Lights, Camera...Ice Storm?
Hi everyone,
I’m overwhelmed. Those of you who have known me for a long time will know that’s not something that happens often or even when it does, something I’ll easily admit, but I am. But, this time, not so much because it’s the best overwhelmed I’ve ever felt in my career.
In case you missed it, leading up to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, my agent, Alice Sutherland-Hawes and rights agent, Rachel Richardson, got to announce all the hard work they’ve been doing in the last three months to bring Finding Her Edge worldwide in the lead up to the show! There was even a feature in The Bookseller where we got to shout to the world that UK and Commonwealth rights had gone in a seven house auction. Yes, you read that right, seven different publishers fought hard for it, but Hachette Children’s and their executive editor Lizzie Clifford came out on top. In addition to that, we sold rights in Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, Greece, Hungary and Ukraine (which I’m particularly thrilled by, obviously!) to join the German translation that sold a couple of years ago.
Here’s the Publishers Marketplace announcement. No deal ever feels complete to me without seeing this posted:
I’m so thrilled that as the show comes out, so many readers around the world will be able to find the book in their native languages. These sales also helped me cross off insane Author Bucket List item, where I got to update my biography with the line, “her work has been published in more than a dozen languages.” Truly incredible stuff.
And now okay, I can hear you, but Jen, what about your set visit? I don’t quite have words to describe it, but I’ll try.
It was my first visit to a TV set and it would have been a remarkable experience regardless, but watching your book, a book that you weren’t sure would ever find its feet in the world, be adapted right in front of you, watching all the people working hard to bring it to life, from wardrobe to hair and make up to the production crew to the director and showrunner and actors…like I said earlier, I was just completely overwhelmed.
The visit started normally enough. I flew into Toronto and met up with the costume designers Zena and her assistant Trina, who were two of the coolest people I’ve ever met and who unfortunately for them, had to deal with my adrenaline fueled, “I can’t believe this is happening, but it is” realization! They were so great about it though!
From there I made my way up to Orillia, about an hour and a half north of Toronto, where we would be filming on Monday. Unfortunately, the only thing I found there was ice, ice and more ice. That was the literal weather forecast: ice.
The power went out on Saturday night and didn’t come back on until very, very early on Monday morning. I was decently snug in my hotel room though and had a lovely view of these geese walking across a completely frozen pond across the street from my hotel.
Miraculously, there was power in my hotel the next morning (mostly, I think, because the workers from the local power company were staying there!), but as they say in show business, the show must go on and nothing stops the cast and crew of Finding Her Edge! Despite a State of Emergency and zero power in the town, they hooked up some generators and made it work!
While I’m forbidden from posting much from set because SPOILERS! I can show you that…I had a trailer and obviously I had to take a trailer selfie!
And…I literally, contractually, cannot show you anything else! There is an album on my phone labeled, DO NOT POST, full of pictures that I will eventually spam the internet with, but not until the show comes out! Sorry!
What I can report is that I got to meet so many people. Jeff Norton, our showrunner, and I finally got to meet in person after working together on this project for nearly four years. Jacqueline Pepall, a writer on the show and one of our two incredible directors, and I just immediately hugged it out while we laughed with complete joy to finally be meeting!
The first scene I got to watch was performed expertly by Alice Malakhov, who plays Maria, and all you Jane Austen fans are going to die when you see her work in that particular scene. I also, quickly, got to hug Niko Ceci, our Charlie as he made his way off set for the day!
Just as I was coming out of my trailer, I ran nearly straight into Maddy Keys (Adriana Russo) and Cale Ambrozic (Brayden Elliot) who I basically spent the rest of the day with in awe of their incredible talent and on screen chemistry and how unbelievably lovely they are as people. It was such a busy day, but I just truly loved getting to know them in the middle of all the chaos.
There were so many people who I only got to meet very, very briefly, but I’ll be back to set soon (they cannot keep me away now) and I can’t wait to meet them and all the people I missed this time around (and for those of you reading, I know there are a couple of you here, I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU!!)
Then, at the end of a truly magical day, someone shoved a burrito in my hand and we were shuttled off set and back to our hotels, truly the perfect end to the most surreal and magical experience of my life.
More soon!
My best and be well,
Jen
I love this post so much!!