07 Mar The State Of Things
I got mistaken for a TV writer today.
I was on my way out of a meeting with a TV producer by the name of Andrew Dabb. He runs the show Supernatural on the CW and has a lot of ghoulish decorations in his office and is immensely cool. He also, by necessity, talks very fast. And he wants to turn my first novel, “FantasticLand” into a movie.
Let me back up, because it’s easy to get side tracked. About a year ago I was contacted by Mr. Dabb who said he loved “FantasticLand” and wanted to purchase an “option” which means he’d basically rent the rights to try to see if he could turn it into a movie or TV show. Yeah, I’ve been sitting on this for a while. Everything was finalized and, with my family planning a trip to California to go to Disneyland this spring break, I asked him if he’d mind meeting.
Gracious as he is, Andrew Dabb said yes, so I was in the offices of “Supernatural” this afternoon (no Jansen Ackles or Jared Padalecki sitings, sorry Kari) to discuss turning my nasty little thriller into a movie. Having never done anything like this before I don’t know what the odds are of this happening, but Andrew Dabb’s enthusiasm is contagious. I knew my book was in good hands when I walked in and he was wearing as T-shirt from “The Bugle,” a podcast that has made me extraordinarily happy over the years (seriously, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman were magic together).
Plus, I’ve watched literally hundreds of episodes of Supernatural over the past year in preparation for our meeting and I can safely say I’m a fan of his work, so it was extremely exciting to meet him and a few members of his staff. I will keep everyone updated about what happens in the future, but even if it never goes any further it’s been an amazing ride that has filled me with nothing short of joy. To make matters even better I’m a few hours away from meeting with Kyle Clark from the “This is Rad” podcast and a writer on “The Talking Dead” who is a big fan of the book. We’re cutting a podcast at Nerdmelt Comics in a few hours and I’m excited and nervous and hope I don’t come across as a moron.
I know I’ve said “thank you” a bunch of times to everyone who’s read my work, but I can’t stress how much I mean it. I always wanted a few books on my bookshelf with my name on the. That was the goal and everything that’s happened has been so much more than I dared dream. Thousands of people have read “FantasticLand” and the reviews are good. It might be a movie. I’ve got editors and agents and people who follow what I do. I don’t know how I could ask the Universe for more but more may be coming.
Back to the guy who mistook me for a writer – it was kind of cool to hear but part of my brain started screaming at me “you are a writer. You can write books. You can probably write TV.” And I suppose that part of my brain is right.
So this afternoon I’m sitting in a bar off of Sunset in Los Angeles on my second IPA, and here is the state of affairs – I just met with a guy who wants to turn my first novel into a movie. My second novel comes out in a couple of months. I’ve got various other projects in the works. I get to go to Disneyland tomorrow with my family who has been infinitely patient and supportive of me. I’ve got people excited for me. I’m about to do a podcast with a guy I’ve listened to for years. I’m so full of gratitude I could burst.
Thank you, everyone. Thank you. I’m so excited to see what comes next but if nothing comes next, it’s already been more than enough and if more is happening…well that would be really something, wouldn’t it
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