Brandi Reeds's "The Day I Disappeared"

Brandi Reeds is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Trespassing and Third Party. Under the pseudonym Sasha Dawn, she writes critically acclaimed young adult novels of psychological suspense, including Panic; Blink, an Edgar Award nominee; and Oblivion, which was chosen as one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Teens, recommended by the School Library Journal, endorsed by the American Library Association, and selected by the 2016 Illinois Reading Council as a featured book.

Here Reeds dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Day I Disappeared:

Sometimes, I have actors in mind when I'm drafting a novel. In the case of The Day I Disappeared, I definitely envisioned certain artists as particular characters. Others came to me as hybrids of actors. If The Day I Disappeared were to be adapted to film, here's how I'd cast it:

Holly Adryenne Gebhardt is an early-20s carpenter, very capable, independent, but somewhat of a romantic mess and sometimes wandering instead of ambitious. As she started to come to life on the page, I began to see Emma Roberts in this role. She can portray a badass, but has a certain softness to her that will help flesh out Holly. I could also see America Ferrara here.

Kitten Hershey is Holly's best friend. She's been engaged to be married, somewhat spoiled, but she has good intentions. I envisioned Kathryn Newton in this role, probably because I'd just seen Blockers when I started outlining the book. Kitten must be glamorous, but she's also casual, the kind of girl who can easily scarf down a hotdog in jeans and T-shirt.

Matt Hershey is a golden child, a U.S. Soldier, Kitten's older brother, and the boy Holly had a crush on as a child. I'm thinking Armie Hammer would work wonders with this role. He's all-American and hunky.

Cecily Gebhardt is Holly's mother. She was a chief suspect in Holly's kidnapping, and has been in a coma for several weeks. She's a genius with antique restoration, but motherhood does not come naturally to her. I like Eva Longoria Baston meets Scarlett Johansson.

Trevor Gebhardt is Holly's father and boss. He's a tad overprotective, but he always has Holly's best interests at heart. This one is easy: Matt Damon. My friends know that I feel a connection to Mr. Damon, and although we've never met, he often makes appearances in my dreams--but not for the reasons you might think. Sometimes, we meet on mountaintops to philosophize, sometimes he brings plans for a house he wants me to remodel. It's this last scenario that caused me to cast him as Trevor--the owner of TrevCon Homes.

Susan Hershey is Holly's mom away from mom. She's an excellent cook, homemaker, and party planner. Here, I'd cast Jennifer Aniston.

Alan Kohlbrook was convicted of kidnapping Holly 20 years ago. Whomever steps into this role has to have a creepy, but charming air about him. I'm thinking an aged up Shia LaBeouf.

Psychic Yanneth: I'd love to see Salma Hayek in this role, as Yanneth takes us on a roller coaster of emotion--from frantic to zen.

Craig Vellerman is Holly's foreman, who's something of a jerk. I'd like to see Ben Affleck or Paul Rudd in this role.

Eliot is Kitten's fiance: Jude Law all the way.

Derrion Sterling is Holly's on-again/off-again boyfriend. He's consumed with his career: James Franco.

Visit Brandi Reeds's website.

My Book, The Movie: Third Party.

The Page 99 Test: The Day I Disappeared.

--Marshal Zeringue