25 Decisions...Decisions

Daniels House

Lucy's gaze was fixed on her laptop, her brow furrowed in concentration, while I was laying back on the couch, my eyes aimlessly tracing patterns on the ceiling.

After the release of Percy Jackson, we had been having problems with our current publishing company. They wanted changes in our contracts, more money for them, less for us. It was a situation neither of us had anticipated, yet here we were, contemplating our next move.

Lucy broke the silence, her voice cutting through my thoughts. "Daniel, have you ever considered starting our own publishing company?" she asked, her eyes now locked on mine, searching for a reaction.

The question caught me off guard. It was a path I hadn't seriously considered before, but as I thought about it, I scolded myself for not thinking about it sooner.

"It's a big step," I finally said, sitting up to face her directly. "But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense."

"Starting our own company could give us the freedom to operate on our terms," Lucy said, walking towards me and sitting next to me.

"Well, it was always your dream, wasn't it?"

Lucy nodded.

The idea was daunting but also exhilarating. The chance to create something from the ground up, to build a publishing house, it was an opportunity too compelling to pass up.

"We'll need a solid plan, and we'll have to be prepared for the challenges ahead," I said, my mind already racing with ideas. "But I think we can do it, Lucy. I think we can make this work."

"And we wouldn't limit ourselves to just books," I added, feeling the excitement build. "Comics, graphic novels... I might have something brewing that could be big in a couple of years."

"Comics, never thought about that. We could look into it," Lucy replied.

As we were discussing the potential and logistics of our new venture, Mom walked into the room, her curiosity piqued by the animated conversation.

"What's all this excitement about?" she asked, sitting down beside us.

"We're considering starting our own publishing company," Lucy explained, her gaze shifting between me and mom.

Mom's eyebrows raised in surprise, but then a smile slowly spread across her face.

"That's a bold move. But if anyone can make it work, it's you two," she said.

"And you, Mom. We'd want you to be part of this, too. Actually, we'd like you to be one of the owners, alongside Lucy," I said, turning to face her directly.

"You have been taking classes and shadowing Lucy for years, so I think you're ready for this," I added.

The proposal seemed to take her aback for a moment before she composed herself, her eyes reflecting a mixture of pride and determination.

"I'd be honored," she said, giving me a kiss on my cheek.

"We'll need a name," Lucy said.

I thought about it for a while.

"How about Infinite Worlds?" I suggested. "For the infinite possibilities we are going to explore."

Lucy and my mom exchanged a look before nodding in agreement. "Infinite Worlds it is," Lucy confirmed with a decisive nod.

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Stardust Studios

I was at Stardust Studios to check on the progress of the ongoing projects, Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo, which was in the early development stages.

I leaned over the storyboard sketches for Finding Nemo. The team had been working tirelessly on it.

"We're working on the scene where Marlin and Dory encounter the jellyfish field," explained one of the artists.

As he spoke, I could almost see the scene come to life in my mind.

The storyboard artist pulled up another sketch. "Here's where Marlin realizes the only way through is to bounce on the tops of the jellyfish."

I nodded, impressed. "I love it, just as I imagined it to be."

Before we could delve deeper into the discussion, a production assistant approached.

"Daniel, Chris wanted to meet you in his office when you're free. He said it's important."

I glanced at my watch, realizing how quickly time had passed. "Thanks for letting me know."

With that, I excused myself from the room, curious about what Chris wanted to discuss.

Reaching Chris's office, I knocked lightly before entering. Chris was seated behind his desk, looking up from a pile of scripts as I walked in.

"Daniel," Chris greeted, a serious tone to his voice that piqued my curiosity.

"What's up, Chris? Everything okay?" I asked, taking a seat across from him.

Chris leaned back in his chair, folding his hands. "Everything is fine. It's actually something else I wanted to talk to you about."

I nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"You mentioned branching into live-action filmmaking a while back. I've been giving it some thought," Chris began, his eyes assessing my reaction.

I remembered our conversation. The idea of expanding into live-action was a gamble but one that could potentially open up new avenues for Stardust Studios and for me, as I could get started on my comic book movie plans.

"And?" I prompted, eager to hear his thoughts.

"I think it's time we took that leap. But, we should start small, test the waters with a modest budget. I believe we have the creative talent to make it work," Chris explained, his usual confidence shining through.

"That's great to hear, Chris. I'm all in."

"Do you have any ideas? I can see a lot of scripts here," I asked, looking at the piles of paper on his desk.

"Yes, I was looking through some but haven't found anything good yet. I have also asked Sam and Dave to work on it as well; they asked if you could join them."

Sam and Dave were the writers I worked with for the Toy Story script. They were very good ones too, and I got along well with them.

"I guess I could give it a try."

"Now, Daniel, the budget for this would be very low."

"How low?"

"As low as it can be."

I thought for a while, thinking of low-budget movies that made a large amount of money.

"Let me work with those two; maybe we can come up with something."

Chris nodded, and I excused myself to meet with Sam and Dave. The idea of making a movie, especially with a shoestring budget, intrigued me. It reminded me of the indie films that made it big despite their financial constraints.

Arriving at Sam and Dave's workspace, I found them buried in a myriad of notes and books.

"Hey, guys," I greeted, pulling up a chair.

"I just talked to Chris; he mentioned you're looking into a live-action project with a modest budget."

Sam, always the more analytical of the two, pushed his glasses up his nose. "Modest is an understatement."

"I might have an idea to solve the budget problems, but it could be risky," I said, capturing their attention.

"Ever heard of the found footage genre?" I added.

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John and Joanna's House

We were in the middle of a D&D session, one of the many we had since I started as the GM. I found myself being good at doing this.

Matt, John, Joanna, Lucia, and another boy from next door called Alex waited for me to continue. It was the final battle of the campaign.

"As the dust settled on the battlefield, you stand victorious over the fallen sorceress Varina."

Everyone cheers.

"However, your celebration is short-lived as you watch dark smoke escape from her body."

"Because she was a necromancer, Varina isn't completely dead," I explained, noting the disappointment on their faces. "Her essence has escaped, likely to seek out a new form."

Lucia turned to Matt with a mock glare. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't rolled a one last game, we could've gotten that artifact to finish her off for good."

Matt, sheepish yet defiant, replied, "Hey, it's not my fault the dice gods were against me. Besides, it made things more interesting, didn't it?"

The room filled with light-hearted groans and laughter.

"Alright, that concludes our campaign," I announced, closing my notebook.

"Thanks, Daniel. This was awesome. I can't wait to see what you have planned for us next," Joanna said.

John and Lucia hung back as the rest of the group began to disperse. I noticed them exchanging a glance before John stepped forward.

"Hey, Daniel, before you go, we've got something we want to show you," John said, a hint of nervousness.

Lucia nodded, her expression serious. "It's about Jo."

I paused, intrigued. "What about her?"

John took a laptop from the table and pulled up a video. "Just watch," he said, pressing play.

The screen lit up to reveal Joanna, microphone in hand, singing a song. Her voice was captivating.A blend of warmth and clarity.

I was taken aback. "She's incredible," I said, genuinely impressed. "Why haven't I heard her sing before?"

Lucia chuckled. "Jo's shy about her talent. But that's not all. She writes songs too, but she's hit a bit of a wall creatively."

John nodded, looking at me earnestly. "We were hoping you might help her."

"I'm not much of a songwriter," I protested.

"You literally won a Golden Globe for it," John exclaimed.

"Oh, I did, didn't I?" I replied.

I thought for a while. Maybe I can help her. I could try, maybe a song or two.

"Sure, I could help her out. But why didn't she ask me herself?" I added after taking a moment to think.

"Hey, have you seen my laptop?" Joanna said as she entered the room. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw us and the video playing on the laptop.

"What are you doing?" Joanna asked, embarrassed as her face started turning red.

John and Lucia exchanged a quick, guilty look before John turned the laptop screen away, pausing the video. "We were just showing Daniel your singing," John admitted sheepishly.

"Why?" she asked in a small voice.

"It's good, Jo. There's nothing to be embarrassed about," I said, trying to ease the tension in the room.

Joanna's embarrassment was palpable, her eyes flickering down before meeting mine again. "I... I didn't want anyone to see that," she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You are a talented singer, Jo. There's no need to be embarrassed about it," I said, leading them to take a seat on the couch.

John jumped in. "Jo, you've been struggling with writing new songs recently. Who better to help you than an award-winning songwriter himself?"

I didn't come up with that song… I mentally sighed... What am I getting myself into here…

Wait, maybe I can do the same thing here, feed her some lines from songs that haven't come out yet and have her make up the rest of it.

Joanna glanced at me, her embarrassment still evident. "You'd really help me?" she asked, her tone softening.

I nodded, smiling. "Of course, Joanna. I'd be honored. I think we could come up with something great together."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Joanna's mouth, and she seemed to relax a little. "Okay," she said, finally. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

John and Lucia visibly relaxed, exchanging triumphant looks. "See? We told you he'd be cool with it," Lucia said, giving Joanna a gentle nudge.

"Yeah, yeah," Joanna conceded, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, Daniel." she said with a grateful smile directed at me

Getting involved in the music industry was not on my list, but hey.... I always wanted to meet Taylor Swift.

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Recommend some songs for Joanna.

Next chapter..... Daniel meets Haley.