Swingle book may go to Hollywood

The author of Southeast Missouri State University Press' first book could be going Hollywood.

Morley Swingle said he spent a half-hour on the phone with a movie producer Saturday, talking about turning "The Gold of Cape Girardeau" into a film. He wouldn't divulge any details.

Distribution of the book began three months ago. The first 3,000 copies sold out quickly, and sales of a second printing of another 3,000 copies are brisk, Swingle said. The book recently was nominated for the Michael Shaara Award for Civil War fiction.

Swingle, who is Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney, said he enjoyed working with the university press and its co-director, Dr. Susan Swartwout. Dealing with a local publisher allowed him to retain a lot of control over the publication.

"I've read so many stories about writers who used New York publishers and were embarrassed to show the book cover to their friends," Swingle said.

He's already written several pages of a sequel.

--From staff reports