Guest Post & #Giveaway: GRQ by Steven Bernstein
- Archaeolibrarian
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Book Details:
Genre: Domestic Thriller, Dark Humor
Published by: Fly on the Wall Press
Publication Date: June 3, 2025
Number of Pages: 142, Paperback
ISBN: 9781915789464 (ISBN10: 191578946X)
@StevenBernsteinOfficial @flyonthewallpress @partnersincrimevbt
@stevenbernsteindirectorwriter @flyonthewallpress @partnersincrimevbt
Against the backdrop of an earthquake-ravaged Los Angeles, 'Get Rich Quick' follows one man's desperate bid to save his family from financial ruin. Marlon, grappling with a personal tragedy, is enticed by a mysterious financial advisor promising a surefire path to wealth. But as Marlon's high-stakes gambles spiral out of control, the line between salvation and destruction blurs.
Unfolding over a single tension-filled day, Marlon must confront not only his financial ruin, but the dark secrets haunting his family.
A pulse-pounding descent into the dangers of unchecked ambition and the real-world costs of chasing the dream.
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'Very rarely have I come across a book as riveting and thoroughly engaging as GRQ.' - Gale Anne Hurd, Producer of TERMINATOR
I loved it: it feels like a dreamlike odyssey. A book perfectly suited for our era - a world where financial gain overshadows everything else, reminiscent of 'The Wolf of Wall Street'. The short chapters and vignettes hit you at breakneck speed.' - Tom Walker, Actor (Jonathan Pie)
A lot of people have asked me how a lifetime in filmmaking may have influenced my writing in the Novella. Well, the answer is, profoundly.
In film, we are acutely aware of our audience. We only have 2 hours to get to wherever we are aiming to get, so we want the audience to quickly identify with the characters who will drive the narrative and with the obstacles that those characters may have to overcome over the course of the film.
To affect an audience,we have to build an empathic bridge; the audience (reader) has to see something of themselves in the behavior of the character. Otherwise they are observing rather than participating in the narrative.
My main character in GRQ, Marlon, makes a series of decisions that could make him unlikable. But Hitchcock taught generations of filmmakers that there is a universality to particular circumstances that will make audiences relate to characters in those circumstances (think the dangling feet on Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest), independent of our moral judgment, at least at first.
This is that empathic bridge to which I refer. As GRQ becomes more complicated, and Marlon’s behavior more difficult, the reader must re-examine their connection to Marlon, but by then, it's too late, and that's the point. We want to condemn, but we are already complicit.
Steven Bernstein, ASC, DGA, WGA is an award-winning feature film director and screenwriter, shaping some of the most visually striking films of the past 40 years. His work on the Academy Award-winning film Monster and on Like Water for Chocolate has earned global recognition. He is a recipient of the American Film Institute Award, the Sloan Award (for writing and directing), the Cannes Golden Lion (for commercials), and is an ASC nominee for outstanding cinematography. He has worked on over 50 feature films. He wrote and directed several groundbreaking feature films with major talent (John Malkovich, Samantha Morton, Helen Hunt and many more). His podcast Filmmakerandfans, about the creative process in film production, is listened to by millions.
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Tour hosted by: Partners in Crime Tours
Great guest post! This book was fantastic!