I was reminded why I handed the finances over to John and never looked back. "Never" being until now. Our finances are a monstrosity. But I suppose it's easier to balle the monster you can see. Now it's time to put up my dukes.
In ways, money is worse than I thought. In other ways, better. The things I didn't know fell on both sides of the spectrum, which is better than being all bad. I can deal with some of each. The good news is I think we'll be OK. We are both ready to do the hard work. John even said he would take lunch to work, something previously a huge point of contention. That is a major concession on his part, and I was very surprised and pleased by it. It's a sign to me that John is ready to do what needs to be done. No more denial for either of us.
His move inspired me to do some things I put off, like selling the dishwasher. I considered a garage sale too, but I still have to think about work versus income there. I will be working on my soap some more. I think I will expand my limitations some more to make things prettier (colors) and more fragrant (synthetic scents). I may add some more gift things too. And it may be time to finally hit some local gift shops for wholesale accounts. Since I can't work as much during the summer I have to find other ways to help.
The big potential source of income is John and BIL's script. I don't think I ever brought it up becuase it didn't really affect me. They've sent it to some people and entered it in some contests. It got some decent reviews and did OK in contests. There was some interest here and there from an agent or small producer, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere in the end. Most of it amounted to "keep writing."
Then a real producer sniffed around. Real contact was made and talk about an actual deal materialized. It would be an independent film, but it would get John and his brother in the door and make a few bucks. BIL then pushed a contact who was close to a bigger name producer to submit the script there. In a six-degrees sort of way, the script should be in a major director's hands by tomorrow. BIL has a friend he's known since school whose brother works with the Big Producer who knows the Big Director. Big Producer finally saw the script after BIL let his friend's brother know there was other interest. Big Producer loved it and has been in contact nearly every day since. He wants to make the movie and hopes to get Big Director on board. He also wants John and BIL to send him other things, rewrite a script he already has, and serve as staff writers to rewrite other things. He's talking about beginning shooting in September or by year's end at the latest. He told BIL They should see a check in about a month.
While I'm still reserved, this is exciting. I'll be ecstatic if any money actually comes out of it. And if all the big stuff happens, I'll probably die of shock. There has been a great deal of irony in our lives lately. John making it as a writer when he never considered it while I would love to be a writer (not scripts though) would be a welcome dose of irony. If I ever do finally write a novel, he can adapt it for me.
Anyway, I'm not holding my breath. I know how these things work (or more often, don't). It's encouraging, but we have money issues that need addressed now, and we can't be waiting for hopes. I'll still hope, but we'll keep paying the bills in the meantime.
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One Year Ago Today:
