30 Mar Happy Book News
Easter weekend. A good time to share some exciting news.
This has been in the works for a while, but it’s only this past week that things became formalized. Sullivan Entertainment of Road to Avonlea and Wind at My Back fame, has signed a shopping agreement for Cold Mourning with a view to developing my books into a television series. If you’re like me, you might ask, “What the heck is a shopping agreement?” Well, it’s a step before optioning a book — a time to put the pieces into place. In this case, Sullivan will be working to line up a showrunner and secure financing. This brings up another question – what the heck is a showrunner. This article explains their role better than I could, but they’re essentially the executive producer and usually have a writing background. As the article says, they’re basically the conductor of the orchestra.
This process began in the summer when someone from Sullivan contacted me to see if the Stonechild and Rouleau series had been optioned. It wasn’t optioned at the time, and I let them know, soon forgetting about their email as life took over. There was silence for several months while they looked at various books and series, I since learned. A few months ago, the owner Kevin Sullivan, contacted Dundurn to let us know that they were very interested in my books, which leads us to the current shopping agreement. Now there’s still a long way to go and a lot of moving pieces before anything begins, but this is a most validating first step and worthy of some celebration. Just knowing they read and liked my books gives me a pleasant buzz of happiness in my belly. As you’ve been supporting and following along my writing journey, I’ll be sure to keep you updated in this latest chapter!
It’s been a good writing week. I settled back into daily writing, giving myself a 500-word minimum. I hit 43,000 words as the story keeps moving along. The action got a little intense at one point, and I had to take a break from my keyboard. Funny how these characters become real in one’s imagination. It can be extremely difficult to kill off a character whom I’ve grown fond of over the course of several chapters. Need must 🙂
This past week, I also heard from my local paper Kitchissippi Times and we’re setting up an interview time for this upcoming week. The editor Charlie Senack has been acknowledged recently in a number of award venues for his journalism — so rightly deserved.
And that about wraps up my weekly news. Only two weeks until Fatal Harvest hatches into the world with the official launch May 1st at Perfect Books. You’ll be able to find me at a number of places in May and June – be sure to check out my website home page for the most recent updates. I hope our paths cross as we move through spring.
Such a great time of year – curling and the Blue Jays intersect, giving us some great competition on our television screens. It’s also a weekend to get together with family, eat chocolate and be thankful for all our blessings. I know that I’m blessed to have each of you in my life.
Happy Easter, my friends.