The Long Road

While I was attending Long Island University in Brooklyn during the big, bad 80's, I took a screenwriting course. I decided to write a thriller titled Neon Boulevard, set in Times Square, back when it was still the road through hell. I had a morbid fascination with the world of hookers and pimps, peepshow girls, drug dealers, con men and runaways. A kinky, dark world, where anything could be bought, sold, or taken. The story was about a white Vietnam vet and ex-con trying to find out who killed his sister, a young prostitute working the Deuce. It would be my Taxi Driver. I was no Paul Schrader, but I knew I could write a good script. My professor was a stickler for predictable structure and plot points, while I wasn't. I thought the script was solid, because it didn't play by the rules. I failed the class. I put the script away in a draw.

A decade later, I decided to completely revamp the script. Made the character Puerto Rican. Nicholas Esperanza, was now an ex Navy SEAL and retired homicide detective searching for his missing teenage niece. I also didn’t want the typical cliché of the hardboiled detective who is a down and out loner and recovering alky, so I added a twist: Esperanza retired from police work because he’d won $30,000,000 playing Lotto. He was in a solid relationship, ran a successful business, and was generally happy with his life. I re-christened it Hunting The Innocent. In this version of the story, I played it safe: since it was journey into such a grim world, I made Esperanza a straight-laced, moral do-gooder. Boring. I tried to get it made into a feature film over a period of a couple years, came close to getting a deal, then...nothing. Project died. I went on to other things. Some time later, I decided to turn the script into a novel. I figured, if I sold the book, getting a film deal would be easier. Wrote a couple of drafts. Tried to get an agent. No luck. Put it away again. Another three years went by and I decided to re-write it again.

This time I wanted to make Esperanza darker and much more emotionally complex. A morally ambiguous hero, who broke all the rules. Ironically, Times Square had transformed into a family friendly vacation spot, so I either had to set the story during the early 90’s or make it about a modern day sexual underground. I went with the latter idea and it turned out to be a much better novel. I eventually got signed to the William Morris Agency. My literary agent tried to sell H.T.I. It was rejected. Again. And again. One editor wrote an email that said, "I think Rodriguez has a lot of talent but while reading the book, I felt like I was blinded by sin."

In other words...pass.

Two more years went buy, my agent left William Morris, and I was back to square one. In the meantime, I got a gig writing a screenplay for a big time music producer named Ric Wake, who was coming off of a huge success with the Oscar winning film Chicago. It was a crime thriller set in a sex club in Miami. Got the job thanks to Hunting The Innocent. I titled the new screenplay Blinded By Sin.

Fast forward to 2005.

My roommate, writer and man about town, Michael A. Gonzales, sent me an email entitled "Kensington Publishing seeks Hispanic Writers." They were looking for mysteries/thrillers, erotica and general commercial fiction. It was dated August 4th, 2005, five days before my birthday. Didn't need an agent. Send it to an editor named Sulay Hernandez.

I figured, what did have to lose? Wrote Sulay a cover letter, printed my bio, put it all together in a box, and left it on the shelf under my desk. When I got a chance, I'd buy a big manila envelope and mail it. Then I forgot about it. A few weeks later, I ended up getting major surgery. I was supposed to be out of commission for about a month. Then I got an infection. Ended up back in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Another surgery. Antibiotics central. It turned into a painful three-month ordeal. After being locked in my apartment for weeks, I decided to make a list of things I needed to do career-wise. One of them was sending the book to Sulay. Mike said he'd mail for me. We both forgot about it.

In late October 2005, I was finally back on my feet and back on the street. I finally mailed H.T.I. Now it was time to forget about it. Shit, when I was represented William Morris, it would take a couple of months for my agent to get a response from an editor, so I figured I'd hear from Ms. Hernandez by late summer '06. Life goes on...

The next day, while I was at the pharmacy getting a prescription for a lovely painkiller called Dilaudid, my cell rang.

"Hi, it's Sulay Hernandez from Kensington Books. I read the first couple of chapters of your novel and I loved it!"

I hadn't taken a pain killer yet, so I knew I wasn't hallucinating. Sulay and I talked for a while. I remained the cool customer and told her why I thought the book would make a great crime series, told her about my background in theater and film. Sulay was quite pleasant and very enthusiastic. She was also warm and down to earth. I warned her that the book was very dark and she might not feel the same way once she finished it. She promised she'd read it over the weekend. Yeah, sure, I thought.

The weekend passed. Phone rang on Monday morning. Sulay wanted the book. Thought it would make a wonderful thriller series and Nicholas Esperanza had the potential to become a popular character. Had to talk to her boss first. It was all happening very fast. As promised, she called back and offered a three-book deal. I was ecstatic (stayed cool, though). The advance was low. I told her I'd love to do the book with Kensington, but I had to reject the offer. I thought they could give me a better advance. Sulay had to talk to her bosses again and see what she could do. She'd get back to me. I called my entertainment lawyer, discussed some ideas on how to make this deal work. He told me to keep him abreast of the situation.

The next day, Sulay called, said she wanted to take me to lunch on Wednesday. Sure, I said. Sulay called me Wednesday and said, "Kate Duffy, the editorial director will be taking us to lunch instead." Hhhmn. I knew that an editorial director wouldn't be taking me to lunch if she hadn't read the book and loved it.

I waited in front of Kensington Publishing on Lexington Avenue, wondering what Sulay looked like. For some reason, I envisioned a woman in her forties, short, wearing glasses and light-skinned. Boy, was I off the mark. She was tall. In her twenties. Mocha-skinned. Extremely attractive. A Dominicana from Washington Heights. We hugged like we were familia. She introduced me to Kate, who warmly shook my hand. Kate seemed to be in her mid forties. She had an ingratiating smile and was a fireball of energy. I was immediately charmed by her.

At the restaurant, Kate told me that after Sulay read H.T.I. she gave her "the look" and Kate knew she had to read it. She absolutely loved the book and said that Kensington didn't have anything like it. Kate had that smart, sassy, no bullshit thing going, which I found quite appealing. To the point. Quick wit. As sweet as Kate was, I knew I wouldn't wanna get on her bad side. Ironically, she was known as one of the "queens" of romance novels. Ran her own imprint called Brava. Published mystery authors, too. Told me she wanted to give H.T.I. to the Publisher and VP, Laurie Parkin. Kate also spoke glowingly about Sulay, who had barely said a word. "She's gonna be my boss one day." I could see that Kate was Sulay's mentor and they truly admired and respected each other. A smart move on Sulay's part getting Kate to back H.T.I. It's always the quiet ones you gotta watch out for.

After a long talk about H.T.I. and a lovely meal, Kate paid the check and told Sulay and I to have coffee and chat. Sulay used to work for an agent and had been at Kensington for only a few months. She was smart and ambitious. Most intriguing of all, she was an incredibly sweet person. Nothing pretentious about her. None of the snobbish, jaded attitude I’d experienced with other editors I’d met over the years. I knew I was extremely lucky to have her and Kate in my corner.

I got home that night and felt incredibly happy. A dream I worked so hard for, for so many years was finally coming to fruition. It was totally surreal. Now I had to wait to see what Ms. Parkin had to say…