Richard Paul Evans
(Author)

Q: Where did you get the idea for this book?
A: A lot of A PERFECT DAY came from my own life. My first book became a huge bestseller, and I found myself really torn, being pulled from my family and my wife. I was really settled in my home in Salt Lake City, but all of a sudden meeting presidents and movie stars. It really is glamorous, but it’s not an easy thing. I wanted to capture that in A PERFECT DAY.

Q: Did you find that you were pulled away from your family as much?
A: I think that time hit me really hard. My first book was about learning the value of your own family and children and putting priorities straight. It was a week before Christmas, and I was leaving home to be on a TV show. I went to kiss my daughter Jenna goodbye, and she said, “Dad, why did you write a book about spending time with your children, and now you’re leaving again?” I felt a stab right through the heart.

Q: When you wrote this book in particular, did you think about it being a movie?
A: Every now and then, I’ll think about a visual image of the book. It’s something that’s deep inside my head and heart, so it’s a little difficult because I have to get into an alternate reality, so I don’t think so much about anything outside. I don’t think that I’m going to write this, and a million people will read this, I just have to capture it myself. Having said that, every now and then, I’ll be writing a character, and I’ll think he acts an awful lot like this movie star or this person and sometimes a movie star or a part they play might affect the character. Actually Kevin Spacey did a lot. I was watching him in K-PAX, a movie I loved. I think his attitude at the time really affected the character I was trying to create with Michael the angel in A PERFECT DAY.

Q: How involved are you in the making of this movie?
A: A writer’s role in producing a television movie or a feature film can really vary. I had a good time with A PERFECT DAY because I was there from the very beginning. We talked about who would play the roles, and they sent me an early script. They were a little concerned because I thought it was a little bit edgier than the book, but I was very pleased because that’s exactly the direction I would have taken it. I don’t always like the scripts from so many books, but this one I really liked. I couldn’t wait to see it as a viewer.

Q: What was the moral of this story?
A: The moral of A PERFECT DAY really is about life. I wrote in one of my books that the greatest tragedy of life is not to die unknown by strangers, but unloved by those around us, and I think that fits in here. You can go out and have hundreds of people or thousands of people come to a book signing, but you still go home alone.  And I remember feeling really lonely on a book tour and thinking that I just wanted my wife and my little girls.  I’d like to just hang out with them tonight.

Q: What are your thoughts on success and how it can overcome someone?
A: It’s enticing and exciting, but it’s not real, and that’s the difference. It doesn’t last. It’s gone quickly, and if you try to base your life on something that’s not real, then you don’t have much of a life. The key is to get both. I think the problem I encountered that led to A PERFECT DAY is a struggle between a husband and wife. It’s interesting because, when I wrote it, I didn’t want to create a villain, because to me they were both equally guilty.

Q: Where does the drama in A Perfect day come from?
A: The drama in A PERFECT DAY comes from a man facing his own mortality and deciding what really is important in life.