When I first watched Andrew Lloyd Webber's film, "The Phantom of the Opera" I fell in love with the Phantom. Gerard Butler's performance was incredible, and for me, nothing has ever compared to it! I felt such sadness for the Phantom that the story ripped out my heart and left me feeling a very deep void. I watched the movie several times over two weeks. Finally, I decided to write my own version to fill the void and heal the soul. That's exactly what I did in my novel, Life After Phantom: Opera Erotica.

 

(The title in the first draft was "Erik's Life After Phantom".)

After I completed writing the first draft, I heard Gerry was coming to Hollywood to be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He was my inspiration for writing my story, and I wanted to give him a copy. I planned a 3-day excursion and headed to Hollywood to try and meet him. Long story short, on March 2, 2007 I met Gerry. It was after the Leno Show outside in the parking lot. He was a passenger in a black Rolls Royce. The driver stopped, and I was able to speak with him. He said no one had ever written a novel for him before, and he very graciously accepted it. I was both nervous and in awe.

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In May 2018 I finally got an address for Gerry's production company and I sent him the printed, edited version of my novel featuring the pink feather and mask on the cover. I hope one day to hear back from him about it.

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Here are photos of the night I met Gerry Butler. You can't see much of me, but I'm holding the manuscript waiting to speak to him. After I gave him my manuscript, he got out of the car and walked among us, giving us hugs and signing autographs. I got those too. It was a phantastic night!

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Gerry will always hold a very special place in my heart for being my inspiration. Writing my novel changed my life and healed a lot of my own wounds.

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God bless Gerard Butler.

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~Samantha

P.S. Be sure to watch the video of this at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!