Monday, May 5, 2014

Dandi Daley Mackall's "My Boyfriends' Dogs"

Dandi Daley Mackall has written many books for children and adults. She has held a humorist column and served as freelance editor, has hosted over 200 radio phone-in programs, and has made dozens of appearances on TV.

Here she shares some thoughts on the coming adaptation of her book for teens, My Boyfriends' Dogs:
Funny thing is, this book is in the process of becoming a Hallmark movie right now! I’ve made a living writing books for 30 years, and this is the first time one has become a movie (if you don’t count one animated series and a few Scooby Doo and Yogi Bear episodes). I was able to see part of the filming last month, and watching my characters walk around as real people, saying dialogue that once was only in my head—that was surreal. And wonderful. Plus, everyone was so nice to me. I learned that movies film scenes out of order, which would drive me crazy if I were an actress (and nobody invited me to act). So the first day on the set, I got to watch the filming of the climactic wedding scene, and the next day we moved outside to a little village and shot the scene where Bailey and Eric first met. The shoot was scheduled from 7 to 7, and the crew must have set up hours earlier.

Honestly, when I write, I don’t picture celebrities. If I’m not picturing myself (usually at a younger age…), I’m imagining people I’ve known, or glimpsed somewhere. In My Boyfriends' Dogs, Erika Christensen (of Parenthood, Traffic, etc.) stars as Bailey Daley, and she’s perfect—cute, funny, smart. I loved her boyfriends, too. And don’t even get me started on the dogs (Adam the Golden, Eve the Dalmatian, and Shirley the Shih-Tzu)—I fell in love with them. The movie airs on the Hallmark Channel 9 o’clock Saturday night, July 19.

My newest novel is The Secrets of Tree Taylor, out this month from Knopf/Random House, and I confess I pictured myself as young Tree (Theresa), growing up in the sixties in the small town of Hamilton, Missouri, which happens to be where I grew up too. So, in case anyone out there would like to make a movie of this novel, I’ll happily take acting lessons.
Visit Dandi Daley Mackall's website.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Dandi Daley Mackall & Moxie and Munch.

--Marshal Zeringue