Sarah McCoy's "The Mapmaker’s Children"

Sarah McCoy is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of The Baker’s Daughter, a 2012 Goodreads Choice Award Best Historical Fiction nominee; the novella “The Branch of Hazel” in Grand Central; The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico; and The Mapmaker’s Children (Crown, 2015).

Her work has been featured in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post and other publications. McCoy has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. She calls Virginia home but presently lives with her husband, an Army physician, and their dog, Gilly, in El Paso, Texas.

Here McCoy dreamcasts an adaptation of The Mapmaker’s Children:

I never usually allow myself to participate (privately or publicly) in the “if they made my book into a movie” game simply because it sparks a hopeful longing for my book to actually be made into a film—and no matter what anybody says, every author would love to see their book’s fictional world come to life. Also, I enjoy hearing how readers envision my characters and never want to put a person in their mind who comes with judgments based on, you know, what that actress/actress posted on Facebook, etc.

All that being said and in the spirit of la-dee-da Hollywood, I’ll play along. But please be forewarned, I have absolutely no concept of who’s hip these days. My film/TV/celebrity knowledge is pretty limited. Example: I’m still wondering how Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are forty years old! I mean, weren’t those two kids just on Titanic like… yesterday? Nonetheless, I’ll do my best to cast The Mapmaker’s Children.

For my contemporary main character Eden Anderson, maybe Amy Adams or Natalie Portman. I’ve seen both actresses portray empowered women of complexity. They can be sweet and funny while simultaneously dark and secretive. I’ll throw Anna Kendrick into this mix too. She’s quirky and I like her.

For my historical main character Sarah Brown, I’d say Lily Collins or Maisie Williams. They fit Sarah Brown’s age at the beginning of the novel and have proven in previous films to have the maturity necessary to convincingly portray an older Sarah. Plus I think both are gorgeous and resemble the portrait of Sarah that sat on my desk through the three years of writing the book.

For Eden’s husband Jack Anderson, I’m going to go straight hedonistic: Henry Cavill. Readers who follow me on Twitter will not be surprised by that pick. However, while writing, I envisioned Jack to be something more along the Hugh Grant lines.

For Sarah Brown’s historical love, Freddy Hill, it’s unquestionably Jonathon Crombie circa 1985. God rest his beautiful soul.

Learn more about the book and author at Sarah McCoy’s website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Coffee with a Canine: Sarah McCoy and Gilbert.

The Page 69 Test: The Mapmaker's Children.

--Marshal Zeringue