discovering that the man I married was not the man I thought he was.

Writing the book allowed me to tell the whole story in a way a two-hour movie never could.

But I never forgot my original dream.

Eventually, This Masquerade, The True Story became the published book, and I went back to what I had wanted to do from the beginning: turn my story into a feature film.

The screenplay is called simply This Masquerade.

It is an intense, action-packed psychological drama and thriller about love, survival, crime, family and the devastating consequences of living with a man who spent his life hiding behind one masquerade after another.

And then there is Jim.

Those following my story haven't really met him yet. His part comes later, and I don't want to give too much away. But I can tell you this: Jim is the true hero of my story.

Today, the screenplay is complete, and I am submitting This Masquerade to producers and managers, looking for the right person who can see the movie I've been seeing in my mind for all these years.

Jim told me to write the book first.

I'm glad I listened.

Now I'm ready for the movie.

If you've been following my story, would you like to see This Masquerade on the big screen?