Hello Rest of My Life

If you could go back in time and pursue a successful career or a flourishing relationship, which would you choose? Award-winning author Rick Lenz has penned a dazzling novel about second chances and the choices that create a meaningful life, “Hello, Rest of My Life,” (Sept. 21, 2021, Chromodroid Press). This romantic journey through time is loosely based on the author’s real-life Hollywood career and love story with his wife and 40-year sweetheart, who changed his life with each encounter through the decades.

The novel follows Danny Maytree, an ambitious film actor who abandons his dreams of Tinseltown stardom after meeting Samantha on a blind date and falling in love. Fast-forward decades later to 2021: the couple are married and in their seventies, and Danny is spending his time reminiscing and writing a novel about time travel--when he receives a call from a mysterious, velvet-voice acting agent. Suddenly, he is literally transported back to 1974: Danny is twenty-seven again, bewildered, but with a second chance at his Hollywood dream. A sharkish agent helps him navigate Hollywood’s rocky shoals, a worldly-wise teen and a New Age fortuneteller offer spiritual advice, and a sexy wicked witch throws a monkey wrench in his path. Will he fight his way back to the love of his life, or stay in a new reality where his career can flourish? 

Heartfelt and magical, here is an enchanting exploration of choosing between living the life you’ve always imagined, and the life you didn’t know you couldn’t live without.

Rick Lenz is a graduate of the University of Michigan, past member of the Actor’s Studio, and active member in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a veteran Broadway, television and film actor who first came to national attention when he repeated his Broadway role in Cactus Flower, in the film version—opposite Goldie Hawn, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Matthau. He went on to appear in a long list of television series and movies, and to act opposite many of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars—Peter Sellers, Jackie Gleason, Maureen O’Hara, John Wayne (in Wayne’s final film, The Shootist), and many more. He is also a playwright and author (The award-winning The Alexandrite and more recently, Impersonators Anonymous). His memoir, North of Hollywood has recently been published in its second edition. You can find out more about him and his journey to becoming a writer on his website https://www.RickLenz.com.