Hi All,

The last few years have truly been the pits for just about everyone I know. They've been particularly awful for me, but I feel, at last, a turnaround.

My agent called late Friday to tell me a production company represented by the William Morris Agency (leading film agency in the U.S.) wants to option the film rights to my first novel, "Rocket City."

Yee, haw!

An option holds the film rights for three years. We sold them in 1997 to a NY production company that went out of business before the option expired. When that happens, the writer and agent get to keep the option fees. Still, I was bummed at the time because they were already scouting locations when they went belly up.

But this new director is evidently so hot to trot on "RC," it wouldn't surprise me if the production company turned around and bought the full film rights long before the option expires.

If this comes to fruition, it's surely going to help us on the financial front. But mostly I'm just pleased that the production company has financial backing, William Morris representing them, and a real enthusiasm for turning "RC" into a film. (Turns out it's the director's favorite contemporary novel.)

Some years ago, my father (a producer and director) offered me an ungodly amount for the option rights, but I turned him down on the spot, never even mentioning it to my agent (who probably would have blown more than one gasket had she known). His offer was five times the going rate, but nepotism has always struck me as cheating. If I make it at all, I'm determined to make it on my own. Since my father and I don't share a surname, few people in the publishing and film industry have a clue about my background unless they are on one of the lists I'm on, or do enough digging on the internet.

Meanwhile, the French translation of "RC" has gone from hard cover (Albin Michel) to mass market paperback (J'ai Lu), and is apparently selling phenomenally. Unfortunately, we get no royalties from that, as Vintage (a division of Random House), when they bought the American paperback rights, also bought the rights to all foreign sales. (Sigh.)

Still, I'm thrilled that so many people have read or are reading my novel. It sold out in English hard cover (MacMurray and Beck), is in its 4th English paperback edition (Vintage Contemporary Series), it's second edition in German (Ullstein Metropolis, who changed the title to the insipid "New Mexico Puzzle" for political reasons harkening back to WWll), and has sold over 100,000 copies world-wide. That just blows me away.

So, if you only hear from me intermittently for several months, it's because I'm more motivated than ever to finish novel #2 and the collection of short stories I've been working on sporadically between our three adoptions and health concerns. Since we're done adopting, and I'm finally getting my strength back after a long, precipitous decline, finishing both within the next year is not out of the question.

On another note, Happy Mother's Day to all mothers on this board. I know mine will be a very joyous one this year. I wish the same for all you mothers out there, even some of you muthas.

Jazzed to the max,

Cathryn