It appears that time is my enemy. I work from home, and I have so much more to do than I can ever finish in one day.
For example, this week I spent a “few” hours at Kingman Hospital trying to get my heart rate down to 60 beats per minute. It’s doing well now, but I have a dozen things to accomplish. This is one of those things!
A few years ago, my daughter asked me this question! “Mom, why don’t you write a story about my imaginary playmates?”
I, of course, said, “Okay, tell me about them.”
“Well, I had three, and their names were Ning, Dog, and Boss!”
“Okay, what were they?”
“I don’t remember!”
“Okay! So I created animals to match the names. And I wrote a short story about the adventures she had with them, called “Sleep Travelers, the Story of Ning, Dog, and Boss. I self-published them, and my daughter became “Little Dawnie” in the books.
It was my pleasure and honor to see her childhood adventures come to life, and as I wrote them, I quietly sailed along with them, enjoying their fun. They could never be injured, and if they ever were in a situation where they could be, they would wake up in their beds. They could talk to the animals, who would tell them what life was like behind bars, and they could leave their confines and join the adventures.
Here is the exciting part! A literary agent contacted me and agreed to represent me in introducing “Sleep Travelers” to movie studios. Two Studios contacted her with offers to make an animated movie of my book. This was thrilling.
I received a contract stating that I had to find, at my own expense, a Screenwriter and a Screen adaptation for them to produce “their” movie, and it had to have WBA approval. I said that I was not willing to finance the movie without the Movie company obtaining my “rights” to use my books.
They waved large sums of money at me if I let them use the rights, but they wouldn’t pay a dime up front for my “rights.” Further, it appears my Agent is either unavailable to negotiate for me or not interested. Because I got another call the first thing this morning wanting me to sign the 5 long pages of the contract. I said, I am sorry; you will have to contact my agent. I am busy right now, but you have a nice day. Goodbye.”
I understand that they want to get on with making this movie; I am not inclined to “give away” my work without compensation.
What do you think? I value your opinion and welcome your advice. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Visit my website, http://www.brendacolbathbooks.com, to see synopses of the book series.
