AGAWAM – When Agawam resident Michael Tourville sat down to write the first draft of his book, “A Promise to Astrid,” in 2000, he never imagined it would evolve into a movie production years later.

The book was written for the purpose of sharing with friends and family, chronicles Tourville’s real-life experiences with his former neighbor Astrid while living in Chicopee during the 80s. It documents how his unassuming, elderly neighbor transformed his small community through a series of anonymous, life-changing acts of kindness. His publisher is Abba Father Media, a Christian company located in Agawam. Tourville’s son, Bill, illustrated the book.

“A Promise to Astrid” is now in the works of becoming a film by JCFilms, a faith-based production company that seeks to produce family-friendly narrative films. The movie is currently being filmed in Bridgeport, WV, and features a handful of local actors, as well as renowned actor Dean Cain of “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” The production company is expected to finish filming by the end of December.

Reminder Publishing caught up with Tourville to learn more about his aspirations for both the book and the upcoming film. The following is a lightly edited version of the interview.

Reminder Publishing: In your own words, how would you describe “A Promise to Astrid” to someone who has never read it?

Michael Tourville:?It’s a short book and easy to read. I wrote it simply for family and friends because it’s a story I didn't want to go away when me and Cindy, my ex-wife, were gone – and then, it took off. I won’t say it took off majorly, but it got some interest where I didn’t expect it to.

Our family was dealing with financial difficulties in 1986. My wife was in a car accident and things were so tight we didn't have extra money or the resources to deal with any setbacks – we had two young boys. This older woman Astrid, who was our neighbor, was just a friendly, elderly neighbor. She had a slight Norwegian accent and was 80-years-old. She drove an old, rusty volkswagen and she didn't appear to have a spare dime.

When she saw we were going through some trouble, she offered to help. I kind of rolled my eyes and dismissed her. I didn't take her seriously. Then, she found these creative ways to help us.

One Sunday, she came over at six in the morning and gave us this envelope full of cash – of like $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills. In 1986, you could hardly get that amount out of an ATM on a sunday morning – it was $1,700 in change.

We thought she was losing her mind – like she gave us her cookie jar savings or something. We tried to give it back, but she said no. We struggled with that, and then finally we said, ‘ok, we’ll give this up for now, but we’ll give it back eventually.’

Another week went by and Astrid saw we didn’t quite get the car we wanted to get. She said, ‘you need more money, don’t you?’ Of course, the next Sunday morning she showed up with another paper bag at 6 a.m. and the bag was filled with cash – this time $1,800 in change.

As time went on, we tried to give it back and she would have no part of.

Eventually, she told us we could pay her back, but the repayment had to be on her terms – and her terms were a little unusual. This is where ‘A Promise to Astrid’ comes in.

She made us promise not to hell her husband, and said we can pay her back a dollar-per-week. She said, ‘by the way, you’re not going to pay me until six months from today.’

She made it clear that there were no ifs, ands or buts about it. We thought this was so ridiculous. That was in the fall on Sept 8.

In the beginning of March, a stranger came to our door. He said to Cindy, ‘I just wanted to let you know that Astrid is in the hospital – I just thought you were friends enough. It's not important who I am.’ He said that she had cancer and then he left. We never knew his name.

I went to the hospital and saw her, which turned out ot be the last time I saw her. I went to visit a few days later and it was an empty room – she was dead.

I was thinking about her a couple days later, and then it hit me. It was on March 8 that she passed away – six months to the day she said I should start paying her.

So, the book talks about some of these things.

I later found out more about Astrid’s history, and learned that she received this huge inheritance before she died. She wasn’t poor, she was very wealthy. It turned out she was helping people all over the place, anonymously. I was just one of the people. She never wanted it to be known and she never spent a dime on herself.

RP: What was your relationship like with Astrid before this all happened?

MT: We were neighbors for two years – it was just casual conversations over the fence. She was very observant. She was always gauging the situation and figuring things out. One day, she said, ‘you need help don't you – you have a sale sign on your truck.’

She also went to the same church we went to.

RP: Can you describe her personality, what was she like?

MT: People said she was very distinguished. She was tall. She had this way about her – she was very proper and she had this stately way about her. Somebody said she was a mix between Mary Poppins and Queen Elizabeth. She really had a presence, and not just because of her height.

But, she was very caring and always seemed to seek out things she could do for other people – but very quietly. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself.

RP:?Was there a defining moment where you realized you wanted to write the book?

MT: I told people about this, verbally, a little bit after it happened. It’s hard to tell verbally. In around 2000 – 13 years after it happened – I finally decided to write it down. It was awful. I didn't do anything with it and then, in 2011, I started to write again.

I really put some thought into the story, and included all the behind-the-scenes of the story, like about her background, her husband and the struggles Cindy and I were going through.

I gave it to a few friends and asked what they thought. A lot of people were very helpful, saying, ‘this is great, but I want to know more about her and I want to know why this is so important.’

The biggest question was, ‘what’s the takeaway here, what’s the purpose?’

I had a hard time thinking about that, the purpose of it all. There’s got to be an ongoing purpose.

Astrid kept making me make promises, some were trivial, but the bigger promise – and the theme of the book – was to help somebody someday.

So, the takeaway for this book is to have someone start something that expands and grows – to do what you can to help people.

RP: The book is described as a faith-based book, can you elaborate on that?

MT: It wasn't intended to be, but it turns out that a lot of people are saying this is a faith-based story, and, I guess it is.

I think people have faith in not just God, but in people. Faith-based is more than just faith in religion, it’s faith in people and faith in doing the right thing. So, it's not just a religious book – but it certainly has a theme. It’s broader than that.

RP: Was this a first-effort for you?

MT: Yes. I won’t say I was obsessed, but it became a mission. I’d wake up at 4 a.m. and start typing. Then, at night I'd be in bed and think, ‘there's a better way to say that sentence, there's a better word.’ Three hours later, it’s swirling in your head.

You can't shut your brain off. You’re constantly thinking about what a reader would want to hear – what’s important, and what bores them. You get attached to it so much.

RP: So, tell me about the movie.

MT: It's unexpected, and it’s fun. JCFilms is filming – they also do faith-based projects. Their movies are faith-based, but they’re not all about churches. They have substance – a lot of them are action films. They’re real stories.

RP: How involved are you with the movie process?

MT: Very much so. Jason Campbell [President of JCFilms] wrote the first draft of the script based on the book. From there, he and I have been going back and forth with the script. So, i’ve had a lot of input here. There have been some variations, which is inevitable because the movie producer takes liberties.

RP: What was the decision-making process that lead to Bridgeport as the filming location?

MT: Although the book takes place in Chicopee, the producer is from Bridgeport. He has a cast nearby and crews. He was thinking of filming in Chicopee, but it would've cost so much more.

He has connections there with hotels, and has the police department who cooperates with filming on the streets. We had to hash out all the logistics.

RP: Did you ever imagine your book would be turned into a film?

MT: Never, but a lot of people who read it said it would make a really cool movie. It’s simple and I think that’s why it got the attention from the producers because it requires a small cast – it’s just neighbors talking over the fence. It’s a lot of dialogue – there aren’t any crazy airplane-crash scenes that cost a lot of money. Jason said the story is good, there’s a message and it's not that expensive. It’s manageable.

It feels great.

RP: Lastly, what has been the most rewarding part about this whole experience?

MT: The unexpected reactions from people. What I really get the most out of is when people say, ‘I read your book – there were times when I was laughing, there were times when I was crying, and I felt I was there.’ That means more than anything to me – to find it brought people's emotions out and made them feel like they were part of a story.