Lagniappe

I loved many things about my years in New Orleans, not the least of which was the local custom of giving “lagniappe” which simply means something extra and unexpected. Just having a word to express the idea made it easier for me to appreciate lagniappe when it was offered to me.

Several weeks ago I received writer lagniappe. When we sell our books, we sometimes also sell the rights attached to them.  Audio rights.  Film rights, and others too numerous to mention here.  Back in the 1980 and 90s when I was writing romance novels for Silhouette Books, my publisher always kept the film and audio rights as part of my contract.  Since I doubted any of my romances would make their way to the big screen, this was fine with me.  I knew my publisher would do whatever they could to make that happen, and in the meantime, I just left the worrying to them.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I received an email two weeks ago telling me that two of my novels were going to be made into television movies.  In Germany! 

Lagniappe.  Most decidedly.



Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Smokescreen and Embers covers.jpgFrom Glowing Embers and Smoke Screen were the first two books of a four part series we called the Tales of the Pacific.  From Glowing Embers begins on an airplane to Hawaii.  I won’t tell the whole tale, but six people are brought together on that flight by an impending hurricane.  The rest of the story follows them into their own novels. 

Smoke Screen was the most complex of the four.  Set in New Zealand on the North Island, it follows the story of a woman with secrets who begins to find answers in “Waimauri” in the Island’s thermal area.

I don’t know how true to my books the screenplays will be, and I don’t know how these particular novels were chosen.  I do know I loved writing them both, that having a four book series set in exotic (for me) places that also included Coober Pedy, South Australia, and Kangaroo Island, South Australia, made them special.  I’d just been everywhere I wrote about, dragging four small children behind me, and I was delighted to find a series in the midst of wonderful times, as well.

Right now I’m waiting to hear what, if anything, I’ll be asked to do.  There was talk of flying to New Zealand, and talk of going to Germany.  I’m up for any adventure, so stay tuned.  But really, how much lagniappe can any one person expect?

Here’s a little for you.  If you click on German cast list
 you’ll see the cast of Smoke Screen, which is being filmed now.  These are gorgeous folks, aren’t they?  I can see them in the roles. 

Now, if I only spoke German! 

3 Comments

  1. Pat on February 3, 2009 at 6:59 am

    Hi, Emilie….I love your books and am intrigued by your new project with Pat Sloan. I just found your blog this morning. I like this word you tell us about that means an unexpected gift for no reason….I guess it’s a “just because” (you are special). Congratulations on your lagniappe…what a FUN and exciting thing to happen in your life!

  2. Emilie Richards on February 3, 2009 at 7:57 am

    Thanks, Pat, for the nice words. And I hope you’ll join us on the BOM project. One reader/quilter’s already sent me a photo of her first block. Wow. This will be fun.

  3. wonderworld on January 24, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    Thank you for an enjoyable read. I was searching for blogs about New Zealand on Google and your website came up on search results. I’ve bookmarked your site so that I can come back and read more when I have time. Thanks very much.

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