Death of a Nightingale

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I never wanted to write a book. As a screenwriter and director, this isn't my format. But one of my producer friends encouraged me to write this specific story into a novel and I'm grateful that he did. I learned so much about this world and each of the characters. I hope you, dear reader enjoyed it.

I would like to thank very much my lovely editor, Chris Tetzlaff who started speed-editing on strange deadlines and wild requirements. Thank you!

I also want to say a big 'thank you very much' to my wonderful writer's assistant, Caroline Krystoff, who taught me that even as an older millennial, I'm already too old to use social media properly. Thanks for taking that over.

Another big, 'so many thank yous' goes to my swiss army knife manager Jon Hersh for his unshakable patience over the last few years, his trust, and simply for believing in me and my art. All of us crazy storytellers need someone to encourage us, push us forward and sometimes guide us off a ledge. Also, thank you for indulging every insane idea that crosses my mind and thinking about it before evaluating it properly. I also want to thank Paradigm for signing a little writer, whose first and second languages are not English and crossing their fingers, hoping for the best.

Death of a Nightingale is a trilogy. To give you a little taste of it, here is how the poem continues through parts two and three.

Part One:

Death of a Nightingale:

Last night upon the stair,

I saw a girl who wasn't there.

She wasn't there again today

Oh, how I wish, she'd go away.

She loves a songbird, pure and fair

A nightingale, a song of air,

of innocence, of life and yearning,

a bird of love, but dead, come morning.

Part Two:

Hawk of the Night:

Now hawk, a hunter,

Prey in sight.

A bird of wonder,

Bird in flight.

Stronger now, the other side.

With a lovely, human heart of might.

Of romance, full of hope and light,

To set ablaze the darkest night.

Part Three:

Crow of Darkness:

Last night upon the stair

I saw a crow just waiting there.

When I came back next night at three

The crow was waiting there for me.

Peculiar bird of death, the crow

to pick and lead my soul below,

into the blackest night of hollow

Where she alone can freely follow.

This is loosely based the first four lines on the "Antigonish", a poem from 1899 by the American educator and poet, William Hughes Mearns. It is also known as "The Little Man Who Wasn't There". It is in the public domain. The other parts of the poem were created for each of the books/films to summarize the journey of the main character.