Page 80 of A Very Snowed In New Year
Marty helped me develop the first rewrite, and we’ve been cc’ing Holden on everything. And then…Marty got Shane Miller and Owen Brodie’s production companies to option the script!!!!!! Shane and Owen and Owen’s wife, Frankie, all helped me develop another draft of the pilot script, and Frankie Hogan-Brodie will be the head writer of the series, and I’ll get a Created By credit!
All the while, I was finishing up my last term at UCLA. So yeah. I’ve been busy, dear diary. I stayed up really late some nights. Got up at five some mornings. But it was worth it.
Marty Hancock got us a preemptive bid for a development deal with the streaming service that produced their hit show “Funny Business.”
Owen’s brother Miles is an entertainment lawyer, and he negotiated the deal for me. I’ve only talked to him on the phone, but he sounds HAWT in a really grumpy kind of way. Declan insisted on looking over the contracts before I signed them, even though entertainment law isn’t his thing. He seemed kind of jealous that he’s no longer the only attorney in my life—it was sweet.
Holden’s new favorite director, Alex Vega, is going to direct the pilot episode. Oh, and Eddie’s going to play Henry’s brother in the series. It’s typecasting, because Henry’s brother is a butt model who longs to be a respected Shakespearean actor. But no one’s complaining! Now Eddie and I aren’t only related through Maddie and Declan, we’re also related because I’m kind of his boss. Muahahahaha.
Shay Nicholls kept texting and sending me Edible Arrangements to remind me that she would be perfect for the female lead. I told her it would be up to Alex Vega and the casting department. Unfortunately, she has the same agent as Alex, so she does have an in…but Holden has casting approval, so…sad trombone.
Holden has wrapped filming ofTempest Rising. My show will go into production after he’s filmed Alex Vega’s movie and the last installment of the Riders franchise.
This is all bananas.
I haven’t made a huge ton of money on that script sale yet because it’s my first deal, but it’s more than I’ve ever made in my life, obviously. Once it goes into production and starts streaming, I’ll be making a really good living. Meanwhile, Marty is packaging a couple of my other scripts and getting ready to send them out to studios.
In other news, I went to the Westwood premiere ofRiders of Storm and Fire: Winds of Changewith Holden. I got to meet Rachel Balfour again, and she remembered me from the signing at the Harvard bookstore! It was a little crazy being in a Giorgio Armani dress that the designer gave me to wear for free, and being picked up in a limo, then walking the red carpet with Holden five minutes from my apartment. All these people from campus were in the crowd across the street, screaming to get a look at my boyfriend. That was where I had been, over a year and a half ago, when I showed up in the hopes of seeing Holden Archer. Honestly, we both would have rather stayed home. But the movie is fantastic! I am so proud of Holden’s performance. And OMG it is slaying at the box office.
I went to the movie set a few times on weekends while they were filming book three, and Holden and I FaceTimed every day when we weren’t together. He has certainly made good on his resolution to make sure I know he likes me every single day.
I met his family over spring break and now have a new pen pal named Rory. She calls herself a fan and she calls me her mentor. I just think of her as a sweet and adorable friend. I’ve been giving her notes on her fanfic before she posts her stories.
Holden suggested that when I’m not busy working on the series, I write and self-publish “kissing books for eleven-year-old girls” since I seem to know what they like. I can’t believe I never thought to do that. So that’s what I’m writing now. And I have given Rory the title of consultant.
It has been such a gorgeous whirlwind, and all to the tune of my theme song, “Dreams.”
Oh, and I’m writing this while curled up on the sofa in Holden’s living room in NYC. He wants me to call it “our living room.” I have been staying with him, but I haven’t moved all my stuff in. Yet. We’re still deciding if we should get a place here or in LA. Maybe we’ll be bicoastal.
Apparently, Holden has to go through a trial. A rite of passage.
Well, let’s call it what it is—he has to pass a test.
I am only a little bit terrified for him.
Actually, I’m very worried.
Because Billy Boston is in town for the opening of another one of his Locker Room locations. Eddie is here for a few days too. And neither he nor Holden have to be on camera for the next week, so they’re allowed to drink.
Billy has invited Holden out for a night on the town with him and Declan and Nolan and Eddie…and my dad. “On the town” could mean anything at this point. It could mean New York or Boston or Dublin or anywhere between here and the moon. Billy said to bring his passport.
Holden is excited and determined to win everyone over. I don’t think he has any idea what to expect. And I don’t know who I’m more worried for—him or my dad.
Maddie called to give me a pep talk as soon as she found out. She said it’s best not to answer the phone because conversations don’t make any sense anyway, they’re unlikely to remember them, and the voicemails are important to have for blackmail purposes later. She said to use the time alone to focus on self-care, because Holden will need a lot of attention tomorrow. Expect indecipherable texts, butt dials, and inexplicable, chaotic messages, she said. There may be tears, but the good kind. Have plenty of coffee, electrolytes, toast, and protein with healthy fats available in the morning. She said something about getting Korean pear juice for Declan, but that might not be Holden’s thing.
I feel like I’m in an elite club now, like WAGs. Only the sport is drunken shenanigans.
I just hope Holden makes it out alive.
I love him.
He's my boo, my bestie, my person, my ride-or-die, my main.
Sometimes I forget that he was once my celebrity crush, because he treats me like he’s my number one fan.
I can’t believe the first thing he ever read of mine was an entry from my Extra Super Secret Diary, but I also don’t think I could have a boyfriend who didn’t like my writing. The fact that he was able to see who I am through so many different kinds of writing and platforms? It just goes to show why he’s such a good actor. And that he was a good English lit student. The way he can figure out who someone is through words.
There have been moments when I’d worry that Holden will wish he could be with some beautiful actress, someone who’s more comfortable being in front of all those bright lights and flashing cameras. But it’s never because of anything he says or does. On some level, I’m just so conditioned to expect some kind of conflict, probably because it’s what I’ve been taught in my writing classes, possibly from reading and watching so much romance.
