The line was…ridiculous. They ran out of copies.
I can remember my mother looking at the woman in charge and saying, “You’re going to need more books.”
It was my own personal, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
And after that, I can’t tell you how miraculous it was, the way things grew. Following each release, I would duck my head back down and type my heart out, then pop up every six months at an event—and I was astounded by how the crowds increased from book to book. I think my first signing in the series was twenty people at the B&N in Cinci, OH. And then fifty came to it, then a hundred.
Then came the fire hazard in the other B&N in Cinci.
I can’t remember exactly which book it was—it might well have beenLover Avenged. But people swarmed the store. They had a hundred chairs set up in the music section, and the crowd was so big that folks climbed onto the shelving and peered over the top just to get a look at me. It was crazy in a great way.
After that, we had to move off-site.
It goes without saying that my yearly Cinci event is an absolute highlight for me. I love seeing so many returning faces, meeting new readers, having the questions and comments lobbed at me. I also can’t wait to see the cosplay. The costumes are so awesome! No matter how many times I get to see everybody there, it’s still magic.
And honestly, I was happy enough to have things just as they were. Just writing books I cared about, and hanging with readers in Cinci, and then at Readers on the River, a convention I did with dear friends (who are publishing this book. Hey, Liz! Hey, Jills! Jiz for the win!).
Cue an email forwarded from my former agent at the end of 2021.
Over the course of these last twenty years, I’ve had various inquiries about turning the series into movies or TV. Some reallybig players came forward from time to time, but I was always leery. The series was, and is, a going concern. If I fucked it up? The backlash would be terrible, and besides, I haven’t spent my entire career in this world to cash out at the end and kiss off all my readers and the larger fandom. The only way I could make sure things were kept as close to the books as possible was if I retained some control as part of the deal, and let’s be real. Nobody was going to give that to me.
Enter: Passionflix.
About a year before I had any conversations with Tosca Musk, its founder and CEO, I remember seeing a post about them and thinking…hey, that’s an interesting idea. Because it was clear that they liked to work with authors and were committed to sticking with the original stories.
I can still remember when I got that email forwarding her inquiry. I was like okay, let’s see how this goes. As negotiations reached a consensus point, I told my team I needed to talk with Tosca directly. She was looking to buy the rights for eleven of my books, and given that I had script, casting and director approval, we were going to be working very closely together for a very long time, assuming people watched whatever the hell we put out.
I knew the instant she got on the Zoom call with me it was going to be great. She had a dog running around her office, her kids checked in as they came home from school, she was super smart—and most importantly, it was clear she was a human being.
We settled the legal side of it all, and man, did I have a lot to learn about…everything…that had to do with film adaptations. For all the hours and hours of produced content I’ve watched over my lifetime, whether it’s TV, movies, commercials, YouTube, whatever, I had no experience on the back side, and I found it all so fascinating. From giving feedback on the scripts, to the casting process, to the sets and settings, to the filmingschedule, I just soaked it all up. And Tosca is an incredible teacher. She was, and continues to be, so patient with me, and we had, and have, a lot of fun.
Then came my set visit where I got to meet each of the Brothers. Those greeting videos have been viewed over twelve million times across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and what you see were absolutely my honest reactions. That one with Wrath? Where I just nope’d the fuck out? Robert Maaser was so like what has been in my head for two decades that my brain just broke.
Apparently, I’m okay as long as I’m in one world or the other. But when Caldwell, NY meets reality?Snap. Crackle. POP.
And not in a Rice Krispies kind of way.
Even though I’d been in on the casting, and all of the clothing choices, and the contacts and wigs, it was still totally overwhelming. Especially with Andrew Biernat who plays Zsadist. I just got swamped by emotion when I saw him. And then there was Sia Zami, our Vishous—he played it off like he couldn’t stand me, and it was perfect! Joel Cederberg as Tohr, who was justsohandsome. Zack Ignoffo as Phury, with that gorgeous head of hair. Michael Roark as Butch, who got the Boston accent just right and has such charisma.
Also, Olivia Applegate, our Beth, who is one of the most beautiful, intelligent, strong women—just like our Queen. And Victory Van Tuyl who plays Marissa and is so gorgeous in person, you can’t believe she’s real. And Kim Whalen, our Wellsie, who is breaking hearts from the jump. And Ian Paola as José de la Cruz, and Kellen Boyle as Havers, and RJ Thomas as Billy Riddle.
Plus the magnetic, striking, funny and charming, Alexander Cubis, who is Rhage and is up next as our main hero.
And who can forget Gene Paulson as Fritz, the world’s best butler!
Oh, and then there’s Darrell Snedeger, the absolutely hottest villain on the planet. After the series aired, so many people were like, why did you have to make me want Mr. X????
Our cast is the greatest group of people. They are incredibly talented, super supportive, and committed to the long-term future of this project. They also work their asses off. And the crew is just the same. From hair and makeup to set design, to all the producers, editors and sound and music and lighting people, what we released was a collective effort of too many people to count.
Oh, and a note on Tosca as a director. Holy crap, I couldn’t do that job. There are so many tiny details to think about, and filming itself is absolutely grueling. It was forty-five nights running from six p.m. to six a.m.—and I honestly don’t know how Tosca did it for that long at that high level of intensity. She is relentless when it comes to getting things right, no matter the stage we’re in. Matter of fact, while she was shooting, she’d text me questions starting at nine or ten o’clock which is past my bedtime. I’d answer them at three a.m. when I woke up to piddle. And it was like that for a month and a half.
She was also running Passionflix at the same time.
When it was finally a wrap, I said, “Now you can finally have a break.”
Her response: “No, I have to…”
And there was a list of all the things she had to do. I wanted to have a nap on her behalf. So I did.
