Alex Bledsoe's "Gather Her Round"

Alex Bledsoe grew up in west Tennessee an hour north of Graceland (home of Elvis) and twenty minutes from Nutbush (birthplace of Tina Turner). He has been a reporter, editor, photographer and door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. He now lives in a Wisconsin town famous for trolls.

Here Bledsoe dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Gather Her Round:

Since Gather Her Round is the fifth book in my Tufa series, the recurring characters have become so vivid to me, I see them as “themselves,” not actors. Still, there are possibilities. Bronwyn Chess, Iraq war veteran and minister’s wife, would be perfect for Riley Keough. Gina Carano would make a terrific Bliss Overbay if she could learn a southern accent. And although she’s too old to play the character as written, Melissa Benoist has the perfect presence for Mandalay, the hereditary leader of the Tufa.

For the new characters, Jack Cates, the game warden, would be perfectly suited to Eureka-era Colin Ferguson. For Duncan Gowan, the young man who precipitates so much of the story, Nicholas Hoult has the right demeanor of someone who tries to do the right thing and always gets it wrong. For Janet, the musical prodigy who gets pulled into the story, Ariel Winter, with her comedic chops, would be great (and, for stunt casting, Ariana Grande would be a hoot as Janet’s perpetually-stoned best friend Ginny).

Learn more about the book and author at Alex Bledsoe's website.

The Page 69 Test: Wisp of a Thing (Tufa #2).

The Page 69 Test: Long Black Curl (Tufa #3).

--Marshal Zeringue