Quarantine day 32

Today's topic: werewolves.
More to the point: Blue Moon

I saved this series for the last because it's got a strange and ongoing history. The first book, Blue Moon got published through an online publisher called Iuniverse in 2000. But of course, the initial idea came to me many years before.

Like Inanimate Objects, this story also came to me while eating breakfast. For some reason, a thought passed through my head that made me think of a werewolf. I don't recall what it was, but as I sat there, just thinking about random stuff, I thought of what a guy who was a werewolf would say to the families of his victims. Would they sympathize?
That thought led to another: if the guy was thinking about his victims' families, then he would have some sort of remorse for what he had done. What would he say to them? What would he say to everyone?
And that led to the question: Why?

I created Adam Keel, a man who had been changed into a werewolf, but absolutely hated everything about it. He discovered that on nights of blue moons--the 2nd full moon in one month--werewolves don't change, and it's the only time when they can take their own life.

So Blue Moon is a suicide note, written by Adam on the night of a blue moon, telling his story.

Fast-forward to 2000 and the book is published. Years go by, I continued to try for success, but it evades me. I quit writing many times throughout the years out of frustration. But, I'm a writer, and can't help it, even when I hate it.

So, I took a break from writing books and trying unsuccessfully to get them published, and taught myself how to write screenplays. I purchased a formatting program to help place everything in its proper place, and I began turning the books I had already written into screenplays.

I posted the screenplays on various sites, and after a while it seemed as if my dreams had been answered.
A company called StrangeLand Films contacted me and optioned the screenplay for six months. They were going to make a short film in order to get funding for a major motion picture. Once that was done, they would buy the screenplay outright.
I was on cloud 9! I couldn't even talk when I called Steve at work to tell him everything.

But then things started turning bad.

Long story short--six months later, the women who owned StrangeLand Films were girlfriends and they broke up, so the company dissolved.
But it wasn't long after that I received an email from one of the women, Farnaz Zaminiia. She was going to start her own production company and still wanted Blue Moon. So I agreed and signed with her.
Again, I thought it was going to work out. But again, things went south.
The "producer" was going to hire a screenwriter to redo the screenplay, which was fine, I totally expected that.
But she kept firing them. She was like Trump: anyone who disagreed with her was out. There were about three different ones. The screenwriters were contacting me talking to me about it, and she would be telling me not to talk to the screenwriters.
It turned into one of those situations.
Months passed.

The title was changed to Blood Moon. Uh, okay, that's, okay, I guess . . .

Then something else was changed in the story. She began arguing with me that Hollywood changes stories when movies are made, and that I should accept it.
I did accept it. At first. Then months went by and more was changed and more. I can accept it, but there's a limit, right?

Long story short again--almost two years went by, and Farnaz finally told me that so much had been changed from my story, that it really no longer held enough of my original tale to give me any type of writing credit.
We battled, canceled contracts, and I never heard from her again.
It's for the best. I saw the short she made to pitch to studios, and it was so cheesy, it was embarrassing. I wouldn't have wanted my name attached to it, anyway.
I saw on FB not long after that she was working at Sony. Apparently her production company didn't do too well.

BUT!

During all of the crap and false promises she fed me for two years, she told me she would like the option of making a series of movies, and asked if I had ideas for sequels. I had never thought of any sequel for Blue Moon until she said something.
So I began coming up with sequels.

Anyway, the series is a trilogy, but the final book is only coming out this year! It's a whole age thing with Payat, who is Adam's son, and that's all I'll say about it, as not to give any spoilers.

I would post a link to the books, but Blue Moon is currently unavailable at the moment because I took it back from Iuniverse, and I am republishing it before the release of the final installment.

I'll be sure to let everyone know when it's available again.

So that is my almost brush with fame. It'll happen one day for real, I just know it.

Stay safe. Stay inside. 💓