I Am Number 13 visited the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California last week. Ronald Reagan is a character in my upcoming novel. It’s set during the Iran-Contra Affair.
And who better to work behind the scenes on Iran-Contra than my villain, Agent 13 General James Wilkinson?
The Reagan Library houses a lot of exhibits, from his early life to his movie career to his pivot toward politics. His governorship, failed presidential bid, and ultimate top dog success are covered on site.
And what a site.
The Reagan Library sits on a mountaintop in California’s Simi Valley. Every window gobsmacks the viewer with a long desert vista. I could’ve skipped the library and sipped wine on the terrace for days.
Behold, a brief photo tour of upcoming scenes in I Am Number 13.
The Reagan Library houses an exact replica of the Reagan Oval Office.
In my novel, General Wilkinson meets with President Reagan in this room. Wilkinson sits on that beige sofa. Reagan takes the chair. Andrew Jackson watches the proceedings from just behind the light of a Chinese lamp.
President Reagan serves General Wilkinson coffee on the Reagan china, the same porcelain used by Princess Diana when she danced with John Travolta at a State Dinner. But Wilkinson doesn’t care about her. He’s upset that he’s not drinking whiskey in the Oval Office, because the early American presidents he served were always, ALWAYS drinking.
God save the Queen. And the youngsters who are saving the monarchy.
But I digress.
BECAUSE THE REAGAN LIBRARY IS PART AIRPLANE HANGAR AND HOUSES A RETIRED AIR FORCE ONE!
And plebes like me can tour it!
I’ve struggled with a scene in I Am Number 13 since its inception. Wilkinson and Reagan have a key meeting, but it dragged the story into yawn territory. But after having toured every nook-and-cranny of Air Force One, I can not only set the scene there, but I can describe it in crazy detail.
Because Reagan and Wilkinson will meet right here, where President Reagan met scores of people on his various flights around the globe.
A few pictures won’t get readers excited about I Am Number 13. But I’m thrilled with it. Part commentary on where we are as a country. Part thriller. And part whacked unexpected madness. Part a lesson in how the United States has survived serious corruption by its leaders.
So maybe a hopeful book.
And don’t we need a hopeful book about where we are as a country?
Sign up to be the first to read my upcoming novel I Am Number 13 HERE.
9 Comments
Can’t wait to read it.
It’s been too long coming, but them’s the breaks.
Yeah. When it’s available, I’ll slather it all over my social media like peanut butter on a June bug. Or something like that. And I hope White Ravens gets out there later in the year. Also been getting some work done on Joshua’s Tree.
Good luck with this book.
Proceed at your own risk! If your free speech violate’s someone else’s self-defined political correctness, it could attract more negative publicity than you ever dreamed possible.
I hope that fate isn’t your future.
I can’t be responsible for the boxes others put themselves in. It’s a story. Fiction. It has a lot to say about the state of our country and how we’ve always been screwed up, but readers will have to process layers to get a lot of that.
Thanks for the well wishes.
I visited the library back in 2007…it was beautiful and now I’m on the edge of my seat, waiting for “13”. You may or may not know, Ollie North spends a good bit of time in Aiken as his daughter lives here, (or at least she did). I haven’t seen him in a year or so, but I’ve also not been as social as I had been when I owned the downtown business. I miss all the people, but do not miss being solicted for every fundraiser within 30 miles.
I didn’t know that about Ollie North! I was too young to vote for Reagan, flawed though he was. (All leaders are flawed.) Hindsight gives a better perspective on things perhaps. Given where we are today, I became fascinated with Iran Contra. Few people really understand what happened, so I’ve become something of a scholar. I grew up in a church and school that continuously preached the scary evils of the Soviet Union. They once hired someone to come in and describe how they killed Christians. I’ll spare everyone those visuals, because I still have nightmares. And I still fear the Russians. Had Wilkinson been alive, he would’ve been the soul of Iran Contra. It has been fun to put him and Emmaline in that world, a world that isn’t so different today. Reagan himself said the Russians would destroy us from within. I hope he won’t be right.
Your photos are really great! I’m so glad the visit to the Library was profitable for you! Next time you come I’ll take you to the Nixon Library. It’s smaller in scale because it was his family home, but the history is incredible. A must. Maybe he’ll inspire something as well. 🙂
Several people told me to see it. Definitely next time.
Comments are closed.