Wednesday, May 10, 2006

"Saved"... More like "Ripped"

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile... but believe it or not I was ACTUALLY advised not to by my lawyer. The reasons will seem somewhat obvious.

Back in mid-2001 I was involved with negotiations with a publisher who shall remane unnamed even though they are a big HOUSE that was not RANDOMly chosen to receive a manuscript I had written. The manuscript was of my memoirs titled "The Pride of the Hills: 5 Years as a Forest Hills Vollie".

Now for those of you who may not know, while I am a professionally paid EMT, I have volunteered at Forest Hills since 1995 and owe my career to my training there. The memoirs I wrote basically chronicled the journey of how I became a volunteer, the training, the calls, and the effect it has had on my life. So there was talk of paperback options, possibly television deals, and back then one of the new things was the E-Book. So the talks were still in process over optioning and rights and amounts when September 11, 2001 happened.

The publishing house suddenly demanded for me to write another 5 chapters or so to make it relevant to the current events. In 2002 I basically pulled back the manuscript from the table because they refused to change their demand. Mentally it was not something I wanted to add in, nor something I think I was ready for. So my copy of the manuscript has since slept peacefully in a cardboard box in my basement. I have had thoughts about reviving it but those are only thoughts. Who could possibly want to read about an adrenalin junkie with gambling and drinking issues?

Then I saw a commercial on TNT for a new series called Saved. Guess what? That's right... it's about a paramedic with a gambling problem. I'm sure there's some drinking in there too... and to be honest, ever since Bringing Out The Dead came out the lives we lead are not so secretive anymore. What irked me most was the title... because that was the title for Chapter 19. Then there was the tagline for the show "Sometimes the hardest life to save... is your own." Right. Line one of Chapter 19 was "The one thing they never tell you in school is that the hardest life for you to save is your own." Anyone see a correlation here? I sure as hell do.

So I did talk to my attorney about it, and he has looked into it. It appears that I currently have no legal course yet... hence why I can now blog about it. I have to show some more correlation between my manuscript and the show. So I look at it this way... the show better be damn good. In fact, it better be the best damn show on TNT ever if I have to watch it. In fact, it needs to win Emmys and live a long and prosperous life ESPECIALLY if it was stolen from me... because I want my royalties.
Posted by New York City's Watchdog :: 5/10/2006 01:03:00 PM :: Permalink :: 3 Bones Added to the Pile

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