Frankie Y. Bailey, a professor in the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany (SUNY), is the author of mysteries as well as non-fiction titles that explore the intersections of crime, history, and popular culture. She is a Macavity Award-winner and has been nominated for Edgar, Anthony, and Agatha awards.Here Bailey shares some insights about an adaptation of What the Fly Saw, her second Detective Hannah McCabe mystery:
I have no one in mind for the role of my protagonist, Hannah McCabe. Even though we have been together for two books (The Red Queen Dies and What the Fly Saw), I have only a general idea of what she looks like. She is tall (around 5’8”), pale brown (biracial, black mother, white father) with brown eyes, curly, somewhat unruly, dark hair with a hint of red (her father had red hair in his youth). She is in excellent physical condition because she’s a cop and works out. But I tend to see her from the inside out. She doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about how she looks and that means I don’t either – unless I am seeing her through the eyes of another character and watching that character respond to her. But then it tends to be more about that other character than about Hannah.Visit Frankie Y. Bailey's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.
I do know who I would cast as McCabe’s father. Angus McCabe is a retired journalist and newspaper editor. I imagined him before I imagined Hannah. I saw him as the late actor Darren McGavin, who I’ve always enjoyed watching.
As to who I might like to direct the movie, I think that would depend on the script. For example, if the emphasis were on suspense, I would have to go with my favorite director, Alfred Hitchcock. But I can imagine Kathryn Bigelow, who directed Strange Days, doing really interesting things with the near-future, urban setting. And since Hitchcock is dead....
The Page 69 Test: What the Fly Saw.
--Marshal Zeringue
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