When Hollywood comes knocking, should you think twice before opening the door?

Last week was my niece's eleventh birthday. Even though I already knew what she'd probably want, like a good aunt I asked anyway, and got the typical response: Hannah Montana stuff and the Cheetah Girl game for her Gameboy. I had no idea there even was a Cheetah Girls game for Gameboy. I remember thinking to myself, wow, that Deborah Gregory is making out like a fat rat with all this Cheetah Girls merchandising and DVD sales and whatnot.

Apparently, I was very wrong. Somebody's making out like a fat rat all right, and it ain't Deborah Gregory. The Los Angeles Times ran a story yesterday about Gregory and her deal gone wrong with Disney. I read the story with a sinking heart because like many an author, I would love to have my books adapted for TV or film. But hearing story after story of how the Hollywood machine seems designed to take advantage of authors, especially unknown authors who don't know any better, like Gregory was when she signed her deal, makes me very wary.

Hey! It's Valentine's Day! Sounds like a good time to do a one day contest. Just comment on this post by midnight tonight, and I'll draw a winner from the comments and send them an autographed copy of Diva's Last Curtain Call.

Good Luck!
Angela