Derryl Murphy‘s short story “Last Call”—which was first published in On Spec in 1999—has been optioned for a short motion picture by Quebecois filmmaker Jean-Francois Da Sylva. Murphy reports that “In the past couple of weeks I’ve signed the contract, received payment for the option, read the script, and even seen the storyboards. Da Sylva has changed a few things, as movie makers are wont to do, but I’m okay with what I’ve seen so far. I’m even all right with the proposed title change, but until things are set in stone I won’t reveal that.”
Murphy has posted the original story on his blog. He says Da Sylva “has done a very nice job of retaining the original integrity and meaning of a story that was, in the end, a love letter to my wife.”
Murphy says Da Sylva “has worked in movies in other capacities as he makes his way up the food chain, but has already turned one other short SF story into a film called The Grandfather Paradox.”
In other Murphy news, he reports that Cast a Cold Eye, a novella he co-wrote with William Shunn, will be published as a stand-alone book by PS Publishing in July. Murphy says “When we started this story a few years ago, Bill was living in New York and I was in Prince George. We’re much closer together now, though, since I’m Saskatoon and he’s in Chicago. Cast a Cold Eye is my second collaboration, after the Aurora-nominated short story “Mayfly,” written with Peter Watts. Bill helped bring a terrific and unique voice to this story, and he also tempered some of my more loopy ideas. Which in this case was a very good thing.
“The story itself takes place in Nebraska just after the Spanish flu pandemic, and involves a teenage boy who lost both his parents to that illness. There’s also a spirit photographer, ghosts, spooky graveyards, and a a friendly, knowing dog. It didn’t occur to me until after we’d finished it, but the story is YA friendly, so if you know of any teens or youngsters who might be interested in this sort of story, keep them in mind.”