Have you ever wondered what would happen if you could help someone find closure, help them find their way home; a complete stranger they might be, but–would you help them?

Now, what if I told you that complete stranger was a ghost, a spirit–would you help them or run in the other direction? Cold Brook, a small cinematic drama that features William Fichtner and Kim Coates, is Fichtner’s directorial debut–the movie is also about exactly as I describe above.

It’s a loving, telling movie about two best friends on a journey, albeit a mystical and magical one, to help a soul in need. It speaks to me because with all that is going on in our society today, I have still seen so much love and generosity from the most unlikely places (yes it does exist). My husband was diagnosed, in August, with brain cancer. He’s 44, and we were just getting ready to adopt our first child, a little baby girl (something we have been waiting over five years for). While putting our life on hold to save his life, we found that there is no shortage of love, community, and prayer. This type of story is one I did not expect to play out in my own life, yet here we are. Friends and colleagues gathered and put a fundraiser together for us; over 340 people attended! We have received cards from people we only met a few times; prayer cards have come in from Australia, England, Florida. I’ve never seen so much support and love in my whole life. My husband and I are fighters, we never give up. We are very faithful and believe in prayer, we believe good things come to those who wait (and believe). I believe in miracles, hope, and magic. With that said, we just got his first results last week….the tumor has shrunk dramatically! The doctors were a bit stunned, we are not. We are thrilled and will keep at it, because we got this!

The reason I mention this is, like Cold Brook, generosity can come from the most unlikely of places! Miracles do happen. It’s a charming movie that brought Fichtner to his hometown of Buffalo NY, and the good news is–it won’t stop there!

It was announced today that the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) announced its Cineposium for next year will be held in western New York. Next year will be the 44th year for the conference, which will be held in mid-September. Much of this is due to the diligent efforts of people like Fichtner, Coats, and Film Commissioner Tim Clark, along with this city’s mayor Brown. It’s an exciting new chapter in Buffalo’s story (and mine).

Bill Fichtner also took my book with him as he heads back to L.A.!! Yes, Finding Morgan is finding her way to the city of lights (by way of duffel bag–but still). It was an honor to meet Bill and Kim (for whom I share an admiration of historical buildings and great food with).

Finding Morgan is on sale now on Amazon, Target, B&N, Book Baby Book Shop, Books-a-Million, and so many more! It’s a great stocking-stuffer for the adventurous reader in your life.

I’m diligently working on book 2, and will update all of you on that soon!

Published by smtraphagen

SM Traphagen is a writer and novelist. Her works have appeared on Buffaloeats.org, Accounting Today Magazine, St. Reds Magazine, The Culture-ist Magazine, Buffalo Healthy Living Magazine, among others. With a fiction novel written, the hope is to expand the world of fiction in fun and creative ways. Her love of writing fiction and food have culminated in a website that blends the two, including Digestion Suggestion and Untold Shorties.

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