I live in Los Angeles but moved here from Australia thirty-two years ago. I attended film school and had stars in my eyes when I landed a job on a movie magazine. Within a few weeks, I had my first house guests and first genuine weird, Hollywood experience.
About You
I went to see a psychic.
At the time it wasn't my intention. I had better things to do with twenty bucks but my two cousins visiting from London wanted to visit Venice Beach and so we went. It took us longer to find parking than time actually spent there but the place was a hoot. Total loons lined the boardwalk hawking everything from mysterious artwork to respectable-looking jewelry. And then came the row of psychics.
My cousins wanted readings. I did not. But they talked me into it and funnily enough I landed the gypsy among the pile of desperadoes. She held my hand in her grubby fingers and told me I had a death curse over me. She could remove it for three-hundred dollars.
"No thanks." I tugged my hand from hers.
"You're about to make a grave mistake," she shrieked. "You're with the wrong man."
"I'm not involved right now," I said, aware that tourists had stopped and were watching us.
She grabbed my hand again and jabbed her thumb into my palm. "You're already had one bad marriage. You really want another?"
My head was spinning and my cousins turned from their own readings to stare at us.
"But I've never been married," I sputtered.
The gypsy screamed in my face. "Well, if you don't want to face reality…"
My cousins laughed until the gypsy demanded fifty dollars for the reading.
We argued because she'd said twenty at first. Now she wanted fifty and had told me nothing but garbage. When she realized she wasn't going to get anything from me she said in low tones, "If you think God's been bad to you, wait until you see what I do to you."
My cousins and I fled the boardwalk. The experience upset us all. Nothing that a visit to the British pub a few blocks away couldn't cure.
It's been three decades and I laugh about it now. I've told this story often as a dinner party anecdote. At the back of my mind though, I've been aware that some people are taken in by some of these readers. I wondered how they fell for it. I always assumed maybe they had a screw loose and in yearning for an authentic voice could be taken in, for a lot of money.
A couple of years ago I went for a job interview at a movie studio. It was going swimmingly until my prospective employer insisted she do an astrology chart on me. She also wanted me to go to her psychic. I was stunned. I've been asked to do some odd things in La-La-Land but this was truly out there.
I wanted the job though and went over to the psychic's house. He was world-famous and had an unusual approach. He asked me to write three questions on a white card that he never looked at but somehow managed to answer. I searched the walls and ceilings of his house for hidden cameras. Even if he'd seen the questions he could not have known the things he knew about me. He talked of the death of my beloved mother when I was six and mentioned things even I didn't know because my father has never spoken of her.
To this day just her name can reduce him to tears. The psychic knew the name of my current boyfriend and the name of my cat that had been stolen from me years before. Writing all this now has my eyes filling up and my fingers shaky. I couldn't believe it. I left thirty minutes later awed but a little confused because he said I'd meet a man whose name started with T and he'd be the love of my life.
I didn't get the job but I met two guys whose names started with T and it was all so astonishing I had to write a book about it! The result was About You, and although this is a fictionalized account of what happened, it's all based on me.
I hope you get a chance to check out About You.
And what about you? Have you ever been to a psychic? Would you want to meet someone who knows so much about you? Who meets you and knows just everything about you?
Happy Holidays to you all!
A.J.
About You:
The psychic predicted Ky would meet his one and only. What in the world does he do with two guys who both match her description?
Ky Maxwell is desperate for work. When his cushy studio PR job disappears, his former boss takes pity on him, referring him to an independent movie company going into production with a huge sci-fi trilogy.
Ky's excited until Lisa, his prospective employer, insists on doing an astrological chart of Ky as part of the interview, along with a psychic reading. His crazy maybe-boss predicts a new man coming into Ky's life. She goes into great detail. He's a fire sign, probably a Leo, his first name starts with a T, he's in his early 30s. And…he's the one!
Ky couldn't be less interested. He needs work. Love won't pay the bills. He doesn't get the job because Lisa believes their stars are out of alignment. Really? The reading is proving to be frighteningly accurate. Since he's cut off from her, though, he has no idea which of the two wonderful new guys he meets is his forever man. How can he choose? Or will they, too, soon vanish as fast as Ky's last paycheck?
About A.J. Llewlleyn
A.J. Llewellyn lives in California, but dreams of living in Hawaii. Frequent trips to all the islands, bags of Kona coffee in the fridge and a healthy collection of Hawaiian records keep this writer refueled.
A.J. never lacks inspiration for male/male erotic romances and on the rare occasions this happens, pursues other passions such as collecting books on Hawaiiana, surfing and spending time with friends and animal companions.
A.J. Llewellyn believes that love is a song best sung out loud.
About You is now available to buy and download from Pride Publishing, Amazon and other retailers.