Suzanne Redfearn’s "In An Instant"

Suzanne Redfearn is the award-winning author of three novels: Hush Little Baby, No Ordinary Life, and In An Instant. Born and raised on the east coast, Redfearn moved to California when she was fifteen. She currently lives in Laguna Beach with her husband where they own two restaurants: Lumberyard and Slice Pizza & Beer. In addition to being an author, Redfearn is an architect specializing in residential and commercial design.

About In An Instant:

Life is over in an instant for sixteen-year-old Finn Miller when a devastating car accident tumbles her and ten others over the side of a mountain. Suspended between worlds, she watches helplessly as those she loves struggle to survive. Impossible choices are made, decisions that leave the survivors tormented with grief and regret. Unable to let go, Finn keeps vigil as they struggle to reclaim their shattered lives.

Heartrending yet ultimately redemptive, In an Instant is a story about the power of love, the meaning of family, and carrying on…even when it seems impossible.

Here Redfearn dreamcasts an adaptation of In An Instant:

I love this prompt. What author doesn’t want to dream up a cast of actors to play their characters? Of course I want Bradley Cooper for the male lead, and if Brad is not available, I guess I would settle for Hugh Jackman. I will have to be on the set of course for script consultation and perhaps wardrobe fittings, and though the story is serious and not musical in the least, we might need to add a ditty in there somewhere so they can sing.

The narrator for In An Instant is a dead feisty sixteen-year-old named Finn. I don’t think you would see her after her death, which happens pretty early in the story, so the voice would be really important. Maybe someone who has a great rasp, like Lindsay Lohan when she played Maggie in Herbie: Fully Loaded.

Mo, Finn’s best friend, is one of the heroines in the story. Dauntless yet fragile, she struggles to find the truth as the story of their survival is rewritten. She is easy to fall in love with, so I imagine an intelligent beauty like a young Amanda Seyfried.

Chloe, Finn’s sister, is the only one who knows Finn still lingers. Damaged more than the others because of choices she made that fateful night in the snow, she teeters on the edge of self-destruction, and though she was rescued, it’s not certain she will survive. I imagine someone like Ashley Greene when she played Alice Cullen in Twilight, a dark complex beauty who is able to be both strong and broken at once.

Ann, Finn’s heroic mother who saved them all, is haunted by her decisions. She struggles with the choices she made and to move past her guilt. She is the backbone of the story and needs an actress who is tough yet incredibly real. A friend suggested Rosamund Pike, and I think she would be perfect.

Visit Suzanne Redfearn's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Coffee with a Canine: Suzanne Redfearn and Cooper.

My Book, The Movie: Hush Little Baby.

My Book, The Movie: No Ordinary Life.

--Marshal Zeringue