Actor Born to Write Hollywood Novel

The result, available at www.TravoltaNet.com, www.Amazon.com, or via direct order at (877) BUY-BOOK, is being favorably compared to Post Cards from the Edge, by Carrie Fisher. Fisher achieved fame as an actress in the George Lucas directed Star Wars movies, before writing her highly autobiographically-based fiction novel and embarking on a career as a highly touted screenwriter.

“My Fractured Life isn’t a biography, but there are elements of me and my career in the book,” explains Travolta of the similarity to Fisher’s biographically-inspired fiction work. “You write what you know. Carrie Fisher and I both grew up in the entertainment industry. It stands to reason we’d write about that world.”

Travolta, like Fisher, is also gaining recognition as a screenwriter. Michael Dorn of the upcoming Star Trek Nemesis movie and the famed Star Trek The Next Generation television series is attached to direct and co-star in Travolta’s Hero Before Dawn – a science fiction thriller about a patriotic soldier’s one-man war on terrorism. Ryan Saul of the Beverly Hills-based Preminger Agency is brokering the movie.

Travolta is attached to co-star in the sci-fi movie and has been covered by PeopleNews, New York Post, Razor Magazine, Counting Down, Straits Times (Asia), Exclusivo! (Spain), 20 Minutes (France), and Dark Horizons (Australia). Although shy about such praise, as an actor he has been frequently labeled by the press as a “matinee idol” and “star,” very similar to the narrative character of his novel My Fractured Life.

“With the kind of insight that only comes from having been there, Rikki Lee Travolta takes a hard look at the search for sexual and spiritual identity that in part drives actors to do what they do, and the price they pay to succeed in doing it,” writes Jordana Bieze of CMP Media.

Like the characters in his book, Travolta’s own career has had high peaks and low valleys. While his credits include work with Oscar-award winning director Ron Howard, Broadway diva Liza Minnelli, and movie stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, yet on the down side he also has starred in films and television projects that have yet to see the light of day.

On stage the leading man has headlined tours of Broadway musicals, played to audiences of thousands each night, and was the first celebrity guest star of the famed interactive comedy Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding – credited with reviving the Chicago franchise and inspiring the use of other guest stars such as Frankie Avalon, New York Met Lee Mazilli, and Martin Scorsese’s daughter Domenica Cameron-Scorsese in productions from California to off-Broadway in New York; yet on the down side he has also has played to small houses in small-town theaters, traveled across the country for seven auditions to replace one of the leads in a current Broadway hit without getting the final green light, and he has even spent time out of work.

“It’s the bumps and falls and the scars that ensue that make life interesting. Those are the stories I brought to My Fractured Life,” reflects the actor turned novelist. “Nobody wants to read about a bed of roses. They want to read about the thorns.”

“Like a dried rose, My Fractured Life serves as a reminder of a life that was once beautiful, but wilted and died a long time ago” reads the publisher’s description on the back cover maintaining the flowery metaphor. Narcissistic self-destruction, the casting-couch, drug abuse, and alcoholism are all addressed in the book that exposes the troubled souls behind the image of Hollywood’s “beautiful people” but the dark subjects are tempered with Travolta’s trademark humor.

Travolta trained in improvisational comedy at Chicago’s Second City, which also boasts Bill Murray, George Wendt, Chris Farley, and Harold Ramis as alumni. His comedic performing credits include the stage play Noises Off, the musical Guys and Dolls, the film EDtv, and television’s Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You.

“I try to balance humor with drama, it builds the best angst” explains the writer. He credits authors Jay McInerney (Bright Lights, Big City), Bret Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero, American Psycho), and SE Hinton (The Outsiders), and playwrights Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire) and William Inge (Picnic) as his primary literary inspirations. He even pays homage to the writers in his book, making them the heroes of the main character’s eccentric father.

“I’m told the press has embraced the book, but I really look forward to hearing the opinions of real people,” says Travolta, who encourages readers to first request the book at their local library, and then buying it for themselves once they decide they like it. That way they’re sure of their investment and others can enjoy it too.

Travolta has a long track record supporting libraries. For the 2001 referendum elections, he agreed to use his celebrity to benefit the Indian Trails Public Library District by serving as a literary spokesperson. With his aid, which included appearing in a series of television spots endorsing literacy campaigns, the library district that serves patrons in Cook and Lake Counties received the funding it had been campaigning for over the previous four years.

The charismatic performer is not afraid to stand behind causes he believes in. Fifty-percent of all he earns from sales of My Fractured Life goes straight to the Rikki Lee Travolta American Hero Foundation, established in the wake of the September 11th tragedies. The foundation also receives 50% of the sales of his album Hero’s Lullaby that are sold through the website www.TravoltaNet.com.

My Fractured Life by Rikki Lee Travolta (ISBN: 0-7414-1267-5) can be purchased directly at www.TravoltaNet.com, www.Amazon.com, or by calling toll free: 1-877-BUY-BOOK. Readers can also request it at their local library. When ordering via the Internet, collectors may request signed author copies of the book at no additional charge. And, the author is available for book readings at local schools, libraries, theatres, and other civic organizations.