Where were you when Elvis died? At the Wayne Hills Mall.

Where were you when John Lennon was shot? I don’t know.

Where were you when you got news that would change the trajectory of your career? In the carpool line.

Let’s back this truck up.

(BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!)

Quick backstory: After my first book Just Add Magic sold, my sophomore book went out on submission with no offers. After that happened, my then-agent dropped me and any screen potential for the book became my responsibility.

Oh geez, I didn’t know what to do with that.

You see, I always envisioned Just Add Magic as more than a book. I could see the film/tv scenes in my head. Coincidentally, I’d reconnected with my USC college roommate who’d graduated from its elite film school! She’d been screenwriting for some time, but hadn’t been involved in book-to-film adaptation. She didn’t know how to help me, but suggested I reach out to her agent for advice. So, I mailed her agent a copy of the book in the hopes she’d have some guidance. I followed up once or twice over the course of many months, then let it go. Then, one day when I was in the carpool line…

My Blackberry rings:

It’s her.

She read the book.

She loves it.

She wants to rep it!

The entire story is longer, but that’s the CliffsNotes version. That agent went on to sell the book to Amazon Studios, who developed it into an Emmy-nominated series that continued for five seasons and a spin-off. Kind of amazing, huh?

That agent continues to work her magic. She facilitated the option and subsequent sale of Saltwater Secrets (“Big Little Lies for tweens”) to a major studio, negotiated an option for a yet-unpublished novel and multiple shopping agreements with production companies for other work.

And that’s how it happened in the carpool line.

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