Sixteen Millimeter Dreams

A Sort-of-ish Hollywood Fairytale

Southern California, 1968. Eight-year-old Valerie Waterstone is a girl with big dreams, media-inspired adventures, and a world of optimism in front of her, largely fueled by the innocence of her upbringing and stories about Hollywood stuntwoman Alivia Chambers told to her by her “groovy” and somewhat larger-than-life neighbor, Theresa McKinley.

But 1968 is a year of radical change, both for Valerie’s family and the world around her, with newfound financial struggles for her parents, an older sister who brings home a female “friend” from college, and the harsh reality of social issues such as racism leaking into Valerie’s previously sheltered life and the lives of those close to her.

With tie-ins to the Fate, Chance, and Choices trilogy, Ariel Archer’s Sixteen Millimeter Dreams is a blend of magic and memory, of historical fact and fairytale, of childhood and growing up, and the power of love and friendship. It’s a journey that will leave you wishing for once upon a time… and looking to the future for a happily ever after.