Chapter 003: Fortunately, He Wasn’t Michael Crichton
Chapter 003: Fortunately, He Wasn’t Michael Crichton
Jeff, the owner of the Italian restaurant, noticed that Eric seemed like a completely different person these past few days. He no longer frequently zoned out in a daze, and his entire demeanor had become energetic and spirited. When serving customers, he was no longer as awkward and inexperienced as before. Occasionally, he would even crack a few harmless jokes with customers.
There was even one occasion when Jeff discovered that Eric was skillfully using a somewhat hippie-like yet not unpleasant tone to flirt with a single wealthy woman in her thirties. When she paid the bill, Eric received triple the usual tip and a completely undisguised flirtatious glance from the woman.
“Eric, did something good happen? I’ve noticed you’ve been very... unusual lately.” During a break, Jeff finally could not help asking. He was still very concerned about the child his old friend had left behind.
“Is it that obvious?” Eric froze for a moment before asking.
Jeff laughed. “Of course. It’s practically written all over your face.”
“Maybe it’s because I found a goal worth striving for. You know, once a person has a dream, they become extremely excited.”
“Oh? What dream? Can you tell me about it?”
“Of course,” Eric replied. “I’ve decided that I’m going to become a director in the future. Look, I’ve even been writing my first screenplay recently. It should be finished in another two days.”
“A... director?” Jeff looked somewhat surprised. Instinctively, he wanted to persuade Eric not to aim too high. But then he remembered that the child had only recently emerged from the grief of losing his father and had finally found a goal worth fighting for, so he swallowed back his words.
Inside Eric’s shell was the soul of a middle-aged man. Jeff’s expression had only shifted slightly, yet Eric already knew what he wanted to say. Still, Eric merely smiled and did not mind.
After all, this was Hollywood. Every year, tens of thousands of people from all over the world came here chasing movie dreams, yet only a tiny handful succeeded. It was perfectly normal for Jeff to think this way.
“That, uh... once you finish your screenplay, you can let me take a look at it. You know, back then, I also wanted to become an actor. Don’t judge by how I look now.” Jeff patted his enormous beer belly before continuing, “I was actually pretty handsome back then. You know, I even auditioned for a small role in The Godfather. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.”
Eric was momentarily speechless. He had not expected Jeff to have such a past. But he quickly felt relieved.
This was Hollywood, the world’s largest movie factory. Nothing was impossible here. Even Sylvester Stallone had once filmed The Party at Kitty and Stud's.
“No problem. You can help give me some suggestions when the time comes,” Eric replied.
It would actually work perfectly for having Jeff help him check whether there were any loopholes in that screenplay.
Although Eric had already tried his best to modify certain things in the screenplay that only appeared after 1988, he could not guarantee there were absolutely no mistakes. As an outsider, Jeff could easily notice anything in the script that seemed out of place for the era.
The two chatted and joked for a while longer before several customers entered the restaurant. Eric quickly stepped forward to greet them.
The day’s work passed quickly. After returning home, Eric hurriedly ate dinner and then immediately began busying himself with matters related to the Jurassic Park novel and screenplay.
Jurassic Park was basically finished already. All that remained now was the final proofreading. Eric planned to take some time tomorrow to make several copies and submit them to a few publishing houses.
As for the screenplay, he had only written an outline so far, along with notes regarding the modifications that needed to be made.
Once those were completed, Eric, who possessed the complete visual imagery in his mind, would only need two nights to finish the screenplay.
The next morning, Eric left the house shortly after seven o’clock. He planned to photocopy and mail out Jurassic Park. He had already prepared submission addresses for several famous North American publishing houses beforehand.
Of course, even if those major publishing houses rejected his manuscript, Eric would not feel disappointed.
After all, there were tens of thousands of publishing houses of all sizes throughout North America. One of them would definitely be willing to publish this novel.
Although Jurassic Park had once reached the top of The New York Times bestseller list, what Eric cared about was not the royalties from Jurassic Park. He simply wanted to publish the novel first and keep the film and television rights firmly in his own hands.
“Hello, is there anything I can help you with?”
As soon as he walked into a print shop, a somewhat thin Black female clerk enthusiastically stepped forward to greet him.
Eric pulled the manuscript out of his bag and said, “I’d like to make several copies of this manuscript.”
The Black girl looked at the thick stack of papers, and her eyes brightened slightly. The smile on her face became even more radiant.
“Sir, may I take a look?”
“No problem.” Eric handed the manuscript over.
The Black girl did not pay attention to the contents of the manuscript. Instead, she skillfully counted the pages and said, “A little over three hundred pages. Let’s call it three hundred pages. Thirty dollars for each copy. Sir, how many copies would you like?”
Thirty dollars!
The corners of Eric’s mouth twitched slightly as he inwardly sighed over how expensive it was. He only had a few hundred dollars left in cash now, and that was after advancing a month’s salary.
After shamelessly bargaining for a while, the two sides agreed on one hundred dollars for four copies.
After paying, the Black girl politely poured Eric a cup of coffee and then began photocopying the manuscript.
Eric boredly held the coffee cup and watched the Black girl operate the copying machine. Secretly calculating the time, he estimated it would take about half an hour and would not delay his shift at the restaurant.
Although the restaurant did not become truly busy until after ten o’clock, and even if he were late Jeff would not deduct his wages, friendship was friendship, and work was work. Eric knew that if he wanted to maintain a good relationship with Jeff, fulfilling his responsibilities properly was necessary.
About ten minutes later, the entrance of the print shop darkened slightly. Eric looked up and saw a brown-haired white man carrying a briefcase walk into the store.
The man appeared to be around forty years old and stood less than 170 centimeters tall, but he looked very sturdy. He had brown stubble on his chin, a high nose bridge, gold-rimmed glasses, and a slightly balding forehead. His entire body gave off a refined scholarly aura.
“Welcome, sir. Could you wait a moment?”
The brown-haired man nodded and politely greeted Eric before sitting down beside him.
The Black girl temporarily stopped her work and quickly poured the man a cup of coffee.
“Sir, it’ll be finished in just over ten minutes. Please have some coffee first.”
The brown-haired man accepted the coffee and thanked her. Following the Black girl’s movements, he noticed the thick stack of manuscript pages, and his expression shifted slightly.
Since there were only three people in the shop, the man naturally turned his attention toward Eric.
“Excuse me for asking, but is that your manuscript?”
Eric nodded. “Yes. It’s a novel I just finished writing. I’m planning to make several copies and submit it to publishers.”
“You look like a high school student. That’s really impressive. When I was your age, I definitely couldn’t have done something like this.”
“Thank you. Actually, this is my first novel, so I don’t have much confidence.”
“No, you should believe in yourself. Um... may I take a look at your novel?”
As the brown-haired man spoke, he took out a business card and handed it to Eric.
“As it happens, I own a small publishing house.”
Eric accepted the business card and glanced at it.
Michael Klaus, Manager of Night Elf Publishing House.
Eric’s eyebrow immediately twitched.
Fortunately, he was not Michael Crichton.
Eric could not help inwardly complaining about Westerners’ lack of creativity when it came to naming. In his memories, there had been two students named Jack and two named Jessica in Eric’s high school class alone. Expanding the range to the entire school, there were even more duplicate names.
Some people were even too lazy to come up with a new name for their sons and simply called them things like Robert Downey Jr.. Exactly the same, wasn’t it?
Anyway, just looking at it would not get anyone pregnant.
Eric handed over one of the already-photocopied manuscripts to Michael Klaus.
The other party accepted the manuscript, glanced at the title, and casually remarked, “Jurassic Park. That’s a very interesting title.”
Eric smiled faintly but did not respond.
Michael Klaus also said nothing more and casually began flipping through the manuscript.
As he read further, Michael’s previously casual expression gradually became serious. Although he had verbally praised Eric just now, inwardly he had not believed that someone Eric’s age could write any truly outstanding novel.
In all his previous professional experience, nearly every bestselling author had been someone filled with life experience and rich accumulated knowledge.
After quickly yet carefully reading through the manuscript in his hands, Michael seriously organized the somewhat messy pages before raising his head to look at Eric.
His eyes were filled with shock, excitement, relief, and a slight sense of determination to obtain something no matter what.
“Young man, may I know your name?”
“Eric Williams,” Eric answered directly without putting on airs.
With the rich life experience from his previous life, how could he fail to understand what was hidden within Michael’s expression at that moment?
Although Eric currently had no plans to hand Jurassic Park over to a small publishing house, that did not prevent him from getting acquainted with Michael Klaus.
If Jurassic Park really were rejected by those famous publishing houses, this would still be another option.