The Big News

Gee, I spend a day away from the house, and I get seriously scooped. I went to the State Fair yesterday and met up with my parents, and I got very ambitious and instead of trying to drive down there and park at the fairgrounds, I took the bus. I can catch the bus across the street from my house, and then two transfers later I'm at the fair. It took a while -- my parents made it home 90 miles away in the time it took me to get home across town -- but it was less stressful than driving. I barely got home in time for prime time TV, so I never made it up the stairs to the computer. So, I checked e-mail this morning and found that my big news is all over the Internet, with an in-box full of congratulations.

In case you haven't seen the notice (drum roll, please):
Enchanted, Inc. has been optioned for film by Universal's Strike Entertainment!

Now, before anyone gets too excited, this is just an option. It doesn't mean they're making a movie, just that they're reserving the movie rights to the book. A lot of stuff gets optioned that never gets made into movies. But it is very cool that someone would want even the option, and the money means I can replace my car that's starting to make me a little nervous (I spent a lot of time at the fair's auto show, looking around). It also raises my profile a wee bit. So, yay!

I have to give big thanks and kudos to the folks at the Gersh Agency who showed major persistence on this. They've been working on this for three years, and it finally happened. I got word about this last week, the day I finished jury duty, and then we struck the final deal on Wednesday of this week. I was a little leery about announcing, after that last TV deal we had worked out that then fell through, but since my agents have spread the word, I guess I can, too.

And, since I know the question will be asked, I don't know what this means for book five. If the movie got made, then I'm sure they'd go and reissue the first book in mass market paperback, which would drastically increase sales, maybe even shelve it in fantasy, which would also help it hit its target market, and that would then likely lead to getting the final book. With just the option, it does raise the profile some within the industry, and they might want to jump on the fifth book while they can get it cheap (because the price would go up if the movie gets made -- along with certain other demands I might make, like rolling heads or crawling over broken glass). Or maybe enough people who hear about the announcement will look for the books, raising sales numbers and that leads to getting the fifth book. I just don't know, and I'm not holding my breath. I'm continuing to work on other stuff, but I'm not giving up because I'm kind of stubborn that way.

I'm celebrating tonight by enjoying my first free Friday evening in ages. I've got the season finale of Doctor Who and then the season premiere of Friday Night Lights. I think I'll make a pizza and generally veg out.