In February, I told you about Milwaukee native Paul McComas' new novel, "Planet of the Dates," published by The Permanent Press, which follows girl-crazy Milwaukee teen Phil Corcoran on his un-ending search for sex and love. That quest takes him around Milwaukee.

Now, McComas tells us, the book has been optioned for a motion picture by Hollywood producers Jason Koornik and Michael Henry.

McComas writes in an e-mail that, "Koornik's credits include the fine '07 science-fiction action/thriller 'Next' (starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel) and two documentaries, one musical in focus, one literary. He is currently executive-producing the bio-pic 'The Owl in Daylight,' with Paul Giamatti in the lead role as author Philip K. Dick. ... Henry's credits include 'The Best Man' (with Seth Green), the '05 version of 'Heidi' (Max Von Sidow) and 'The Proposition' (Guy Pearce).

"This option, like any, means the movie MAY get made. It's not a guarantee -- but it is the crucial first step.

When the book was published, McComas told me, "As a semi-autobiographical novel, 'Planet' contains fictionalized versions of incidents that actually occurred both inside Milwaukee and nearby -- Port Washington, Mars Cheese Castle, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood," McComas tells me. "The events I made up entirely were easy to 'set' within the appropriate locales, simply because Milwaukee has a character all its own and is an easy city, over time, to 'know,' as one might know a person."

Read the full story on "Planet of the Dates."