Erika Marks's "It Comes In Waves"

Erika Marks is a native New Englander who now makes her home in North Carolina with her husband and their two little mermaids. She is also the author of The Guest House, Little Gale Gumbo, and The Mermaid Collector.

Here Marks dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, It Comes In Waves:

I am a card-carrying movie junkie. Just ask my husband. It’s a joke in our house that we offer the perfect balance of knowledge to our two children: he, the biologist, covers the science, while I take care of the very important subject of enlightening our daughters about all things cinematic.

So it goes without saying that I see my novels as movies all the while I am writing them, and  It Comes In Waves was no exception. Sometimes I cast my books right away, other times I have to let the characters evolve and grow before it is clear to me who they resemble, or who they might be played by if my book was ever made into a movie.

(Did I mention how much I love this blog and the chance to cast my book for film? Thank you!)

Okay, here we go…

Claire: She’s tough but very vulnerable, a woman struggling to connect with her daughter, but also longing for the lost passion of her days as a champion surfer when she was madly in love and full of hope. I think Diane Lane would make a fantastic Claire in that she’d show the perfect combination of grit and fragility, and that all-important rawness of someone faced with their past and forced to confront it.

Jill: She’s the opposite of Claire but the role would need to be played by someone equally gifted at portraying the nuances of a woman, wife, mother, friend at a crossroads in her own life. I could envision Ashley Judd or Jennifer Garner bringing that mix of softness and steadfastness of Jill, but also be that woman who keeps her own feelings buried to keep the peace, to avoid the drama that Claire often indulges, to be the dutiful wife and mother.

Foster: Since we only know Foster in his early twenties, Garrett Hedlund might be a good choice for the fun-loving, big-hearted surfer.

Shep: All-star handsome but tender-hearted, Chris O’Donnell would be a good choice for the guy who never got over losing his one true love, Jill, and then got her back again.

Ivy: Foster’s mother is a true bohemian but also a tough cookie who still wants her own independence and always speaks her mind. I’d love to see Diane Keaton in that role and return to her more breezy Annie Hall days. Or Susan Sarandon would be fabulous too.

Maura: Sigourney Weaver or Jane Seymour would be perfect as Claire’s mom; always proper, slightly frosty and detached but always making sure to keep that tight, polite smile intact.

Gus: Out of all the characters, sexy surf shop owner Gus was the only one I had cast from the outset, having just seen the movie Breaking Mavericks, so he is, and will always be, Gerard Butler in my mind.

Learn more about the book and author at Erika Marks's website.

My Book, The Movie: Little Gale Gumbo.

--Marshal Zeringue