All The Dark Places

1. Arrival

Chapter One

A crowd of passengers spilled out of the terminal after the plane touched down at London Heathrow. Rosalind Pyrne hurried to the baggage claim and found her bright green suitcase. Her agent scheduled two major press conferences to promote her new novel. Then there was a meeting with the people from Blue Star Productions; a film studio that wanted to make her books into a film franchise, a trilogy of films based on her novels, The Shadow Book Trilogy.

The trilogy became phenomenally popular, much to her surprise. The books were picked up by a small publishing house in the UK, but they believed in it more than any of the big five companies. They put everything toward pushing the trilogy. A year after publication, she flew all over the US, UK, and Australia, doing book signings and taking photographs with fans. People recognized her now. Focus Magazine named her the most influential novelist of the year. She had gone on talk shows in New York and Los Angeles, but her agent informed her that she did not read well by the audience. She looked that up to find out what it meant, and when she did, she was not at all surprised.

She had never been a cozy kind of person. She was direct and strong willed, not prone to giggle-fests and oohing and aahing over pictures of kittens on daytime talk shows. She was unwilling to answer personal questions and usually responded to them with contempt. Her prickly personality made her an unpopular guest that rarely got booked for a second appearance. Despite her quirks, she had gained an enormous following at her book signings and frequently guested in more cerebral venues like National Arts Radio and WriteTime.

"Excuse me," an excited teenage girl said. "Aren't you Rosalind Pyrne, the writer?"

"Yes, I am," she answered.

She was easily recognizable. The photo on the jacket of her books showed a moon pale face with black hair and blazing green eyes. The small crescent shaped scar just below her left eye did more to highlight her unique features than to detract from them.

"Oh my God, I love your books," the girl squeaked, barely able to contain herself. "Seriously, I have every book you've written, and The Shadow Book Trilogy are the best ever. Wait, I have the third one in my bag. Will you sign it for me?"

"Yes, of course." She waited while the girl nervously fumbled through her bag and came up with a book and a pen. "What's your name?"

"Christine Cooper."

"Alright Christine..." She scribbled something about the nicest girl she ever met in an airport and then felt bad that she couldn't think up something better to write. "...with love, Rosalind Pyrne."

"I read on Movie Wire that The Shadow Book series is being made into a movie. Is that true? Please say that's true."

Rosalind laughed not unkindly at the girl's enthusiasm.

"I'm afraid that is only a tiny bit true. There might be a movie. Nothing is set in stone yet. That's actually why I'm here. I'm talking to some movie people about the books and filming plans."

Rosalind bit her lip, reminding herself that this tidbit of opinion, briefly shared with a stranger would become a rumor and light up the internet by morning with news of movies and dream casting. The truth was; the movie was likely, but the cast was up in the air. Dream Collective was offering loads of money, but most of their resources and energy went into marketing the hugely successful epic series they had acquired and made the most successful film franchise in history. Dream Collective was successful, but their primary focus was elsewhere.

Blue Star Productions was offering less money but more time, more attention to detail and authenticity. That was what this trip was all about. The executives from Blue Star were courting her, determined to be the bidder that won the rights to make The Shadow Book into the next big franchise. They all had dollar signs in their eyes, but she felt that Blue Star was the right choice. Dream Collective suggested making her strong-willed female heroine, Windwalker, into a busty nineteen-year-old girl in a sexed up schoolgirl uniform. No thank you, she told them. The character was important to her, and she hoped would be important to teenage girls, proving to them the exact opposite of what Dream Collective was trying to do. It wasn't about sex or being sexy. It was about female empowerment, and she could not, would not, sell her readers out for cheap ratings and a paycheck, however big that paycheck.