#j.m.frey

Read the book on Wattpad

cover by @once-upon-a-reblog

THE UNTOLD TALE follows Pip, who is pulled against her will into the epic fantasy novel series she's loved since she was a teenager. However, the world is darker, and far more dangerous than she could have ever predicted, especially when it turns out the hero is a much bigger jerk than she expected him to be.

Pip knows how to circumnavigate the Hero's Journey and the pitfalls and loopholes of this particular world - but what will happen to her beloved characters outside of the comfort of the fantasy they were written for? And what happens when it's not the hero, but the hero's overlooked and bullied little brother who proves to be her biggest champion?

Map by Christopher Winkelaar

I originally published "The Untold Tale", book one of the Accidental Turn series waaaay back in 2015 with an indie publisher. I'm re-releasing the whole series late 2023/early 2024 under my own imprint, with all new covers and some updated interiors. To celebrate, I've decided to give all of you a treat and release the WHOLE first book of the series in it's entirety.

Chapters will drop every Tuesday, and it will be totally free to read. You just have to have a Wattpad account (which is also free, though it does have premium versions and in-app purchases for some pay-walled stories).

And if you like the book, you can find out about the rest of the series on my website. AND, if you want to be in the loop when the paperback and eBook editions are re-released, make sure to sign up for my newsletter (head to my website, and scroll to the bottom of the page.)

Happy Reading!

PART 1 - The Tease | PART 2 - Lori Announces It | PART 3 -  How This Screenplay Came To Be | PART 4 - The Fic is Posted | PART 5 - Continuity Questions | PART 6 - the Importance of Fanfic | PART 7 - Nichols Competition Reader Notes | PART 8 - Festival Results | PART 9 - I Got LaLaLanded | PART 10  - Cheeky Update | PART 11 - The Screenplay is Optioned 

 Hello friends! It’s time for another TO A STRANGER update.  

Welcome to PART 12 - Gimmie

I last left the narrative with information that a film director had signed the rights for development on the screenplay, and that his company was working on pre-production in Toronto. That was in August of 2018.

It’s now April 2020, and with all film production halted due to the global pandemic and preventative lock-downs, what little the production company was able to do has ground to a stop.

After a conversation with several other filmmakers, and my agent, I came to the difficult but ultimately freeing decision to invoke the sunset clause on my contract with the director, and sever our ties. He’s a nice dude with some nice ideas, but clearly this thing wasn’t going to be happening under his company or we would have been much further along than “I’m talking to some people” after two years.

The screenplay, IP, and all the rights have been fully returned.

Which is good, because just after I decided to pull the plug on this relationship, my agent reached out with an offer to pitch some stories to a really big player in the media development game. This company is looking for some unpublished novels, short stories, and scripts to turn into audio books or audio dramas.

So, TO A STRANGER has been pitched to this company. Please keep your fingers crossed!

And there’s a big grant available to Canadian artists right now to help creators transfer their thwarted art into a digital format so the audience can still access it. It’s meant for folks whose plays were cancelled, or art shows were pushed back, or for people like me, whose films got shut down. The grant provides both money and mentorship, allowing artists to find ways to transform their in-person thing to a remotely-created-and-shareable-online thing.

 I also pitched TO A STRANGER to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) as an audio drama podcast (professionally performed and produced, of course).

So that’s where it’s all sitting now--just waiting to hear from either of these opportunities. (That’s the joy of being a professional writer... so much of your time is spent waiting to hear back.)

As always, thank you so everyone following along, and for your support and love. I look forward to the next update.

In the meantime, you can still read the fanfiction version here. And if you’re interested in me and what else I’ve written, you can find my novels here.

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So, this article about how Cosplay is Killing Cons went up, and then JV Friedman Tweeted this amazing rebuttal, which generally sums up my feelings on the topic. I commented on the rebuttal on FB, and was asked to repost it as shareable. So, with some tweaks and extra thoughts added, here’s the reposting.

I’d like to jump in and add my two cents about the future of Cons.

As it stands, right now, I prefer the concept of Con As Social Space over Con As Access Space.