Rejection...not always a bad thing...

As Kristy has already mentioned (and officially "assigned" me to telling this story) I read her short prose in Third Coast after submitting a short of my own, "Gracie". You see, many short story contests have an entry fee, and though you may not be selected to have your words included in the pages of the journal, magazine, etc., you often get a "free" copy for your submission. "Gracie" was rejected in this instance, however, as I bitterly skimmed the content index, my eye caught a story title: "A Measure of the Sin". Growing up Catholic, this meant something to me. I flipped to the story, knowing it would be nowhere near as good as my story. After reading the first few sentences I realized I was wrong. Very wrong. By the time I reached the end of the story I was sincerely speechless. The first thing I knew to do was to flip back to the beginning of the story to read it again, hoping it would be as good the second time. It wasn't. It was better. It was at this point I knew I had to find the author of this amazing story. After calling nearly every workshop she'd attended, every publication she'd appeared in (a significant amount), I couldn't find Kristy Nielsen. Knowing I was the right person to make these words into moving images, provided she gave me permission, I stayed in pursuit. Months grew into years before I thought of the most genuine and genius stalker move: Send an email to kristynielsen@...and I hit her twice. Her initial response consisted of only a few words, which is all any victim of a stalker would offer, if any at all. After sending Kristy many articles, films, etc. of my work, we gained a rapport very quickly, and before long I was told to go off and shoot.