Secret Project Finally Revealed: Morning Glory

The news is out, and apparently my agent already has her hands on a hot copy, so I suppose I can finally, finally share the news I’ve been keeping to myself for nine months:

My SECOND full-length book this year……. ::Drumroll, please::

Yes, that’s Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, and Diane Keaton on there. MORNING GLORY is a new movie coming out this November from Paramount Pictures. It’s produced by JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias, Fringe, Star Trek) and written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada screenplay, 27 Dresses). I adapted the novel from the screenplay. The book will hit stores on October 19th.

Here’s the trailer for the film:

Now, to answer a few of the questions I know are coming…

Is this a work for hire?

Yes. I do not own the copyright to this book. It is Aline Brosh McKenna’s original idea and work. I merely adapted it for the page.

Have you met anyone involved in the film?

Nope. I was given a copy of one of the shooting scripts (watermarked with my name) to use as reference when writing the novel. When there were discrepancies between that script and the final cut of the film, I was asked to make edits. I’d love to meet people.

Have you seen the film?

No, but I’ve seen the trailer, a bunch of still shots, and one tiny scene some dude illegally recorded with his cell phone at an early screening and uploaded to You Tube. I can’t wait to go see it, though! It looks great.

How did you get this job?

My editor for the Secret Society Girl books thought I’d be a good fit for the project because of the tone and character of Becky (Rachel McAdams’s scrappy and capable up-and-coming television news producer). The script has the same irreverent yet poignant tone and larger-than-life hijinks I targeted in the Secret Society Girl books. She pitched it to me and me to Paramount. Fortunately, we all agreed.

You have always done original work before this. Why work for hire?

Why not? The truth is that there are lots of kinds of writing that I’ve “never done before” but would leap at the chance to do if anyone was interested in letting me. This year, I’ve also published my first short stories, which was something else I’ve never done before, but I had a total blast. I’ve also sold my first science fiction book and my first retelling. As for the novelization, I loved the chance to be able to adapt someone else’s characters and words, to try to do justice to the story they told and the way they wanted things presented. I probably would never have written a character like Becky all by myself, but to write her through the eyes of the screenwriter who did allowed me to stretch my own wings in terms of character creation. I learned a lot by forcing myself into those constraints, and I also learned a lot by deconstructing such a fine screenplay. To write such an adaptation was on my writer’s goal list. Check.

There are three additional reasons I took this job. 1) Yay! A job! Freelancers like me like that. 2) It was a REALLY good screenplay. Of course I loved Aline Brosh McKenna’s other films, so I had a hunch this one would be great too, but this screenplay made me laugh out loud several times. I wanted to be able to translate some of that wit to novel form. 3) I love working with my brilliant Random House editor, and this was a great opportunity to do another project with her.

I don’t live in America. Where can I get this book?

Currently, Czech, Polish, Korean, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Spanish rights have sold for this book. Everyone in the US and Canada, though, can buy it on October 19th.

And they definitely should.