Gini Koch's "Alien in Chief"

Gini Koch writes the fast, fresh and funny Alien/Katherine "Kitty" Katt series for DAW Books, the Necropolis Enforcement Files series, and the Martian Alliance Chronicles series. Touched by an Alien, Book 1 in the Alien series, was named by Booklist as one of the Top Ten Adult SF/F novels of 2010. Alien in the House, Book 7 in the Alien series, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award as the Best Futuristic Romance of 2013. The latest novel in the series, Alien in Chief, has been nominated for the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award as Best Urban Fantasy of 2015.

As G.J. Koch she writes the Alexander Outland series and she's made the most of multiple personality disorder by writing under a variety of other pen names as well, including Anita Ensal, Jemma Chase, A.E. Stanton, and J.C. Koch.

Here Koch dreamcasts an adaptation of Alien in Chief:

The question of “who would you cast” has been coming up since the first book in my Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series, Touched by an Alien, came out. In part because the aliens in my series, at least the ones living on Earth, are all drop-dead gorgeous.

The female A-Cs, who Kitty nicknames the Dazzlers, are all sapiosexual and feel that brains and brain capacity are the greatest attribute. Therefore, they feel that Stephen Hawking is flat out the hottest person on the planet. The male A-Cs like our smart, gutsy women. The A-Cs in general have no skin color or sexuality hang-ups, though they do have some religious ones.

So, I get to pick really great looking actors for my list, but it does shift as the years go by, for a variety of reasons.

The main reason is that there’s almost no one out there who looks exactly like the characters as I see them in my mind – with some notable exceptions. The other reasons are that there are those actors who I think are perfect (check out my Pinterest page for my current examples), there are actors who look right but I don’t think could actually do the roles right and vice versa, and then there are those actors who I think could open a movie or launch a TV show and ensure that it has legs.

Funnily enough, a fan nominated Touched by an Alien over at the If List so you can see who my fans are suggesting. Some of their suggestions make me wonder if I’m at all good with description, but, hey, you see who you see, am I right?

But, since this is about who I envision, here we go with my top choices.

Katherine “Kitty” Katt, my accidental badass heroine who saves the day with her knowledge of comics and pop culture, hairspray, and rock ‘n’ roll: Emma Stone

Jeff Martini, my alien hero who’s also the most powerful empath on the planet, the Head of Field for Centaurion Division, and a carefree, cocky flirt (or is he?): Chris Hemsworth

Christopher White, Martini’s brooding cousin, the Head of Imageering for Centaurion Division, and Martini’s rival for Kitty’s affections: Chris Pine

James Reader, the former top international fashion model who’s never met a skill he can’t master quickly and who becomes Kitty’s BFF in the new world she’s flung into: Matt Bomer – in this case, Bomer was literally born to play Reader – he looks exactly like I envisioned Reader.

Tim Crawford, the “bench player” who proves his worth: Joseph Gordon-Levitt – this is another case of an actor being extremely close to how I see the character; only I think Tim has curly hair, not that I think I’ve ever mentioned it in the books.

Richard White, the Supreme Pontifex, Christopher’s father, Martini and Gower’s uncle: My original choice, and who I use in the books is Timothy Dalton. However, I had the opportunity to meet Ted Danson a couple years ago and he’s a stone cold silver fox, so he’s who I’d pick now.

Lorraine, one of the two Dazzlers that becomes one of Kitty’s BFFs: Scarlett Johansson – this one is also how I see the character

Claudia, the other Dazzler who becomes Kitty’s BFF: Jessica Alba – again a match for how I see the character

Paul Gower, Martini and Christopher’s cousin, Richard’s nephew, another member of Alpha Team, and Reader’s husband: D.B. Woodside

Charles “Chuckie” Reynolds: Joel McHale. He really doesn’t come in until Book 2, but he’s integral to the series and another very real rival for Kitty’s affections.

Learn more about the book and author at Gini Koch's website.

The Page 69 Test: Touched by an Alien.

The Page 69 Test: Alien in Chief.

--Marshal Zeringue