tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16971675712691605942024-03-18T15:42:30.733-05:00MY BOOK, THE MOVIEThey would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novelsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2429125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-10314348484669651372024-03-17T00:05:00.001-05:002024-03-17T00:05:00.133-05:00Rachel Lyon's "Fruit of the Dead"<p></p><a href="https://www.rachellyon.work/about" target="_blank">Rachel Lyon</a> is author of the novels <i>Self-Portrait with Boy</i>—a finalist for the Center for Fiction's 2018 First Novel Prize—and <i><a href="https://www.rachellyon.work/" target="_blank">Fruit of the Dead</a></i>. Lyon's short work has appeared in <i>One Story</i>, <i>The Rumpus</i>, <i>Electric Literature</i>’s Recommended Reading, and elsewhere. She has taught creative writing at various institutions, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgQ4_2qCRQW1PCBnbVO7eRPpHXsBCalk9Mo_unmq0SX9IQz5Lj6r0nrT2LFNx-nvKFvqCIWHWgDsfHdMGvGcMyL20U9RliAPRN0icalKQYwt0nzCryebqL9AMyMN3Vy-JVao8cz7R1rWel7v3fntGcd04AZnfg_LS4gXmwzMQRRzjDalaYt9kfGRx9bUG/s595/lyon.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="386" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgQ4_2qCRQW1PCBnbVO7eRPpHXsBCalk9Mo_unmq0SX9IQz5Lj6r0nrT2LFNx-nvKFvqCIWHWgDsfHdMGvGcMyL20U9RliAPRN0icalKQYwt0nzCryebqL9AMyMN3Vy-JVao8cz7R1rWel7v3fntGcd04AZnfg_LS4gXmwzMQRRzjDalaYt9kfGRx9bUG/w260-h400/lyon.webp" width="260" /></a>most recently Bennington College, and lives with her husband and two young children in Western Massachusetts.
<br /><br />
About <i>Fruit of the Dead</i>, from the publisher:
<blockquote>Camp counselor Cory Ansel, eighteen and aimless, afraid to face her high-strung single mother in New York, is no longer sure where home is when the father of one of her campers offers an alternative. The CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, Rolo Picazo is middle-aged, divorced, magnetic. He is also intoxicated by Cory. When Rolo proffers a childcare job (and an NDA), Cory quiets an internal warning and allows herself to be ferried to his private island. Plied with luxury and opiates manufactured by his company, she continues to tell herself she’s in charge. Her mother, Emer, head of a teetering agricultural NGO, senses otherwise. With her daughter seemingly vanished, Emer crosses land and sea to heed a cry for help she alone is convinced she hears.
</blockquote>
Here Lyon dreamcasts an adaptation of the novel:
<blockquote>
There are many young actresses who could play a version of Cory really well. She is described as tall and beautiful, but she also sees herself as awkward and gawky, with a big nose. In my opinion, Maya Hawke would be ideal.
<br /><br />
And if Maya Hawke were playing Cory—and I had all the power in the world—I'd obviously have to cast Uma Thurman in the role of Emer.
<br /><br />
Rolo Picazo would have to be played by an imposing, sinister, yet incredibly charming middle-aged man. Sometimes I imagine Javier Bardem. Sometimes I imagine James Spader.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="http://www.rachellyon.work/">Rachel Lyon's website</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2018/02/self-portrait-with-boy.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Self-Portrait with Boy</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2018/02/rachel-lyons-self-portrait-with-boy.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>Self-Portrait with Boy</i></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/03/fruit-of-dead.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Fruit of the Dead</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-63542175399218522172024-03-11T11:05:00.002-05:002024-03-12T14:42:53.656-05:00Laura McNeal's "The Swan's Nest"<p></p><a href="http://www.mcnealbooks.com/about-laura.html" target="_blank">Laura Rhoton McNeal</a> holds an MA in fiction writing from Syracuse University and has worked as a freelance journalist, a crime writer, and a high school English teacher. She is the author of the novels <i>Dark Water</i>, a finalist for the National Book Award, <i>The Practice House</i>, and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuTud4-3c1eCeiwW8A69GBh3BYlgFUXk4unCGHciI6z3J3DC90hare4XJKzZXr9amNxHTfbguuZx32aL8njVyYvdowPlqgc0I9GCTFHv06jct4PUQt9UoSbdRtUwFEqdXdNo-yXDEJliwQldsT9rJCYXJwEjXu2ftUeGM2ntVuVmSkhw7DYqZmYVkTbom/s595/mcneal.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="394" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuTud4-3c1eCeiwW8A69GBh3BYlgFUXk4unCGHciI6z3J3DC90hare4XJKzZXr9amNxHTfbguuZx32aL8njVyYvdowPlqgc0I9GCTFHv06jct4PUQt9UoSbdRtUwFEqdXdNo-yXDEJliwQldsT9rJCYXJwEjXu2ftUeGM2ntVuVmSkhw7DYqZmYVkTbom/w265-h400/mcneal.webp" width="265" /></a><i>The Incident on the Bridge</i>. She and her husband, Tom, are the authors of <i>Crooked</i>, <i>Zipped</i>, <i>Crushed</i>, and <i>The Decoding of Lana Morris</i>.<br />
<br />
Here McNeal dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-swans-nest.html" target="_blank">The Swan's Nest</a></i>:
<blockquote>
My novel, <i>The Swan’s Nest</i>, is about an impossible thing. A 32-year-old man wrote to a 38-year-old invalid he’d never seen and said he loved her. They corresponded for five months. What happened when they met is still being written about in universities around the world and celebrated in Valentine’s Day cards. The London door through which the man’s eloquent letters were pushed was saved from demolition in 1937 and carried across the Atlantic to Wellesley College. It stands in the college library as a monument to faithful, blind love.
<br /><br />
The romance happened in the mid-19th century, before photographs of people began to be common. Elizabeth Barrett, the poet, had a sketch of Robert Browning’s face, but Robert had no likeness of Elizabeth at all. He didn’t know her age or the nature of the illness that kept her confined in her room. And yet, when he wrote his first letter to her, he said he loved her verses with all his heart and he loved her, too. This is the kind of thing that a romantic person (or a maniac) might say, and that’s how Elizabeth treated it—as a fictional notion he must dismiss. As time went on and he persisted, she believed that a little light on her “ghastly face” would be enough to discourage him.
<br /><br />
For me, the problem of a movie based in fact, especially historical fiction, is the dilemma of how people and places actually looked. If the heroine was plain or short or disfigured or old, and if they lived in small, dingy rooms, the truth of that ought to be visible, or you’re not telling the same story at all. The one inescapable tyranny, I think, is not race or wealth but beauty. We accept attractive people of every race and class; those we do not find beautiful never get the same treatment.
<br /><br />
The two actresses who remind me of Elizabeth Barrett are Bel Powley and Sally Hawkins. Powley, with her enormous eyes and pale skin, looks like the idealized portraits of Elizabeth, in which sympathetic artist friends made Elizabeth's face more symmetrical and her eyes larger. Sally Hawkins has what I think of as Elizabeth’s irrepressible charm, and she resembles the Barrett-Browning photographs from later years. Characters that Sally Hawkins plays tend to overcome everything through sheer will and affection—Elizabeth Barrett had that quality, too. She was by all accounts intensely, almost supernaturally radiant.
<br /><br />
If I could choose any director, it would be Jane Campion, who made a ravishing movie about another small poet who died of lung disease: <i>Bright Star</i>, which tells the story of John Keats and Fanny Brawne. I never watch <i>Bright Star</i> (which I watch over and over) without wishing I could go and live inside it.
<br /><br />
I doubt that Jeremy Allen White has ever noticed, but he looks a lot like Robert Browning. And wouldn’t it be interesting to see him go from a Chicago sandwich shop to 19th century London?
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="http://www.mcnealbooks.com/" target="_blank">Laura McNeal's website</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://coffeecanine.blogspot.com/2016/05/laura-mcneal-link.html" target="_blank">Coffee with a Canine: Laura McNeal & Link</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2016/05/laura-mcneals-incident-on-bridge.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>The Incident on the Bridge</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-18678176084574478622024-03-09T12:05:00.001-06:002024-03-09T12:05:00.142-06:00Melanie Maure's "Sisters of Belfast"<p></p><a href="https://www.melaniemaureauthor.com/" target="_blank">Melanie Maure</a> holds a Master’s in Counselling Psychology and lives in central British Columbia. She is second generation Irish and spends a great deal of time in Ireland, which is an enduring source of inspiration for her work.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLidH5KhoXIZwn84IVj05K-_QmML3TFyKncR_cbCnI94L8jYP7zJYlY-AUZy09Ion3PPWKyqoRu_oopnKgEeyoIb5O0hMYmhb68GK5OAz9aXT7fgeFLxUVQYp9cUd1KQLP5IA2nVcy2xIh1trzaEmhzx7LOoFfwQppTiSntaj-iBHiZ9kxTGUrZcAD3cM/s527/maure.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLidH5KhoXIZwn84IVj05K-_QmML3TFyKncR_cbCnI94L8jYP7zJYlY-AUZy09Ion3PPWKyqoRu_oopnKgEeyoIb5O0hMYmhb68GK5OAz9aXT7fgeFLxUVQYp9cUd1KQLP5IA2nVcy2xIh1trzaEmhzx7LOoFfwQppTiSntaj-iBHiZ9kxTGUrZcAD3cM/w267-h400/maure.webp" width="267" /></a><br />Here Maure dreamcasts an adaptation of <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/02/sisters-of-belfast.html" target="_blank">Sisters of Belfast</a></i>, her debut novel:
<blockquote>
<i>Sisters of Belfast</i> is set mainly in Northern Ireland and partially in Newfoundland, Canada, and has four main characters—a set of twin sisters and two nuns. While there are several other characters, it is easiest to picture who would be cast as Aelish and Izzy, the twins who lose their parents during the Belfast blitz, and the two foremost nuns, Sister Mike and Sister Edel, responsible for their care in the orphanage.
<br /><br />
The tricky part of visualizing who would be cast as the twins is being able to see an actor who could portray the girls’ vastly different personalities. Saoirse Ronan is who I had in my mind as I wrote, not only because she is an Irish actor but because she gives such range and depth to her characters. She would be able to fully embody the twins and their turmoil.
<br /><br />
Sister Mike is a steady character, but not without her flaws. She represents the ability to have faith while questioning it again and again. She can bend without breaking and see most sides of a situation, yet she is not without blind spots. In my mind, this has always been my favourite actor Olivia Colman. She can portray a character that is easy to love despite their flaws.
<br /><br />
Sister Edel is the epitome of dogmatic self-righteousness. She is unbending, and eventually, this rigidity of mind and heart takes hold in her body, leaving her bedridden with rheumatoid arthritis. Like all the other characters, she has a tragedy in her history that is the genesis of her callousness. Emma Thompson could capture the stoicism that hides a deep fear of losing control that lives in Sister Edel.
<br /><br />
The one other character who was easy to picture was Leena. I cannot give away her story here, but suffice it to say she epitomizes love, eclipsing the skeptical darkness of Sister Edel. In my mind’s eye, it is clear to see Frances McDormand embodying this most pure character.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.melaniemaureauthor.com/" target="_blank">Melanie Maure's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/03/sisters-of-belfast.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Sisters of Belfast</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-25202843056269455592024-03-07T07:05:00.001-06:002024-03-07T07:05:00.144-06:00Claire Coughlan's "Where They Lie"<p></p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/claireelizabethco/" target="_blank">Claire Coughlan</a> has worked as a journalist for many years, most recently for publications such as <i>BookBrunch</i> and the <i>Sunday Independent</i>. She was a recipient of the Words Ireland National Mentoring program, funded by Kildare Arts Service and the Arts Council. Coughlan has an MFA <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIu455pZv6zfC1hLk6g5pRc3bIzhct9xcjksRvYzqeGfMJ_U2Inh0vx93gulQSUmjK-jimt_-CJft7rR78nv-dHXUS_J-J3Cle-a4PlrZjWUxhawhJUcBllPw8TvJ49Kijz8DnqKKjO27HXu9cnJKa8x0YjC7R1r1n9Lstzbb4dmzCh7LxjgtclM0TcUE/s531/Coughlan.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIu455pZv6zfC1hLk6g5pRc3bIzhct9xcjksRvYzqeGfMJ_U2Inh0vx93gulQSUmjK-jimt_-CJft7rR78nv-dHXUS_J-J3Cle-a4PlrZjWUxhawhJUcBllPw8TvJ49Kijz8DnqKKjO27HXu9cnJKa8x0YjC7R1r1n9Lstzbb4dmzCh7LxjgtclM0TcUE/w265-h400/Coughlan.webp" width="265" /></a>in creative writing from University College Dublin, and she lives in County Kildare with her husband and daughter.
<br /><br />
Here Coughlan dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/11/where-they-lie.html" target="_blank">Where They Lie</a></i>:
<blockquote>
<i>Where They Lie</i>, my debut novel, is set in Dublin in 1968, with some parts set in 1943. Ambitious and conflicted young reporter Nicoletta Sarto happens to answer the telephone just before Christmas to the information that human remains have been found in a seaside garden. These bones have already been confirmed as belonging to a missing actress Julia Bridges, who vanished twenty-five years earlier. Julia’s remains have been identified by an engraved wedding ring.
<br /><br />
My novel has been described as “atmospheric” and the setting of Dublin is an important part of evoking this atmosphere. Although the 1960s was an exciting time of change across the Irish Sea in London, they weren’t quite swinging in Ireland, due to economic hardship, mass emigration and an ostensibly deeply conservative society. However, scratch beneath the surface, and people weren’t that conservative at all. Irish people have never liked being told what to do! To retain authenticity, I’d ideally cast an Irish actor in the main role of Nicoletta, the eager junior reporter who is trying to escape the confines of her old life. Saoirse Ronan would be fantastic in the lead. She is a chameleon as an actor, and I think has just the right mix of toughness and vulnerability to bring Nicoletta alive.
<br /><br />
I would love to see Helena Bonham-Carter as the “infamous” Gloria Fitzpatrick, the backstreet abortionist of the novel. She would no doubt give a convincingly wild vitality to the part of Gloria and her idiosyncrasies.
<br /><br />
Sarah Greene, who played Connell’s mother in <i>Normal People</i>, would bring a quiet precision to Nicoletta’s frustrated-by-her-lot-in-life mother, Daniela.
<br /><br />
Aidan Turner, of the BBC’s <i>Poldark</i> fame, would make a dashing Barney King, Nicoletta’s colleague in the <i>Irish Sentinel</i> newsroom and on/off love interest.
<br /><br />
I think Brendan Gleeson would make a wonderful O’Malley, the kindly, eccentric pathologist.
<br /><br />
For Charles Creighton, the owner of Seaview House, where Julia Bridges’ remains are found, I’d love to go against type and cast <i>Friends</i> star David Schwimmer. He’s a brilliant dramatic actor, as he proved in <i>American Crime Story</i> and <i>Band of Brothers</i>; I think he would bring real depth and humanity to the part.
<br /><br />
For the two policemen - or Gardaí as we say in Ireland - I see Matt Damon as Garda O’Connor, Nicoletta’s right-thinking, voice of reason within all this mess. Damon has spent time filming in Dublin in recent years shooting <i>The Last Duel</i>, so perhaps he wouldn’t be averse to a return trip! And I’d cast <i>Scrubs</i> star John C McGinley as Inspector Morris. He’d be perfect at playing just the right mix of cynical and misguided.
</blockquote>
Follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/claireelizabethco/" target="_blank">Claire Coughlan on Instagram</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/where-they-lie.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Where They Lie</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2024/03/claire-coughlan.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Claire Coughlan</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-16295814471383390512024-03-05T09:05:00.001-06:002024-03-05T09:05:00.258-06:00Wendy Church's "Knife Skills"<p></p>
<a href="https://wendyschurch.com/" target="_blank">Wendy Church</a> is the author of the Jesse O’Hara and Shadows of Chicago Mysteries series. The first book in the Jesse O’Hara series, <i>Murder on the Spanish Seas</i>, was named one of <i>Booklist</i>’s Top Ten Debut Mystery/Thriller novels of 2023, and received a starred review.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9O10izAYpPFQ-TSYrgN91g46d4SyaoW5bgX9hcX7LQ-mWagRMHAHSnE8i6L2fwM2gbfNVNUYQjqOTSXwzlFMRMNmR4ihFiMKTR5cY2oYRM_VZjcL3zfMwz1BGL_syznVf2zP45LutjyFH8xhyz-dSWBntGtoIRjLu_ilVPljr0AXzLB6QpwgJbzNaYXk/s473/church.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9O10izAYpPFQ-TSYrgN91g46d4SyaoW5bgX9hcX7LQ-mWagRMHAHSnE8i6L2fwM2gbfNVNUYQjqOTSXwzlFMRMNmR4ihFiMKTR5cY2oYRM_VZjcL3zfMwz1BGL_syznVf2zP45LutjyFH8xhyz-dSWBntGtoIRjLu_ilVPljr0AXzLB6QpwgJbzNaYXk/w254-h400/church.webp" width="254" /></a><br />
Church's newest books are <a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/12/murder-beyond-pale.html" target="_blank"><i>Murder Beyond the Pale</i>, the second Jesse O’Hara mystery</a>, and <a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/02/knife-skills.html" target="_blank"><i>Knife Skills</i>, the first Shadows of Chicago mystery</a>.
<br /><br />Here Church dreamcasts an adaptation of <i>Knife Skills</i>:
<blockquote>
The main protagonist in <i>Knife Skills</i> is Sagarine Pfister, a chef who finds herself at the beginning of the book in a restaurant walk-in freezer, looking at the body of her dead boss, head chef Louis Ferrar. Sagarine is a driven, exceedingly talented woman in her late twenties who’s underemployed because of her family. I imagine her being played in a movie by Rose Leslie, although she’d have to drop her beautiful accent as Sagarine is from Chicago. Another actress who could play her would be Jennifer Lawrence. I know <a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2022/06/wendy-churchs-murder-on-spanish-seas.html" target="_blank">I named JL as being cast as the lead in my previous book</a> with a completely different protagonist, but she’s so skilled at changing her look. Both of these women have a little bit of an edge that I’d want to see in Sagarine.
<br /><br />
Sagarine’s best friend and roommate, Maude, I envision being played by Kristen Stewart, as I think she could pull off the smart, nerd/goth look and personality of Maude.
<br /><br />
Whoever directed this would need experience with suspense and humor, as well as be comfortable filming in a kitchen, and dealing with food, as that’s a central piece of the book. Maybe Christopher Storer, who directs <i>The Bear</i>, as this book has been compared to the show, partnered with Kathryn Bigelow who did <i>Point Break</i>, to bring in the suspense and action elements.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://wendyschurch.com/" target="_blank">Wendy Church's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2022/05/murder-on-spanish-seas.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Murder on the Spanish Seas</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2022/06/wendy-church.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Wendy Church</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2022/06/wendy-churchs-murder-on-spanish-seas.html" target="_blank">
My Book, The Movie: <i>Murder on the Spanish Seas</i></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/murder-beyond-pale.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Murder Beyond the Pale</i></a>.<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/03/knife-skills.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Knife Skills</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-57460953691574348792024-03-02T09:05:00.001-06:002024-03-02T09:05:00.305-06:00Angela Crook's "Hurt Mountain"<p></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhD6p9asmPCVVJ8xVhTJNnxwWVMSQm05t0tC896y_kyaWm072T6xtvJJSlUcQtDndxzBOS21tf7TgI25boLMAZDaRBsNjjtLRHrm8oeDk56HHI5VYy7_SwlXpAbrs2QlE1NbNmeJd3aUAfC_Kh9H1YtB5GT6W90nb66O0yIq9TC81xLzlHMufSpoqA0D9K/s425/crook.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="275" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhD6p9asmPCVVJ8xVhTJNnxwWVMSQm05t0tC896y_kyaWm072T6xtvJJSlUcQtDndxzBOS21tf7TgI25boLMAZDaRBsNjjtLRHrm8oeDk56HHI5VYy7_SwlXpAbrs2QlE1NbNmeJd3aUAfC_Kh9H1YtB5GT6W90nb66O0yIq9TC81xLzlHMufSpoqA0D9K/w207-h320/crook.jpg" width="186" /></a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/angela__crook/" target="_blank">Angela Crook</a> is a novelist and mother, from Cleveland, Ohio, who loves writing dark thrillers that often involve the exploration of the inner workings of family relationships.
<br /><br />
Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/02/hurt-mountain.html" target="_blank">Hurt Mountain</a></i>:
<blockquote>
Young girls are disappearing, taken by a sinister figure who lives in the Colorado mountains. A divorced couple who is still dealing with their own tragic loss, rescue a brutalized child from the side of the road and decide to step in to help her find her heal and find her family, no matter the risks to themselves.
<br /><br />
If my book was made into a movie, Nicole Ari Parker, would make an excellent lead actress for the main character Olivia.
<br /><br />
Zendaya would make for a perfect Olivia.
<br /><br />
Chad Michael Murray would be a great Brandon Hall.
<br /><br />
Forest Whitaker would be an amazing choice for Farmer Hurt. He would also be a fantastic choice for director. I love what he did with <i>Waiting to Exhale</i>, and I think his more sinister role as Bumpy Johnson in <i>Godfather of Harlem</i> is a great reference for my bad guy and the darkness of the story.
</blockquote>
Follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AngelaCrookAuthor/" target="_blank">Angela Crook on Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/angela__crook/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.threads.net/@angela__crook" target="_blank">Threads</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-57127533919289623672024-02-28T08:05:00.005-06:002024-02-28T08:05:00.137-06:00Tammy Greenwood's "The Still Point"<p></p><a href="https://www.tammygreenwood.com/" target="_blank">Tammy Greenwood</a> is the acclaimed author of fifteen novels and a four-time winner of the San Diego Book Award. Six of her novels have been Indie Next Picks, including her most recent, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-golden-hour.html" target="_blank">The Still Point</a></i>, an “intimate journey into the exclusive world of ballet” (Mary Kubica) inspired by her own experiences as the mother of a professional dancer. Revolving around the cutthroat hothouse of a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3t7gcPd-20nB588xhCSL0loLcmDSAov77sbeXIOhgQk_Ae7Y10beiba3XBX5bwLtH5vy_6HfB7qayjjswnRhk1r-QI-PVK8tGdkn5DbDpKFCpvzi_f_-Fim2916XzbKF_NJVYKV295skKqqleQooI3uPy6fKOILZ6tuFtIvFhlPDR9GdCHZ2n2Tg2OkTk/s320/greenwood.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="214" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3t7gcPd-20nB588xhCSL0loLcmDSAov77sbeXIOhgQk_Ae7Y10beiba3XBX5bwLtH5vy_6HfB7qayjjswnRhk1r-QI-PVK8tGdkn5DbDpKFCpvzi_f_-Fim2916XzbKF_NJVYKV295skKqqleQooI3uPy6fKOILZ6tuFtIvFhlPDR9GdCHZ2n2Tg2OkTk/w267-h400/greenwood.jpg" width="267" /></a>California dance school, it is both a love letter to the world of ballet and a challenge to its toxic hierarchies, intense competition, and dark drive towards perfection that pushes girls – and their families – to their physical and emotional extremes. Greenwood and her family split their time between Vermont and San Diego, where she teaches creative writing for The Writer's Center and San Diego Writers, Ink.
<br /><br />
Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of <i>The Still Point</i>:
<blockquote>
<i>The Still Point</i>, of all my novels, feels the best-suited to a TV series. It follows the lives of three pre-professional ballet dancers and their ambitious mothers over the course of a Nutcracker season, when a visiting instructor, a ballet bad-boy from Paris, comes to direct the production and select one student to return to Paris with him for a scholarship to his company’s academy.
<br /><br />
Ever: Carey Mulligan
<br /><br />
Mulligan is a little young to play Ever, who is in her forties, but after watching her performance in <i>Maestro</i>, I absolutely believe she could rise to the challenge. Ever is a California native who was raised by hippie parents and now lives in an inherited run-down bungalow on the beach. She is a writer and a grieving mother whose daughter, Bea, is in desperate need of the scholarship.
<br /><br />
Lindsay: Amy Adams
<br /><br />
I adore Amy Adams, and I love envisioning her tackling the role of Lindsay. Besides having the requisite red hair, I feel like her bubbliness and sense of humor would bring Lindsay to life. Lindsay is a woman whose marriage is crumbling, whose dreams for her daughter are slipping away, and who is on the precipice of both the next decade of her life and major changes. But she’s aso funny and a fiercely loyal friend to Ever. Of course, if Amy Adams is tied up, I think that Melanie Lynskey would also be wonderful.
<br /><br />
Josie: Margot Robbie
<br /><br />
From everyone’s favorite, Barbie, to a vicious, ambitious, backstabbing stage mom! I think Robbie would delight as Josie, a woman who unapologetically uses men to get what she wants while remaining fiercely independent. Mother to Savvy, she will not stop at anything to get what she believes she and her daughter deserve.
<br /><br />
Etienne: Paul Mescal
<br /><br />
This is a hard one, but I love Paul Mescal and feel like he’s a brilliant enough actor to tackle the role of the mis-behaving French ballet master who toys with both the girls and their mothers. If he’s too busy, let’s try Jeremy Allen White?
<br /><br />
Vivienne: Kristin Scott Thomas
<br /><br />
I think Thomas would be perfect to play the matriarch of the ballet conservatory’s family - elegant with an edge.
<br /><br />
The Dancers:
<br /><br />
There are three main dancers in this story: Bea, Olive, and Savvy. And while there are actresses who could certainly play these girls, I love the idea of using actual dancers to play these parts. There is no shortage of gifted dancers who can also act.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.tgreenwood.com/">T. Greenwood's website</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2018/08/t-greenwoods-rust-stardust.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>Rust and Stardust</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2018/08/rust-stardust.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Rust and Stardust</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2019/08/keeping-lucy.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Keeping Lucy</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2019/08/t-greenwoods-keeping-lucy.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>Keeping Lucy</i></a>.<br />
<br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2022/10/t-greenwood.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with T. Greenwood</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2022/11/such-pretty-girl.html">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Such a Pretty Girl</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-41804976631763890412024-02-26T07:05:00.003-06:002024-02-26T07:05:00.199-06:00Valerie Martin's "Mrs. Gulliver"<p></p>
<a href="https://www.valeriemartinonline.com/index.htm" target="_blank">Valerie Martin</a> is the author of twelve novels, including <i>Trespass</i>, <i>Mary Reilly</i>, <i>Italian Fever</i>, and <i>Property</i>, four collections of short fiction, and a biography of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8EEeNSHu_WRwi13fHiGyq9-_izkHqwLlVktNsrRBbtHI841Cnzc4l79fKyyr2YzofpZak57sLvLd1ZMhOzpGvuSp85_UJsJv7M7j6gkBWdj6IiVHyW8Q-K-2Mz9A_9MYETzSHEtDXQshSXXau1FHse5j33DE_EvWPqdJU_YRtILD5P8X4LboLodLsKfg/s450/martin.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8EEeNSHu_WRwi13fHiGyq9-_izkHqwLlVktNsrRBbtHI841Cnzc4l79fKyyr2YzofpZak57sLvLd1ZMhOzpGvuSp85_UJsJv7M7j6gkBWdj6IiVHyW8Q-K-2Mz9A_9MYETzSHEtDXQshSXXau1FHse5j33DE_EvWPqdJU_YRtILD5P8X4LboLodLsKfg/w267-h400/martin.jpg" width="267" /></a>St. Francis of Assisi. She has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Her novel <i>Mary Reilly</i> was awarded the Kafka prize, shortlisted for the Prix Femina (France), and made into a motion picture directed by Stephen Frears and starring Julia Roberts and John Malkovitch. <i>Property</i> won Britain's Orange Prize (now called the Women's Prize) in 2003.
<br /><br />Here Martin dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/02/mrs-gulliver.html" target="_blank">Mrs. Gulliver</a></i>:
<blockquote>
My novel, <i>Mrs. Gulliver</i> takes place largely in a brothel on a tropical island. The characters are lively, and the plot is a bit wacky. It’s a reworking of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, with Juliet as a beautiful, blind prostitute. Unlike the original, it has a happy ending.
<br /><br />
For the director of the major motion picture, I’d want someone who would be a bit playful with my novel. I’ve long been a fan of Todd Haynes (I’m gratified that everyone is crazy about him this year). My novel takes place in the 50’s, and I know he has a strong sense of this period. He would explore the irony of my heroine’s plight and pay attention to the dark undertones of the tropical island’s un-paradisical political arrangements, such as the thriving drug trade, murders, and routine exploitation of women. The world of his film would be morally complex and a little sad.
<br /><br />
But when I imagine a film that has the goofy wit and fast paced, occasionally nonsensical plot of my novel, it’s Paul Thomas Anderson’s <i>Inherent Vice</i> that comes to mind. He would play <i>Mrs. Gulliver</i> for laughs, cool and relentless. No judgements required.
<br /><br />
As I write this, I realize how different these two directors are, and how the films they made based on my novel would hardly resemble each other. So, I conclude, the best thing would be for each to make a film at the same time and release them as a package. <i>Mrs. Gulliver</i> and <i>Mrs. Gulliver</i>. Simultaneous screenings coming soon to a theater near you.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.valeriemartinonline.com/index.htm" target="_blank">Valerie Martin's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/mrs-gulliver.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Mrs. Gulliver</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-65921119230620330722024-02-24T01:05:00.001-06:002024-02-24T01:05:00.152-06:00Suzanne Berne's "The Blue Window"<p></p>
<a href="https://www.suzanneberne.net/bio/" target="_blank">Suzanne Berne</a> is the author of the novels <i>The Dogs of Littlefield</i>, <i>The Ghost at the Table</i>, <i>A Perfect Arrangement</i>, and <i>A Crime in the Neighborhood</i>, winner of Great Britain’s Orange Prize.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEIlctCOfxKLqzO6GUX0RzmFmU4NUjGdkJ6fZ98vfPfEQ2qapJT-zQwd4rfdjwxzvtv7ENYMhjJVPertepM8l7w6rXG5y8ewhgikgIgXybqa9Lbsx-VKwASal4uT9cN_xML7S4V_PZwAxBIkdrcY0JqDXSlxQaIz7TVcP6fQODxDMow6AFd1JBb0wb0w/s400/berne.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEIlctCOfxKLqzO6GUX0RzmFmU4NUjGdkJ6fZ98vfPfEQ2qapJT-zQwd4rfdjwxzvtv7ENYMhjJVPertepM8l7w6rXG5y8ewhgikgIgXybqa9Lbsx-VKwASal4uT9cN_xML7S4V_PZwAxBIkdrcY0JqDXSlxQaIz7TVcP6fQODxDMow6AFd1JBb0wb0w/s400/berne.jpg"/></a><br />
Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, <i>The Blue Window</i>:
<blockquote>
What’s most cinematic in <i>The Blue Window</i> is the physical setting: the contrast between a small shadowy cabin, inhabited by a reclusive, emotionally inaccessible old woman, and the wide open, shining expanse of Lake Champlain right outside her windows. So much darkness inside, all that marvelous possibility outside. How to get from one to the other? In many ways, that view tells the whole story.
<br /><br />
Judi Dench would be my choice to play Marika, the elderly woman. She’s an actress who knows how to give an impassive stare (Queen Victoria!), and at the same time communicate turbulence behind that stare. Very closed people can seem intimidating, and Dench is wonderful at portraying “toughness,” while hinting at great loneliness.
<br /><br />
I’d love to see Laura Linney play Marika’s daughter, Lorna, the therapist who comes to visit for a few days. Linney is remarkably good at conveying awkwardness and insecurity, but a determination to <i>try</i> to behave well, even when behaving well seems next to impossible. For much of the novel, Lorna tries every way she can think of to reach her implacable mother and her unhappy son, who join forces against her, and mostly she’s thwarted. It’s crushing. What kind of therapist can’t get her own mother and son to tell her what’s wrong with them? But Lorna’s frustration and growing resentment is balanced by her dogged sense of sympathy with these two difficult people, who happen to be all the family she has in the world.
<br /><br />
As for Adam, the 19-year-old, who has decided to quit using the first person to erase himself after something he did at college, I’d want Dominic Sessa. He was terrific in <i>The Holdovers</i> as a character who is outrageously stricken, angry, and full of self-loathing, but who maintains a funny kind of nobility. That’s how I see Adam. He’s his own worst enemy, but he’s also very smart, and sensitive; he sees other people with surprising clarity. And in his own problematic way, he’s trying to be honorable. He disgraced himself and he wants to atone for it. Unfortunately, he winds up making everyone else atone along with him.
<br /><br />
Those are the novel’s main characters, but there’s one more I’d love to cast: Marika’s shy, ungainly, survivalist neighbor, Dennis, who comes over to her cabin for what may be the world’s worst dinner party. Chris Cooper would be the perfect actor to portray Dennis’s painful discomfort with himself and just about everyone else, and yet also his kindness.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.suzanneberne.net/" target="_blank">Suzanne Berne's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-blue-window.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>The Blue Window</i></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2024/02/suzanne-berne.html" target="_blank">Q&A with Suzanne Berne</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-49917835672163980162024-02-19T00:05:00.001-06:002024-02-19T00:05:00.131-06:00Lisa Black's "The Deepest Kill"<p></p><a href="https://lisa-black.com/about-lisa" target="_blank">Lisa Black</a> is the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of the Gardiner and Renner Novels and the Locard Institute Thrillers featuring Dr. Ellie Carr and Dr. Rachael Davies. As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office, she analyzed gunshot <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylM6uBJnwdjL6Pcv2cUW9rbPn6lAm0VZ4Wf5gICnjBAy1XdyX-Ch-ocL60CZjUl0vahp7htsNYrar8gP_-Nb4siEH1WaAeKTQ011iJ0YsF_sClcf0V7Cijyt_V-I2TNeuxpja8LPeM_msWMscHLOVJZ6Rp_NHSCiZdjZ0AXJMHxhkOVqjkgeVZ8RCt77U/s595/black1.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="394" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylM6uBJnwdjL6Pcv2cUW9rbPn6lAm0VZ4Wf5gICnjBAy1XdyX-Ch-ocL60CZjUl0vahp7htsNYrar8gP_-Nb4siEH1WaAeKTQ011iJ0YsF_sClcf0V7Cijyt_V-I2TNeuxpja8LPeM_msWMscHLOVJZ6Rp_NHSCiZdjZ0AXJMHxhkOVqjkgeVZ8RCt77U/w265-h400/black1.webp" width="265" /></a>residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now she is a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in court as an expert witness over 65 times. Her books have been translated into six languages and she was named finalist for the prestigious Sue Grafton Memorial Award for <i>Perish</i>.
<br /><br />
Here Black dreamcasts the latest Locard Institute thriller, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-deepest-kill.html" target="_blank">The Deepest Kill</a></i>:
<blockquote>
This story is, basically, the Laci Petersen murder if Laci Petersen’s dad was Bill Gates. Software pioneer Martin Post, the third richest man in America, has summoned expert forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies of the renowned Locard Institute. He believes his daughter's recent death was no accident. Was it a kidnapping gone wrong? Could their new defense initiative for the US military have played a part in her death? Martin believes his charmer son-in-law Greg is behind the murder, drawing Ellie and Rachael into the Posts’ increasingly dangerous family dynamic.
<br /><br />
My casting of the main characters has not changed since the previous <i><a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2023/07/lisa-blacks-what-harms-you.html" target="_blank">What Harms You</a></i>.
<br /><br />
Former pathologist Dr. Rachael Davies is thirty-eight, divorced, and raising her late sister’s toddler son. She’s given ten years of her life to build the Locard into what it is loves what it has become. My choice for her part would be Gabrielle Union—older than the role but looks too young for it, and way more beautiful than one would expect a scientist to be. But I think she’d be perfect for the intriguing and brilliant Rachael.
<br /><br />
Ellie Carr, also a doctor (of forensics), left the FBI to follow her passion for CSI work. This is her first ‘private client’ case with the Locard and she wants to make good—plus, they’re in Naples, Florida where she lived for a while. Casting her is a tough choice…smart and beautiful, but emotionally a bit clueless, lighthearted without being fluffy. I would love Tatiana Maslany.
<br /><br />
As for my FBI agents, Michael Tyler would ideally be filled by the man I’ve pictured every time I’ve turned him into a character for the past thirty years: Michael Ironside. We’d have to turn the clock back thirty years to make him right for the role, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. And as long as I’m reaching for the stars, I’d love John Leguizamo for agent Luis Alvarez. He has the right combination of strength and humor needed to balance Michael’s seriousness.
<br /><br />
Martin Post is a bit nerdy, a bit strange, and a bit scary. Maybe Michael Imperioli, now that he’s gray. But Michael Shannon would fit the bill. He’s always a little intense and scary.
<br /><br />
His quiet but stunning wife Dani needs a cool blond along the lines of Rosamund Pike, but Rosamund Pike would never bother with such a small role. Ditto Christina Applegate.
<br /><br />
Greg could be played by any terribly handsome young man, but I picture someone like Ian Somerhalder, with that impish face…his smile could be cute and mischievous or callous and terrifying, and you’d never be quite sure which.
<br /><br />
In <i>The Deepest Kill</i>, the over-the-top wealth of the Post family would combine with the setting on the banks of the Gulf of Mexico and make one non-stop thrill ride of tension.
</blockquote>
Learn more about the book and author at <a href="http://www.lisa-black.com/">Lisa Black's website</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2017/01/lisa-blacks-unpunished.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>Unpunished</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2018/01/lisa-blacks-perish.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>Perish</i></a>.<br />
<br /><a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2023/07/lisa-blacks-what-harms-you.html" target="_blank">
My Book, The Movie: <i>What Harms You</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-50281439569901659612024-02-12T10:05:00.001-06:002024-02-12T10:05:00.140-06:00Eric Schlich's "Eli Harpo's Adventure to the Afterlife"<p></p><a href="https://www.ericschlich.com/bio" target="_blank">Eric Schlich</a> is the author of the story collection <i>Quantum Convention</i>, winner of the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Prize and the 2020 GLCA New Writers Award.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicERAPe_5FArkrvat2BH1th5UshXeT3FvCgjVTCBHsWRPHBKivxkEpzLKOFD31xSOSpdZPR7yXOtzasbU9onjd3FjLU6ZCkitiOlboiKBlwPbU3KQTSKUAJtCMzv8TQw5OBJYrH5IhHTmEK-aFehfohFy0Bo4JlzwHesGBMjjfBG4iJBXYYSgzh2S7-I3I/s595/schlich.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="392" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicERAPe_5FArkrvat2BH1th5UshXeT3FvCgjVTCBHsWRPHBKivxkEpzLKOFD31xSOSpdZPR7yXOtzasbU9onjd3FjLU6ZCkitiOlboiKBlwPbU3KQTSKUAJtCMzv8TQw5OBJYrH5IhHTmEK-aFehfohFy0Bo4JlzwHesGBMjjfBG4iJBXYYSgzh2S7-I3I/w264-h400/schlich.webp" width="264" /></a><br />
Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/01/eli-harpos-adventure-to-afterlife.html" target="_blank">Eli Harpo's Adventure to the Afterlife</a></i>, his debut novel:
<blockquote>
For Young Eli, I’d cast Jack Gore, who played Timmy Cleary in the ABC sitcom <i>The Kids Are Alright</i>, about an Irish Catholic family with eight sons. Eli’s a freckly redhead, so Gore fits the part. He’d have to play Eli a bit more subdued though. Timmy’s a more mischievous character than the shy, introspective Eli. Gore might also be slightly too old to play Eli, who is 13 going on 14 for most of the book (Gore is 18 or older now). A time machine might have to be involved.
<br /><br />
For College Eli, I’d cast Lucas Hedges (age 27). I like the way this would connect the movie to the film adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir, <i>Boy Erased</i>, about surviving gay conversion therapy. Hedges played a fictionalized version of Conley. Kit Connor, who plays Nick Nelson in Netflix’s <i>Heartstopper</i>, would also be a good choice, if he can do a Southern American accent.
<br /><br />
For Middle-Aged Eli, I’d cast Jesse Tyler Ferguson (age 48), best known for his role as Mitchell Pritchett on <i>Modern Family</i>. Ferguson might also be a bit too old, but we could age up the middle-aged Eli from mid-thirties to early forties.
<br /><br />
I will throw out the caveat that Eli has weight issues in the book (especially as a teenager), so these actors might all be too skinny and have to put on a few pounds.
<br /><br />
For Simon Harpo, Eli’s father, I’d be tempted to cast Greg Kinnear. Almost as a joke. Because I love him as the father in <i>Little Miss Sunshine</i>, my favorite family road trip movie of all time. But also because he plays the father in the adaptation of <i>Heaven is for Real</i>, the most famous example of a Heaven tourism book—the Christian genre the novel mocks. Then again, at 60, Kinnear is also likely too old to play Simon, who’s in his 40s.
<br /><br />
For Debbie Harpo, Eli’s mother, it’d be fun to cast Christina Hendricks (48), of <i>Mad Men</i> fame, who is about the right age, body type, and hair color, but she’d definitely have to be glammed down. She’d also have to shave her head, since Debbie has cancer for most of the book and is bald from chemo.
<br /><br />
For Jake, Eli’s younger brother, I’d cast Iain Armitage, the star of <i>Young Sheldon</i>. Jake is only 6 and Iain is 15, but we’d make it work.
<br /><br />
For Abe, Eli’s older brother, I’d cast Montana Jordan (20), the older brother Georgie Cooper on <i>Young Sheldon</i>.
<br /><br />
I’m obsessed with the <i>Fellow Travelers</i> miniseries right now, so for the last two main roles I’ll cast Matt Bomer as Charlie Gideon, the famous televangelist who recruits the Harpo family into a scheme to open a Heaven attraction at his Biblical theme park, and Jonathan Bailey as Eli’s future husband, Will. I think Bomer would get a kick out of playing the homophobic televangelist cowboy villain, but he’d have to nail the Texan accent.
<br /><br />
Then again, these are all famous to semi-famous actors, so maybe it’d be better to cast a bunch of nobodies or rising stars, so they can really inhabit the characters without the baggage of their past roles.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.ericschlich.com/" target="_blank">Eric Schlich's website</a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/eli-harpos-adventure-to-afterlife.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Eli Harpo's Adventure to the Afterlife</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-87456402202467837192024-02-08T14:05:00.003-06:002024-02-08T14:05:00.138-06:00M. A. McLaughlin's "The Lost Dresses of Italy"<p></p><a href="https://martyambrose.com/bio" target="_blank">M.A. McLaughlin</a> is the award-winning author of a historical mystery trilogy: <i>Claire's Last Secret</i>, <i>A Shadowed Fate</i>, and <i>Forever Past</i>, all set around the Byron/Shelley circle in nineteenth-century Italy. Her novels have been published by Severn House (U.K. and U.S.) and Thomas Schluck (Germany), earning starred <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKC_FyizR7vA-A479cqKH8EZYwt2SIKUfok1_OA1q76fu8YED5X0V_gczj8s3XzsxEpxmv1Lz0SZ4yxjdxMVWOelG5wxvtz-0x_-PG9Lkdq8R6HL1MZ5GHiA8Lj7cQ86w2dJXa1gbMVFKrZ0zIeWMUnqw0uaPrmzT6x-ADrzldLEqNMi_xFoUQn1KGyAe/s450/Mclaughlin.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="301" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKC_FyizR7vA-A479cqKH8EZYwt2SIKUfok1_OA1q76fu8YED5X0V_gczj8s3XzsxEpxmv1Lz0SZ4yxjdxMVWOelG5wxvtz-0x_-PG9Lkdq8R6HL1MZ5GHiA8Lj7cQ86w2dJXa1gbMVFKrZ0zIeWMUnqw0uaPrmzT6x-ADrzldLEqNMi_xFoUQn1KGyAe/w268-h400/Mclaughlin.jpg" width="268" /></a>reviews in <i>Publishers Weekly</i>, as well as a gold medal for historical fiction in the Florida Writers Association's Literary Palm Award. Her work has been featured internationally in blogs, journals, and websites.
<br /><br />
Here McLaughlin dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-lost-dresses.html" target="_blank">The Lost Dresses of Italy</a></i>:
<blockquote>
The theme of my novel, <i>The Lost Dresses of Italy</i>, is the “hidden woman,”
which I think would translate well to a contemporary film; however,
there are dual narrators, which can be challenging for a screen
adaptation. The two women who harbor secrets are separated by a
century, each one with her own compelling story: grieving widow,
Marianne Baxter, who has traveled to post-WWII Verona, Italy, to assist
with an exhibit of long-lost dresses; and Victorian poet, Christina
Rossetti, who owned the garments and left them behind in a sealed-up
trunk after an ill-fated love affair. Two women. Two losses. But how
to portray them both on the big screen?
<br /><br />
Begin with Verona.
<br /><br />
The “Painted City” of Romeo and Juliet combines both beauty and tragedy,
light and shadow, hope and despair. It is the setting of both
narratives, but framing the film with Marianne’s story in 1947, as Italy
is recovering from the devastation of war sets the tone and mood of the
central mystery of my novel. The re-building is moving forward, but
lingering effects of families being torn apart by their wartime
allegiances are just under the surface—in the manner of a Visconti film,
the great Italian director who created sweeping cinematic portraits
around Italy’s complex role in WWII. Marianne’s quest to find out what
happened to Rossetti will create the main plotline and, as she examines
each of the three dresses, a flashback will occur, exploring exactly
what happened to Rossetti when she wore that particular garment on her
trip to Italy. Each garment contains a clue that draws Marianne deeper
and deeper into a century-old conspiracy, triggering a string of violent
events. Eventually, both narratives will come together at a cliffside
sanctuary, resolving the murder and betrayal from the past in a
satisfying, though bittersweet ending.
<br /><br />
Since Marianne would be the protagonist in the film, this character
requires an actor with the kind of depth and power that Natalie Portman
has displayed in her many films, especially <i>The Black Swan</i> and <i>Jackie</i>.
Most notably, in the latter film, she portrays an actual historical
figure, Jackie Kennedy, at a pivotal point in her life, days after her
husband, President John Kennedy, was assassinated. Sad, grieving, and
fearful of the future. Portman conveys all of these emotions in every
gesture and facial expression, often with only internal dialogue.
Similarly, Marianne is a widow who still misses her husband and is
doubtful that she will ever be able to love again. Portman is delicate
in appearance, but possesses an inner strength and resilience—both
qualities that would make her a perfect choice Marianne.
<br /><br />
To complement Portman’s Marianne, I projected Italian actor, Luca
Argentero, for Alessandro, her love interest. Handsome yet slightly
weathered, Argentero took on the role of Andrea Fanti in a very popular
television series in Italy, <i>Doc - Nelle tue mani</i>, which aired during the
country’s traumatic Covid lockdown. His character in the program
embodies the spirit of sacrifice and compassion, a man who is both
strong and empathetic—just like Alessandro who is the moral center of my
novel. Still emotionally wounded from the war, Alessandro often appears
abrupt outwardly but, inwardly, he is fiercely loyal to his younger
brother. Like Fanti’s character of Doc, he is businesslike in his
professional life but warm and caring in his personal devotion to those
he loves, including Marianne. Argentero embodies this dichotomy in his
many acting roles.
<br /><br />
Lastly, I wanted to propose another Italian actor, Matilda De Angelis,
to portray the poet, Christina Rossetti who, though born in England, was
the daughter of an Italian revolutionary. De Angelis has a
nineteenth-century sort of look with long, wavy hair and a heart-shaped
face; in addition, her performance in <i>Robbing Mussolini</i>, shows the kind
of range to inhabit this role. She depicts a woman who is passionate
and artistic (she is a singer) but also caught up in larger historical
events beyond her control, much like Rossetti. De Angelis would make
Rossetti come alive in the flashback scenes.
<br /><br />
With such amazing actors, my movie version of <i>The Lost Dresses of Italy</i>
would be a sure hit!
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://martyambrose.com/" target="_blank">M. A. McLaughlin - Marty Ambrose's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2022/06/marty-ambroses-forever-past.html" target="_blank">
My Book, The Movie: <i>Forever Past</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2022/06/forever-past.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Forever Past</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2022/06/marty-ambrose.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Marty Ambrose</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://whatarewritersreading.blogspot.com/2024/01/m-mclaughlin.html" target="_blank">Writers Read: M. A. McLaughlin</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-lost-dresses.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>The Lost Dresses of Italy</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-14532800769511185552024-02-06T10:05:00.002-06:002024-02-06T20:11:17.075-06:00Chris Cander's "The Young of Other Animals"<p></p><a href="https://chriscander.com/about/" target="_blank">Chris Cander</a> is the <i>USA Today</i> bestselling author of <i>A Gracious Neighbor</i>, <i>The Weight of a Piano</i>, which was named an Indie Next Great Read in both hardcover and paperback and which the <i>New York Times</i> called, “immense, intense and imaginative,” <i>Whisper Hollow</i>, also named an Indie <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EwUuQfzAMUtpEX610OiZ9SCsEOEl_oQuZqaOwKzYbdBStY9JE4z8vvsOWITpqe-pVgqfuqIV5UqWZhP6Ou2O3eHhBfyFA36vGeBe5Wb8wkgmPMRQR6vBv-e4hdEA3e4ssKRoHPNJu87sv7etysGv1-KScGhm3L6oIk5s5O2DHV4VGBwS7SJv6BSCTQ0r/s425/cander.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="275" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EwUuQfzAMUtpEX610OiZ9SCsEOEl_oQuZqaOwKzYbdBStY9JE4z8vvsOWITpqe-pVgqfuqIV5UqWZhP6Ou2O3eHhBfyFA36vGeBe5Wb8wkgmPMRQR6vBv-e4hdEA3e4ssKRoHPNJu87sv7etysGv1-KScGhm3L6oIk5s5O2DHV4VGBwS7SJv6BSCTQ0r/w258-h400/cander.jpg" width="258" /></a>Next Great Read, and <i>11 Stories</i>, named by <i>Kirkus</i> as one of the best books of 2013 and winner of the Independent Publisher Book Awards for fiction. She also wrote the children’s picture book <i>The Word Burglar</i>, and the Audible Originals “Eddies” and “Grieving Conversations.” Cander’s fiction has been published in twelve languages. She lives in her native Houston with her husband and two children.
<br /><br />Here Cander dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-young-of-other-animals.html" target="_blank">The Young of Other Animals</a></i>:
<blockquote>
Writing <i>The Young of Other Animals</i> was a visceral experience, beyond just recreating the memory of a physical attack; it was as though I was sitting at Mayree’s kitchen table, observing her and the other characters from a ghostly vantage. I could smell her unfiltered Camel cigarettes and hear the low cheer of <i>The Price Is Right</i> audience coming from the TV in the other room. If I’d stood up, I might’ve slipped on the King Ranch casserole she smashed on her tile floor or seen Paula sneaking in through the back door.
<br /><br />
There are plenty of directors who could bring this story to life, but as a fan of Todd Haynes’s movies, I think he’d be my top choice. First, he does period pieces well. I’m thinking of the dual eras (1927 and 1977) in <i>Wonderstruck</i> and the 1950s setting in <i>Carol</i>. He tackles domestic disharmony (<i>Safe</i>) and restrictive societal norms (<i>Far from Heaven</i>) with both flair and understated elegance. I’d love to see his take on Mayree, and whether he’d agree with me that the actress Evangeline Lilly could embody Mayree’s tough-as-Texas forbearance and Sadie Sink, a Lone Star native, could portray Paula.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://chriscander.com/">Chris Cander's website</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2019/01/chris-canders-weight-of-piano.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>The Weight of a Piano</i></a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-young-of-other-animals.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: </a><i><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-young-of-other-animals.html" target="_blank">The Young of Other Animals</a>.</i><br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-51566956004753751272024-02-04T00:05:00.001-06:002024-02-04T00:05:00.165-06:00David Menconi's "Oh, Didn't They Ramble"<p></p>A recovering newspaper writer, <a href="https://loseringbook.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">David Menconi</a> spent more than three decades covering the music industry. His first book was a novel, 2000’s <i>Off The Record</i>, a lurid roman a clef about a fictional one-hit wonder undone by wickedness, greed and drugs. But his most recent book tells a gentler tale from the record-business trenches, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/06/oh-didnt-they-ramble.html" target="_blank">Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder <span style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-top: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="394" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiYrDoM6FnyIWijXFqEwLaUv5udB7ROlP5kjBsHhSg-6dkY8JyyrQQEqc1O8sCxiZUmtdbjbVHFiWoVmVbSY7GOaLJLV3jDgnx07lDZVg1sC1lF0SNAIBadyGb7eWU31rf_cUb7_tXhtqhScg-sZOSJnp0pfjMTLslFuXPvnylKkJGQz_ANmvkz_zM5nT/w265-h400/menconi.webp" width="265" /></span>Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music</a></i>, tracing the history of the venerable folk/bluegrass label.
<br /><br />
Here Menconi dreamcasts an adaptation of the new book:
<blockquote>
You might not think the history of an independent folk and bluegrass label is the stuff of compelling big-screen drama. But the Rounder Records story in <i>Oh, Didn’t They Ramble</i>, is the rare exception.
<br /><br />
Rounder founders Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy and Bill Nowlin met in college in the 1960s, when they’d march in anti-war protests, hop freight trains and hitchhike to folk festivals. Their adventurous idealism carried over to the label they started in 1970 as an “anti-profit collective” dedicated to preserving American folk music.
<br /><br />
That sense of mission served Rounder well as it grew into an operation distributing hundreds of other like-minded labels while releasing literally thousands of albums on the Rounder imprint. But it also created tension after the unexpected commercial success of George Thorogood, which inspired the employees to unionize -- a move the founders contested despite their philosophical leanings.
<br /><br />
Rounder has had other improbable successes, most notably Alison Krauss’ multi-platinum superstardom. And yet the label’s bread, butter, heart and soul remains smaller-scale Rounder records by journeyman folk singers or banjo players whose albums might sell a few thousand or even a few hundred copies, primarily at festival merch tables.
<br /><br />
While Rounder has always been about the music, its story’s main cast is the three founders, who turned out to have perfectly complementary skills for running a record company in the late 20th century. That, plus good ears and some lucky breaks, is why Rounder has prospered for so long.
<br /><br />
So, who to cast?
<br /><br />
Marian Leighton Levy – Sophisticated and well-read despite an impoverished upbringing in rural Maine, she had the title of “president” at Rounder because there weren’t any female record-company presidents in the 1970s. During the founders’ 40-year era, before Rounder's sale to Concord Music Group, Leighton Levy was the label’s spokesperson and public face – “the conscience of Rounder,” in Irwin’s estimation.
<br /><br />
One could picture Emma Stone conveying her passionate enthusiasm for learning. But I would go with Florence Pugh, whose star shines brightly in a filmography including <i>Oppenheimer</i> and <i>A Good Person</i>. Among young actresses, her ability to disappear into a role is unmatched.
<br /><br />
Ken Irwin – Irwin was Rounder’s industrious worker bee, the founder who put the most time and energy into A&R (“Artists & Repertoire,” basically talent-scouting). He was the one who noticed the needle of Alison Krauss’ voice in a haystack of cassette demo tapes, signing her at age 14 and launching an odyssey that includes 27 Grammy Awards in addition to millions of records sold. Amazingly, a decade after selling Rounder to Concord, the original founders launched a new label, Down The Road Records. At age 80, Irwin is the driving force in making it go.
<br /><br />
A younger Paul Giamatti would be perfect for evoking his obsessive questing. But a better choice might be Barry Keoghan, an Irish actor whose 2022 roles ranged from the villainous Joker in <i>The Batman</i> to the doomed romantic sidekick Dominic in <i>The Banshees of Inisherin</i>.
<br /><br />
Bill Nowlin – As detailed in his 2021 memoir <i>Vinyl Ventures</i>, much of Nowlin’s work came behind the scenes. With his knack for facts, figures and business, Nowlin was the one who made the trains run on time and got the bills paid, even while traveling the globe and visiting more than 100 countries. Nowlin’s travels led to discoveries of various types of world music, and it was inevitable that Rounder would broaden into international styles through imprints like Heartbeat Records.
<br /><br />
Nowlin is also a lifelong baseball fanatic. In his later years, he published more than 100 baseball books, and you’ll usually find him at Fenway Park when the Boston Red Sox are playing. I can imagine Ryan Gosling, who swings both serious and silly in everything from <i>Barbie</i> to <i>Blade Runner 2049</i>, capturing Nowlin’s soft-spoken, droll manner.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="http://loseringbook.wordpress.com/">the author’s blog</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2013/02/david-menconis-ryan-adams-losering.html">My Book, The Movie: <i>Ryan Adams: Losering</i></a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://page99test.blogspot.com/2023/10/david-menconis-oh-didnt-they-ramble.html" target="_blank">
The Page 99 Test: <i>Oh, Didn't They Ramble</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-39029640137367317192024-01-31T12:05:00.002-06:002024-02-03T09:21:21.217-06:00Jill Fordyce's "Belonging"<p></p><a href="https://jillfordyce.com/about/" target="_blank">Jill Fordyce</a> was born and raised in Bakersfield, California. She received a degree in English from the University of Southern California and a law degree from<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN97zGcP0tGZEZNBVLl-9-xq3VIRvlucHwg5e0cvV6wjk-R0YRJEiV8LJ2i7EU5D3mp7jr21yS-8W02GBfKmOlC2OAUr3CyF5m8_5YDyZlSKNPArfOPlYQz4BeuAh4H0xY3ejNRBBfiTrzr9JA45JdjolU8-ruxF2NnHteXr7umt9bsm-OF-JzwgCpbpVR/s445/Fordyce.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="295" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN97zGcP0tGZEZNBVLl-9-xq3VIRvlucHwg5e0cvV6wjk-R0YRJEiV8LJ2i7EU5D3mp7jr21yS-8W02GBfKmOlC2OAUr3CyF5m8_5YDyZlSKNPArfOPlYQz4BeuAh4H0xY3ejNRBBfiTrzr9JA45JdjolU8-ruxF2NnHteXr7umt9bsm-OF-JzwgCpbpVR/w265-h400/Fordyce.jpg" width="265" /></a> Santa Clara University. While practicing law, she continued to study writing through the Stanford Continuing Education creative writing program.
<br /><br />Here Fordyce dreamcasts an adaptation of <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/10/belonging.html" target="_blank">Belonging</a></i>, her debut novel:
<blockquote>
I write in scenes and I love movies, so I have always imagined <i>Belonging</i> as a film. A little about the novel: Jenny Hayes is raised in a dreary, faithless home, so she paints her room the color of a tangerine, collects prayer cards, and surrounds herself with music. She has a self-reliance that both protects her and keeps her from the love and closeness she desires. As an adult, Jenny returns home to confront the wounds of her childhood: the mother who abused her in subtle ways; the father who allowed it; the boy she once loved; the landscape that is beautiful, barren, and stifling; the secrets kept for generations. Spanning three decades, <i>Belonging</i> is about first love and heartbreak, friendship and secrets, family and forgiveness, hometowns and coming of age, and memory and music. The heart of the story is Jenny’s struggle to undo the binds of a childhood that have deeply affected her life, the painful path to love endured by children raised in alcoholic families, and the grim reality of believing you must hide a part of yourself in order to belong.
<br /><br />
My dream director for the film adaptation of <i>Belonging</i> would be Sofia Coppola. I loved her most recent film, <i>Priscilla</i>, for several reasons—all of which would be important to a film version of <i>Belonging</i>: a strong female perspective, a commitment to authentic depiction of the time period, a soft retro color palette, and an evocative and original soundtrack. Music is an integral part of <i>Belonging</i>, spanning years and genres, a way to bring the reader to a specific time and place, a nod to the Bakersfield Sound, and also, a window into Jenny’s lonely bedroom, where music insulates her from the chaos of her home. I listened to a lot of music while writing Belonging and created my own soundtrack along the way (<i>Belonging: Soundtrack to the Novel</i> is available on Spotify). I also feel like Sofia Coppola would also uniquely understand the material, having grown up in an Italian family in a part of rural California.
<br /><br />
My dream cast would be Camila Morrone as Jenny, Timothée Chalamet as Henry, Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Billy, and Mark Ruffalo as Uncle Gino. Camila Morrone has a lovely understated, earthy, and earnest appeal, while also conveying a quiet strength, which I think would be perfect for Jenny. I have always seen Timothée Chalamet as Henry. Physically, he has the same beautiful eyes and tall, thin build. Emotionally, I think he would be able to bring out Henry’s whimsy and fun, and also his vulnerability—the depth of his pain and his secrets. Seeing Hero Fiennes Tiffin in <i>First Love</i>, I was reminded of Billy. He is strong and sweet, part teenage boy, part grown man. I have loved Mark Ruffalo since <i>13 Going on 30</i>. He conveys such a gentleness, care, and warmth, which is the hallmark of Uncle Gino.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="http://www.jillfordyce.com/" target="_blank">Jill Fordyce's website</a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2024/01/belonging.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Belonging</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-27138553953046035322024-01-27T00:05:00.002-06:002024-01-27T08:29:00.313-06:00Sarahlyn Bruck's "Light of the Fire"<p></p><a href="https://sarahlynbruck.com/about/" target="_blank">Sarahlyn Bruck</a> writes contemporary, book club fiction and is the award-winning author of three novels: <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2024/01/light-of-fire.html" target="_blank">Light of the Fire</a></i> (2024), <i>Daytime Drama</i> (2021), and <i>Designer You</i> (2018). When she’s not writing, Bruck moonlights as a full-time writing and literature professor <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6lmso1Olugbyf9m3O1FOpeh8AXbS9Fwj5ySZWGJ6wSNSD2Y3LAsoBg6KsOshMhzvy-QeODvwNnc78Uj2Kx2rzQlmW6Qnf0eGcQ-jzsDzbRV2KP7_xG3OnGnviJ49QCmPuQLoqg2s5DagUip9u3aIJnt9xv_nus5ndw5tQcTkiEGS2kUhh0RGy_CiLlbe5/s445/bruck.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="293" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6lmso1Olugbyf9m3O1FOpeh8AXbS9Fwj5ySZWGJ6wSNSD2Y3LAsoBg6KsOshMhzvy-QeODvwNnc78Uj2Kx2rzQlmW6Qnf0eGcQ-jzsDzbRV2KP7_xG3OnGnviJ49QCmPuQLoqg2s5DagUip9u3aIJnt9xv_nus5ndw5tQcTkiEGS2kUhh0RGy_CiLlbe5/w264-h400/bruck.jpg" width="264" /></a>at a local community college. She’s also a co-host of the pop culture podcast, Pretty Much Pop. From Northern California, she now lives in Philadelphia with her family.
<br /><br />
Here Bruck dreamcasts an adaptation of <i>Light of the Fire</i>:
<blockquote>
If they make <i>Light of the Fire</i> into a film, here’s who I’d like to play the lead roles of Beth, Ally, and Jordan.
<br /><br />
Beth is a professional soccer player—a goal keeper. I envision her as tall and lanky, with far reaching arms, and long, light brown hair that’s almost always pulled into a ponytail. Originally, I envisioned actual soccer players for the two leads as I wrote the first draft. But the actress who could capture her athleticism, competitiveness, and independence would be someone like Mackenzie Davis. She’s tall, the right age, and she has something about her that could inhabit the character of Beth.
<br /><br />
Ally used to play soccer, too. She’s smaller than Beth and has a classic soccer build with muscular legs and lean torso. In high school she wore her hair short and she’s never let it get too long. She had her daughters in her early twenties, dropped out of college and soccer, divorced her first husband, and now finds herself unexpectedly pregnant in her late 30s with her newish boyfriend, Noah. Over the years, Ally has worked her butt off and founded an all-girls soccer league in her hometown—something she’d wished she and Beth had been able to benefit from as kids but now can give to her own girls. She’s got a lot of literal and proverbial balls in the air, so someone I think can capture Ally’s energy is Anna Kendrick.
<br /><br />
So Jordan. He’s a journalist, which means he’s curious and intelligent. And for the first time, he’s seeing his father in a new light—as someone who was possibly blamed and punished for something he didn’t do. Subsequently, Jordan, his mom, and sister suffered, too. In his mind, the least he could do now that his father’s health is on the decline is to try to clear his name and make up for not being the son his dad needed him in the last 20 years. The actor I could see in this role is Jesse Williams. Most people know him from <i>Grey’s Anatomy</i>, but I enjoyed his performance in the latest season of <i>Only Murders in the Building</i>. Williams brings both an academic intelligence as well as an emotional intelligence that I think serve Jordan really well as an investigative reporter and genuinely caring guy, who wants to do the right thing.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://sarahlynbruck.com/" target="_blank">Sarahlyn Bruck's website</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-75333542168981108762023-12-18T11:05:00.001-06:002023-12-18T11:05:00.136-06:00Edward M. Lerner's "Life and Death on Mars"<p></p><a href="https://www.edwardmlerner.com/" target="_blank">Edward M. Lerner</a> worked in high tech and aerospace for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president, for much of that time writing science fiction as his hobby. Since 2004, he has written full-time.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidS4HMcH9YiYOPFFxjDByExpARcWhacDV7cLRC5C5pwBxEZ5WBXsRe3I0fTSWPjWz4YJysR4T0tXWN3xKQPhwmr93yzs-7dTRTymTTMaYc-IWVVOH8a23lwcrFWS2ej26u0ZD0FXNwbfku5lb7ENyST-xU1G0VLxO6Jud4oaLX2-DShyphenhyphenrgRHWvID07s8Wt/s425/lerner.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="282" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidS4HMcH9YiYOPFFxjDByExpARcWhacDV7cLRC5C5pwBxEZ5WBXsRe3I0fTSWPjWz4YJysR4T0tXWN3xKQPhwmr93yzs-7dTRTymTTMaYc-IWVVOH8a23lwcrFWS2ej26u0ZD0FXNwbfku5lb7ENyST-xU1G0VLxO6Jud4oaLX2-DShyphenhyphenrgRHWvID07s8Wt/w265-h400/lerner.jpg" width="265" /></a><br />
His novels range from near-future techno-thrillers, like <i>Small Miracles</i> and <i>Energized</i>, to traditional SF, like <i>Déjà Doomed</i> and his InterstellarNet series, to (collaborating with Larry Niven) the space-opera epic Fleet of Worlds series. Lerner’s 2015 novel, <i>InterstellarNet: Enigma</i>, won the inaugural Canopus Award “honoring excellence in interstellar writing.” His fiction has also been nominated for Locus, Prometheus, and Hugo awards.
<br /><br />
Lerner’s short fiction has appeared in anthologies, collections, and many of the usual SF magazines and websites. He also writes about science and technology, notably including <i>Tropeing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction</i>.
<br /><br />
Here, Lerner dreamcasts a screen adaptation of his latest novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/12/life-and-death-on-mars.html" target="_blank">Life and Death on Mars</a></i>:
<blockquote>
Let’s start with the novel itself: near-future adventure set mainly—no surprise, given its title—on and near Mars. The action kicks off with a Space Race to make the Sixties competition with the Soviets seem lackadaisical. Making matters <i>more</i> exciting, beyond American and Chinese expeditions is another, bankrolled by a mysterious cabal of Earth’s billionaires.
<br /><br />
And then we have …
<blockquote>
The face scarcely seemed human. Scarcely seemed a <i>face</i>.
<br /><br />
Bloated, purple-mottled flesh, the swollen lips almost black. Oozing pustules. Tissues peeling and flaking, even to scattered glimpses of muscle and bone. The nose little more than naked, pitted cartilage. Eyes, except for anime-sized black pupils, all blood-red. Had it not been for the snaky, sweat-soaked tresses, languidly adrift like some somnolent Medusa, even to speculate at a gender would have been impossible.
<br /><br />
Yet there could be no question who, or where, this was.
</blockquote>
Those are only the novel’s opening paragraphs! How can this book not become a movie? Think <i>The Martian</i> meets <i>For All Mankind</i> … with a deadly plague added.
<br /><br />
Okay, on to casting.
<br /><br />
First comes Alexander (Xander) Hopkins, the NASA engineer dragooned into the crew of the NASA-led mission. He’s something of a smart aleck—and he’d best learn to tamp that down. Just as he’d best figure out why people are dying. Or maybe he’ll join them. Or maybe everyone on Earth will. For Xander, I’d suggest Alan Tudyk (<i>Resident Alien</i>, <i>Dollhouse</i>, <i>Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency</i>, <i>Santa Clarita Diet</i> … okay, what <i>hasn’t</i> he been in?). I’m mainly picturing Tudyk’s cocky pilot character in <i>Firefly</i> and <i>Serenity</i>.
<br /><br />
Second is Wang Kai, crewman in the CMSA-led mission. Kai is deflecting from the painful memory of his wife’s recent tragic death as much as he’s blazing a trail to Mars. He’s technically military, because there’s no other way to become a taikonaut. He never expected military training to matter—until his commander is killed and it may have been sabotage. I see Garrett Wang (aka, Ensign Harry Kim of <i>Star Trek Voyager</i>) as Kai.
<br /><br />
Maria Theresa (Teri) Rodriquez heads the Mars mission for a plutocratic cabal. Teri is tough as nails and yet vulnerable. That her bosses are seldom candid about their endgame has rendered her life complicated—even before a fatal accident to her team. As Teri I’d cast Michelle Rodriquez (<i>Lost</i>, <i>Resident Evil</i>, <i>Avatar</i>).
<br /><br />
Next is Dale Bennigan, presidential science adviser and onetime research microbiologist. Can people set boot on Mars without contaminating possible native life there? Can robots? Can samples be brought to Earth without endangering humanity? Those questions become pressing when ancient traces of life <i>are</i> found. Those questions become personal when the secretive Planetary Protection League takes matters into its own hands. For Dale, I’d cast Amanda Tapping (<i>Stargate SG-1</i>, <i>Sanctuary</i>, <i>Travelers</i>).
<br /><br />
I’ll end with a minor (but important and recurring) role: the president herself. For the cynical, calculating Carla DeMille—Cruella to Washington insiders—I see Amy Acker (<i>Angel</i>, <i>Alias</i>, <i>Dollhouse</i>), mainly picturing her star turn as Root in <i>Person of Interest</i>).
<br /><br />
Hollywood, are you listening?</blockquote>
Learn <a href="https://www.edwardmlerner.com/" target="_blank">more about the author and his work</a> at his website.
<br /><br />
<a href="http://page99test.blogspot.com/2009/10/edward-m-lerners-small-miracles.html">The Page 99 Test: <span style="font-style: italic;">Small Miracles</span></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="http://page69test.blogspot.com/2008/11/fools-experiments.html">The Page 69 Test: <i>Fools’ Experiments</i></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="http://page69test.blogspot.com/2010/04/interstellarnet-origins.html">The Page 69 Test: <span style="font-style: italic;">InterstellarNet: Origins</span></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2010/04/edward-m-lerners-interstellarnet.html">My Book, The Movie: <span style="font-style: italic;">InterstellarNet: Origins</span></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2021/08/edward-m-lerners-deja-doomed.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>Déjà Doomed</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2021/08/deja-doomed.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Déjà Doomed</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2021/08/edward-m-lerner.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Edward M. Lerner</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-28991624857730096462023-12-04T12:05:00.002-06:002023-12-04T12:05:00.257-06:00Chris McKinney's "Sunset, Water City"<p></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bMbFb0qcIH0ld7UlkOvL1UjHqeEG0-9YRf2SWAxGSCh11KxzcMQo731TePwumg0Pl0cJivjWSYQsu1ztPjO_OqorFjtKWCw_-mqYdVmbruQcCCEPgILa0RoIhFI0Z4XzlsCNqWoNVKXs54oIR7jZuvlEo_rYduV0qM1Th42msrKSAkHkyvcGFqNLjwRo/s450/McKinney.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bMbFb0qcIH0ld7UlkOvL1UjHqeEG0-9YRf2SWAxGSCh11KxzcMQo731TePwumg0Pl0cJivjWSYQsu1ztPjO_OqorFjtKWCw_-mqYdVmbruQcCCEPgILa0RoIhFI0Z4XzlsCNqWoNVKXs54oIR7jZuvlEo_rYduV0qM1Th42msrKSAkHkyvcGFqNLjwRo/w267-h400/McKinney.jpg" width="267" /></a><a href="https://www.watercitytrilogy.com/about-the-author" target="_blank">Chris McKinney</a> was born and raised in Hawaiʻi, on the island of Oahu. He has written nine novels, including <i>The Tattoo</i> and <i>The Queen of Tears</i>, a coauthored memoir, and the screenplays for two feature films and two short films. He is the winner of the Elliott Cades Award and seven Kapalapala Poʻokela Awards and has been appointed Visiting Distinguished Writer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
<br /><br />Here McKinney shares some thoughts on an adaptation of his new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/11/sunset-water-city.html" target="_blank">Sunset, Water City</a></i>, Book 3 of the Water City Trilogy:
<blockquote>
Cartoons! Well, more specifically anime. I’d love for this post-apocalyptic world and its characters, who all have special abilities, to be animated in the style of <i>Monster</i> or <i>Ghost in the Shell</i>, the “seinsen” genre of anime. There are numerous action scenes in this book, from gunfights, to the hunting of genetically engineered mythical creatures, to death defying nosedives from the mesosphere. Anime would match the energy of the book perfectly.
<br /><br />
For voice actors, my list of impossible to get talent would include Denzel Washington as the world-weary father, Florence Pugh as the cynical yet idealistic daughter, and Gemma Chan as Ascalon Lee—the woman who controls Water City. Rila Fukushima would be great as Akira Kimura, the scientist responsible for this post-apocalyptic world. Please let Netflix know.
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I recently binge-watched <i>Blue Eye Samurai</i>, which is fantastic. I found it interesting that the series was made by a French production company. It would be a dream come true if my book and this series fell into the hands of a company like that.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.watercitytrilogy.com/" target="_blank">Chris McKinney's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2023/11/sunset-water-city.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Sunset, Water City</i></a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2023/12/chris-mckinney.html" target="_blank">Q&A with Chris McKinney</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-1609893426473007632023-11-30T10:05:00.001-06:002023-11-30T10:05:00.148-06:00M. M. DeLuca's "The Night Side"<p></p><a href="https://www.marjoriedeluca.com/bio" target="_blank">M. M. (Marjorie) DeLuca</a> spent her childhood in the beautiful cathedral city of Durham in North-Eastern England. She attended the University of London, Goldsmiths College, studied psychology, then became a teacher. She immigrated to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVQ_RnrGDnpU8OaOTwjTOq6emA_uLSM1KjZ3_fja3q0XyqP_LPeCw1Me1sJ1fpkSGqdDWub4Q5cCYNbfoyYnKz5DYLrpoJlmpqRtrUleGHtvgj8VlVLM6fdtPoCaAPT8ie3pEQRQYqzio4SqLqeAUYnaFEoxcyjrK2yzR9bKe9ICM_xXWvHthJ8WCuHuD/s473/deluca.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVQ_RnrGDnpU8OaOTwjTOq6emA_uLSM1KjZ3_fja3q0XyqP_LPeCw1Me1sJ1fpkSGqdDWub4Q5cCYNbfoyYnKz5DYLrpoJlmpqRtrUleGHtvgj8VlVLM6fdtPoCaAPT8ie3pEQRQYqzio4SqLqeAUYnaFEoxcyjrK2yzR9bKe9ICM_xXWvHthJ8WCuHuD/w254-h400/deluca.webp" width="254" /></a>Canada and lives in Winnipeg with her husband and two children. There she also studied writing under her mentor, Pulitzer Prize winning author, Carol Shields.
<br /><br />
She loves writing for all ages and in many genres—suspense, historical, sci-fi for teens. She's also a screenwriter with several pilot projects in progress.
<br /><br />
DeLuca enjoys teaching workshops in Creative Writing and the writing process.
<br /><br />
Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-night-side.html" target="_blank">The Night Side</a></i>:
<blockquote>
Since I’m also a keen screenwriter, I always need to visualize my main characters as if I’m compiling a cast list. Sometimes I’ll even pin pictures of them to a board in my office so I can glance up at them every now and again to remind me of how they look.
<br /><br />
My book <i>The Night Side</i>, is focused on a toxic relationship between a mother and daughter, so these two characters would be the leads in a movie adaptation of the book, which is a story about Ruby Carlson, who at eighteen ran away from her home in Stoneybrook, Montana, and vowed she'd never return. Never return to life under the control of her manipulative mother, Ida, a self-styled medium and psychic scammer who made a career out of ruining people's lives. Never return to the small town where enemies lurk at every turn.
<br /><br />
But twenty years later, Ruby, now a successful archaeologist, is back. Her mother is missing, presumed dead, and Ruby reluctantly returns to a home filled with chilling memories to settle Ida's affairs. Did she really commit suicide by drowning, or is this another dark scheme? Ruby thought she knew everything about her mother, but finds herself unraveling a web of lies and secrets to reveal a story more twisted than anyone could have imagined.
<br /><br />
My dream actress for the character of Ruby would be Ana de Armas. Since I watched her breathtaking portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the movie, <i>Blonde</i>, I was awestruck by her ability to bring vulnerability and a whole range of emotions to the role. She also has an enigmatic quality to her, which is absolutely necessary to portray Ruby who is traumatized and haunted by her past and the secrets she is forced to hide. Ana de Armas can project that aura of mystery and intrigue.
<br /><br />
The character of Ida needs a strong, vivacious actress capable of expressing an entire range of emotions, but also able to project the heartlessness and cunning needed to manipulate her own child as well as her victims. Cate Blanchett would be the perfect person to play the role. Her chilling performance in <i>Nightmare Alley</i> in which she plays Lilith Ritter, a wealthy and ruthless psychiatrist who cold-bloodedly beats up and coming psychic Stanton Carlisle at his own game, is one of her strongest roles. Ida is a chameleon, able to change her persona whenever the mood suits her and whenever it is personally beneficial to her. Cate Blanchett is the best actress for the role.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.marjoriedeluca.com/" target="_blank">M.M. DeLuca's website</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-44367334051000656352023-11-25T00:05:00.001-06:002023-11-25T00:05:00.140-06:00Constance Sayers's "The Star and the Strange Moon"<p></p><a href="https://constancesayers.com/" target="_blank">Constance Sayers</a> is the author of the best-selling novels <i>A Witch in Time</i> and <i>The Ladies of the Secret Circus</i>, the latter receiving both a <i>Publishers Weekly</i> and <i>Library Journal</i> starred reviews. Her work has been translated into six languages. In her spare time, she is the Chief Revenue Officer for a media and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgAWltQX97AvnwW2WMpD2Oiy_csru2LugK3y90POgPTdFfile3NDiEhMIKPcjvhCxKcZg-vV2BmyapfirtESYsHU5t7PPrwqP9FnXdunWYHIown8NkXdL8nTmNZPMTM6JP4kcL1N6Loai64KtPk4JxPckiufM36gHj34eHbv9W2XKoa3WKsf9uA9sZY0e/s595/sayers.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="386" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgAWltQX97AvnwW2WMpD2Oiy_csru2LugK3y90POgPTdFfile3NDiEhMIKPcjvhCxKcZg-vV2BmyapfirtESYsHU5t7PPrwqP9FnXdunWYHIown8NkXdL8nTmNZPMTM6JP4kcL1N6Loai64KtPk4JxPckiufM36gHj34eHbv9W2XKoa3WKsf9uA9sZY0e/w260-h400/sayers.webp" width="260" /></a>information company. She splits her time between Alexandria, Virginia and West Palm Beach, Florida.
<br /><br />
Here Sayers dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-star-and-strange-moon.html" target="_blank">The Star and the Strange Moon</a></i>:
<blockquote>
For me, books are very cinematic and incredibly visual so I “need” to cast my characters. I mean there would be no Luke Varner in <i>A Witch in Time</i> without the actor Callum Keith Rennie (<i>Californication</i> and <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>). I need to cast the characters to write for them.
<br /><br />
For <i>The Star and the Strange Moon</i>, the idea was the mystery of film. The old superstitions about could a film steal your soul. While I was excited about this book, I had only the idea of a main character, a down-on-her-luck actress named Gemma Turner. While I was in Paris doing research, I came across a photo of a striking redhaired actress named Françoise Dorléac. I wrote her name down with a plan to come back to her later, but found I was haunted by her photo. She has a rather tragic story: The older sister of Catherine Deneuve, Dorléac was killed in a car accident in 1967 as she rushed to get to the airport in Nice. She was only twenty-five and there is certainly a feeling that had she lived she would have been a major star. On screen the actress is mesmerizing. The muse of François Truffaut, her performance as a flight attendant who gets caught up in an affair with a married man in <i>The Soft Skin</i> elevates the entire film. She also pairs up with her sister (and Gene Kelly) in Jacques Demy’s <i>The Young Girls of Rochefort</i>, which is a film a bit thin on plot, but so visually striking it’s like Technicolor eye candy. When I began to think of my main character, I always pictured Françoise Dorléac’s face as though I’d cast her in the role of Gemma Turner. Her relationship with Truffaut was an inspiration for the initial relationship between Gemma and Thierry Valdon.
<br /><br />
For Thierry Valdon, there is only one actor that comes to mind, and it is the magnificent actor, Assaad Bouab from <i>Call my Agent</i> and <i>The Pursuit of Love</i>. When he’s onscreen you cannot take your eyes off him. He has the complexity to pull off a complicated character like Thierry Valdon.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://constancesayers.com/" target="_blank">Constance Sayers's website</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2020/02/constance-sayerss-witch-in-time.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>A Witch in Time</i></a>.<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-witch-in-time.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>A Witch in Time</i></a>.<br />
<br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2023/11/constance-sayers.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Constance Sayers</a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-40118406776641654662023-11-16T08:05:00.001-06:002023-11-16T08:05:00.149-06:00Jacquelyn Mitchard's "A Very Inconvenient Scandal"<p></p><a href="https://jacquelynmitchard.com/bio/" target="_blank">Jacquelyn Mitchard</a> is the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of 23 novels for adults and teenagers, and the recipient of Great Britain’s Talkabout prize, The <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7nqqT_MkK_KfGLc1S0zDz1IeepLltcuFMk2vXENsvO1KYPfIQ7djh7Czc5E-kLoRcruW7ZR-45-vgC2XkoZME_gU-ld3ncbE1AmdRasaPcFhKRK1Vw0gRUoWvDnEjHLXrufCXWf8jgmI2vTc0b5ygiuQV0HitLvV8Qz32lcb3nilxI7zYPU7533IRx4C/s595/mitchard.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="394" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7nqqT_MkK_KfGLc1S0zDz1IeepLltcuFMk2vXENsvO1KYPfIQ7djh7Czc5E-kLoRcruW7ZR-45-vgC2XkoZME_gU-ld3ncbE1AmdRasaPcFhKRK1Vw0gRUoWvDnEjHLXrufCXWf8jgmI2vTc0b5ygiuQV0HitLvV8Qz32lcb3nilxI7zYPU7533IRx4C/w265-h400/mitchard.webp" width="265" /></a>Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards, and named to the short list for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
<br /><br />
Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her newest novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-very-inconvenient-scandal.html" target="_blank">A Very Inconvenient Scandal</a></i>:
<blockquote>
<i>A Very Inconvenient Scandal</i> is the story of powerful people in a powerful seaside family who clash when 60-year-old Mack Attleboro, a famed marine biologist widowed for one year, announces his marriage to his daughter Frankie’s lifelong best friend, Ariel: they’re expecting a baby and Mack couldn’t be happier. But his news fractures the family. Frankie, an acclaimed young underwater photographer, feels undermined not only because she, too, is getting married and expecting a baby, but because no one, not even Frankie’s brother Penn, confided in her. It was easy for the home crowd to keep the secret because Frankie is usually in some far-flung destination required by her work. Grieving for her mother, Beatrice, and feeling alone in the world except for her fiancé, Gil, Frankie is further unsettled when Ariel’s reprobate mother, Carlotta, returns after a ten-year absence, claiming to have turned over a new leaf – a claim everyone except Frankie seems to believe. Things only get worse when Mack and Ariel’s baby is born, the labor deliberately induced on Frankie’s wedding day. Although Frankie and her new husband planned to live near her family on Cape Cod (another surprise that went flat) they instead be estranged from her all of them forever.
<br /><br />
If there were a movie version of this novel, I would love for Greta Gerwig (who directed the latest and best version of <i>Little Women</i> in 2019) to direct it. I think Greta Gerwig should direct every movie because she is so intelligent and sensitive to personalities and nuance and doesn’t fear real drama. She would be just the right person for this story about tangled family relationships.
<br /><br />
If I could cast the roles, I would choose Saoirse Ronan as Frankie. Frankie … she’s so wonderful and has such natural charm and passion. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the wonderful film <i>Brooklyn</i> and also (no coincidence) played Jo March in Gerwig’s <i>Little Women</i>.
<br /><br />
The others might be:
<br /><br />
Timothée Chalamet as Frankie’s brother, Penn (clearly I’m obsessed with Gerwig’s <i>Little Women</i>, in which Chalamet played “Laurie” Lawrence)
<br /><br />
Amy Madigan (in flashback) as Frankie’s late mother, Beatrice. She’s so stunning and reassuring, a consistently great performer.
<br /><br />
Kevin Costner as Mack Attleboro. (You think he’s busy?)
<br /><br />
Louisa Jacobson (whose mother is Meryl Streep) and who starred in <i>The Gilded Age</i>, would be Ariel.
<br /><br />
Jamie Lee Curtis as Ariel’s mother, Carlotta. It would be so against type, but Carlotta, a woman denied, needs an actor with plenty of fire!
<br /><br />
Hugh Dancy as Frankie’s journalist husband, Gil.
<br /><br />
Javier Bardem as “Sailor” Madeira, Beatrice’s best friend and the sort of benign godfather of the beach, who has secrets of his own.
<br /><br />
I know all these actors are just waiting for the call!
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="http://jacquelynmitchard.com/">Jacquelyn Mitchard's website</a>.<br /><br />
<a href="http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2016/03/jacquelyn-mitchards-two-if-by-sea.html" target="_blank">My Book, the Movie: <i>Two If by Sea</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://page69test.blogspot.com/2016/03/two-if-by-sea.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>Two If by Sea</i></a>.<br />
<br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-good-son.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>The Good Son</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2022/01/jacquelyn-mitchard.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Jacquelyn Mitchard</a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2022/01/jacquelyn-mitchards-good-son.html" target="_blank">My Book, The Movie: <i>The Good Son</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://whatarewritersreading.blogspot.com/2023/11/jacquelyn-mitchard.html" target="_blank">Writers Read: Jacquelyn Mitchard</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-very-inconvenient-scandal.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>A Very Inconvenient Scandal</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-62366701968269493802023-11-12T12:05:00.004-06:002023-11-12T12:05:00.142-06:00Kathleen M. Willett's "Anything for a Friend"<p></p>
<a href="https://www.kathleenmwillett.com/about" target="_blank">Kathleen Willett</a> has a B.A. in English from Holy Cross and a M.A. in English Education from Columbia University. An English teacher who grew up in New Jersey and London, <i>Kathleen</i> lives in Manhattan with her husband, two daughters, and a cat named Mr. Sparkles.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iv_UYSUMFWKltU7saVZ1ZkgVUPnKeaAy53IfEjjleFEnBCVHs8Z7G0AYbsTQ43g1lvDFQir1zOp9zLnDjqagDJFY3BEmhg3uLlt9dyzQ50r9FgZxESWgd86ncjfF9V81yV3uW9LZ3hA5R1fYTQUDFNTHLrQSmmV5QZRhsegBc60PL7RnQaD7X98_0V_D/s595/willett.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="385" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iv_UYSUMFWKltU7saVZ1ZkgVUPnKeaAy53IfEjjleFEnBCVHs8Z7G0AYbsTQ43g1lvDFQir1zOp9zLnDjqagDJFY3BEmhg3uLlt9dyzQ50r9FgZxESWgd86ncjfF9V81yV3uW9LZ3hA5R1fYTQUDFNTHLrQSmmV5QZRhsegBc60PL7RnQaD7X98_0V_D/w258-h400/willett.jpg" width="258" /></a><br />
Here Willett dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/10/anything-for-friend.html" target="_blank">Anything for a Friend</a></i>:
<blockquote>
<i>Anything For A Friend</i> features Carrie, a woman who has just moved with her family from New York City to Montauk, hoping for a change of pace and a fresh start. She's shocked when her former college roommate calls her and tells her she's passing through the area-- they haven't seen each other in nearly twenty years. Maya and her teenage daughter are in a difficult position, and Carrie offers to help by having them stay for a few days. But Carrie soon regrets her impulsive offer. There are reasons she and Maya are estranged, and having her in such close proximity is dredging up unsettling memories. Plus, strange things are happening in the house: Carrie's manuscript is deleted, her herb garden is destroyed, and she starts to fear that a piece of the past she'd hoped was buried may soon resurface and throw her world off course.
<br /><br />
It would be a dream to see this story play out on screen! It's brimming with quiet, mounting tension and nonverbal communication and I think that would translate really well visually. I think the flashback scenes when Maya and Carrie are in college would also be a great aspect of a screen adaptation!
<br /><br />
When I write, I tend to imagine actors as characters, to try to make describing them with detail easier and more consistent. For Carrie, I imagined Naomi Watts. She was in <i>The Watcher</i>, which, while different from <i>Anything For A Friend</i>, does share the trait of being about a situation where strange things are happening inside a house. Naomi Watts has a lot of depth and crevices as an actor and so does Carrie-- she's a fundamentally good person, but with lots of flaws and secrets. I think Naomi Watts also plays "stressed out" very well!
<br /><br />
For Maya, I imagined Rachel Bilson. Maya is described as bird-like and quiet, but with a unique, intimidating imperviousness to others' opinions. I think Rachel really captures that kind of quiet confidence as an actor. Also, thinking all the way back to <i>The OC</i> (I loved that show, by the way!) where you couldn't really tell if her character Summer was nice or mean-- with Maya, (my hope is that) the reader can't tell if she's totally innocent or up to something, and I think Rachel Bilson could walk that line perfectly. I could imagine her in the scene after Maya reorganizes Carrie's kitchen (to Carrie's horror), saying ever-so-innocently, "I thought you'd love it."
<br /><br />
For Pete, I pictured Aidan from <i>Sex and the City</i>. I'm just realizing maybe that's why I named the main character Carrie-- whoops! Pete is that classic "good guy," and yet, there may be something about him that rubs the reader the wrong way at times. Aidan was always that way to me-- clearly a great guy, in nearly all ways, but sometimes a bit condescending in the way he joked around with <i>his</i> Carrie, in a way that was just a bit grating.
<br /><br />
As for Kelsey and Lola, the teenaged girls, I don't know many actors that age, but I will say that Lola's age is described to be a bit shifty-- sometimes she seems younger than she is, sometimes older-- so an actor like Sydney Sweeney (<i>Euphoria</i>), who could play sixteen or thirty, and who could seem at times off-puttingly mature for her age, would be a good choice.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.kathleenmwillett.com/" target="_blank">Kathleen M. Willett's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2022/08/kathleen-m-willett.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Kathleen M. Willett</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2022/08/mother-of-all-secrets.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>Mother of All Secrets</i></a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2022/08/kathleen-m-willetts-mother-of-all.html" target="_blank">
My Book, The Movie: <i>Mother of All Secrets</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-33897545052610148192023-11-08T00:05:00.001-06:002023-11-08T00:05:00.135-06:00Diane Barnes's "All We Could Still Have"<p></p><a href="https://www.dianembarnes.com/diane.html" target="_blank">Diane Barnes</a> is the author of <i>More Than</i>, <i>Waiting for Ethan</i>, and <i>Mixed Signals</i>. She is also a marketing and corporate communication writer in the health-care industry. When she’s not writing, she’s at the gym, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2RTZa5yWFX5na1fTwEZqFSIPrWvWkmhcry3gSAAXdGzlW4YNXcOfCpwDA9opb_GZMAQWKshxC8h9qHuqsfaKEIaFMAP8pCXreaLTXvMYwEUV4ukLZ9vbn38qa3GA8LfLB0EY1NGNnVkz7MiE7NiA4CHb4z4X7zyaSkdG05Ow0nY85eWZNmfVUxB5BSpw/s385/barnes.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="249" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2RTZa5yWFX5na1fTwEZqFSIPrWvWkmhcry3gSAAXdGzlW4YNXcOfCpwDA9opb_GZMAQWKshxC8h9qHuqsfaKEIaFMAP8pCXreaLTXvMYwEUV4ukLZ9vbn38qa3GA8LfLB0EY1NGNnVkz7MiE7NiA4CHb4z4X7zyaSkdG05Ow0nY85eWZNmfVUxB5BSpw/w258-h400/barnes.jpg" width="258" /></a>running, or playing tennis, trying to burn off the ridiculous amounts of chocolate and ice cream she eats. She and her husband, Steven, live in New England with Oakley, their handsome golden retriever.
<br /><br />Here Barnes dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/10/all-we-could-still-have.html" target="_blank">All We Could Still Have</a></i>:
<blockquote>
So many early readers have told me <i>All We Could Still Have</i> would make a must-see Netflix/Apple series because of the characters, twists and turns of the plot, and the setting in a small, mountain town. So Reese, if you’re reading this, please make my dream come true. I’ll even help out by making casting suggestions.
<br /><br />
Nikki Sebastian, the protagonist, is a woman having trouble trying to conceive. She believes everyone is judging/talking about her because she has no kids. I’ve seen lots of headlines suggesting your <i>Morning Show</i> co-star Jennifer Aniston could really relate to Nikki. So, I think Jennifer would do her justice. Based on physical appearance, Rose Byrne or Natalie Portman would also make great Nikkis.
<br /><br />
Nikki’s husband Kyle is a handsome, hard-working New England guy, just like Massachusetts’ own Chris Evans. Chris would make an outstanding Kyle.
<br /><br />
Dana DeMarco is Nikki’s younger sister. She’s a free spirit and maybe a little irresponsible from time to time. Kate Hudson would do a wonderful job with her.
<br /><br />
Aunt Izzie is a hearty New Englander living by herself in the mountains of New Hampshire. She’s tough but down deep soft-hearted. Allison Janney would make a fabulous Aunt Izzie.
<br /><br />
Uncle Hank is a former tough guy NHL hockey star now handsome restauranterer. Nikki doesn’t like him because she thinks he broke his promise to keep her parents’ restaurant running and he also put her job in jeopardy. I can definitely see Christopher Meloni killing it as Hank.
<br /><br />
There’s a golden retriever in the story, and I always pictured my dog, Oakley (AKA Golden Boy), in those scenes.
<br /><br />
Sharon is Nikki’s best friend. She’s a mom of two young boys who dreams of opening her own bakery. Reese, that’s your part. Let’s get it done.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.dianembarnes.com/" target="_blank">Diane Barnes's website</a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2023/11/diane-barnes.html" target="_blank">Q&A with Diane Barnes</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2023/11/all-we-could-still-have.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>All We Could Still Have</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-17277342926895793682023-11-01T07:05:00.001-05:002023-11-01T07:05:00.135-05:00Elizabeth Topp's "City People"<p></p><a href="https://www.liztopp.com/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Topp</a>’s debut novel, <i>Perfectly Impossible</i>, was a number one Amazon bestseller in literary fiction. Topp penned her first short story as a second grader at the Dalton School and continued studying creative writing at Harvard College and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMalNlnwrtz4_CysiEl5BxBqmB0OIAQHka6BBuJv_qRndsg5FXZr7QFgXr-WBZdORCFYyPJUpOu-60BMgT1yqlZeKxAb9QHVDjzTCTuIzRGmjmIgnTYLaZVTx591pw7R_hZckDKM6mPn3HlvOn-bl0eD4WrjexU6Y30uHpLU1h-uFZvWzK-vGJ8QOImV9/s595/topp.webp" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="385" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMalNlnwrtz4_CysiEl5BxBqmB0OIAQHka6BBuJv_qRndsg5FXZr7QFgXr-WBZdORCFYyPJUpOu-60BMgT1yqlZeKxAb9QHVDjzTCTuIzRGmjmIgnTYLaZVTx591pw7R_hZckDKM6mPn3HlvOn-bl0eD4WrjexU6Y30uHpLU1h-uFZvWzK-vGJ8QOImV9/w258-h400/topp.webp" width="258" /></a>Columbia’s School of the Arts, where she earned a master of fine arts in nonfiction writing. Topp coauthored her first book, <i>Vaginas: An Owner’s Manual</i>, with her gynecologist mother while she worked as a private assistant, a job she still holds. Topp lives in the same Manhattan apartment where she grew up with her partner, Matthew; daughter, Anna; and their cat, Stripes.
<br /><br />
Here Topp dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/10/city-people.html" target="_blank">City People</a></i>:
<blockquote>
I always cast the television show or film of my novel as I’m writing it, which is especially helpful when I am inspired by my lived experience but the book itself is completely fictitious. It’s also great to have a cast of three-dimensional actual humans for reference when you’re working, as I was, in multiple points of view. <i>City People</i> brings us inside the lives of six Manhattan Moms grappling with the unexpected loss of one of their own in the midst of private school admissions season.
<br /><br />
In my fantasy network television adaptation, the central character, Vic, would be played by Alicia Silverstone: well-meaning but a little bit ditsy, pretty without trying, alternating between sincere empathy and self-involvement. Mindy Kaling would bring a lighter energy and depth to Bhavna, the intense, ambitious, social climber. Sandra Oh was my pick for Amy, the singularly focused Chinese private equity tycoon, who moved thousands of miles from her country of origin to conceal her own deeply held secret. Chandice, the corporate lawyer turned stay-at-home mom who trains her skeptical eye on the woke posturing of the uber prestigious Kent School while battling cancer, would be played by the regal Rutina Wesley. Anne Hathaway would naturally fit the role of Penelope, a generationally wealthy New York native who can’t seem to escape the society box assigned to her, no matter how hard she tries. And finally, Maggie Gyllenhaal would bring the mild crazy-eye necessary for Kara, the outsider posturing and pretending to fit into the posh Kent crowd, hiding just how much the stress of it all--plus Susan’s untimely, violent death--is unraveling her. The otherwise enviable Susan, who is already dead by suicide at the novel’s open would be played by Kate Upton, reinforcing the idea that the outside of a person tells us nothing about what’s going on inside.
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://www.liztopp.com/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Topp's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2023/10/city-people.html" target="_blank">
The Page 69 Test: <i>City People</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697167571269160594.post-26372791677138926312023-10-18T08:05:00.002-05:002023-10-18T08:33:25.569-05:00Kim DeRose's "For Girls Who Walk through Fire"<p></p><a href="https://kimderose.com/about-2/" target="_blank">Kim DeRose</a> writes dark, magical stories about strong, magical girls.<br /><br />
She grew up in Santa Barbara, California, where she spent childhood summers reading books and writing stories (which she was convinced her local bookstore would publish). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4Dy96ttjvHsvgRAi435pKRfSe-PNj6Op928yQcXUDBM4DUja4079QJhmcUT9MNk-i2yz0BHswhyAEQQBLFX6z2hldI7-T7YLqyLgw6z-0-fwawqY8aPWwVQO0wqFhwFViG9v1tQfMWjHik9O1uecJTANhlNmJIr7PcrcjGJmRF0zavp2sdcCyfTBV9DZ/s595/derose.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="393" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4Dy96ttjvHsvgRAi435pKRfSe-PNj6Op928yQcXUDBM4DUja4079QJhmcUT9MNk-i2yz0BHswhyAEQQBLFX6z2hldI7-T7YLqyLgw6z-0-fwawqY8aPWwVQO0wqFhwFViG9v1tQfMWjHik9O1uecJTANhlNmJIr7PcrcjGJmRF0zavp2sdcCyfTBV9DZ/w264-h400/derose.jpg" width="264" /></a>She now lives in New York City, where she spends all seasons reading books and writing stories.
<br /><br />
DeRose earned her MFA in film directing from UCLA, and currently works in digital media.
<br /><br />
When she’s not reading or writing she can be found listening to podcasts on long walks, drinking endless cups of coffee, and spending time with her family.
<br /><br />
Here DeRose dreamcasts an adaptation of <i><a href="https://newreads.blogspot.com/2023/09/for-girls-who-walk-through-fire.html" target="_blank">For Girls Who Walk Through Fire</a></i>, her debut novel:
<blockquote>My YA novel, <i>For Girls Who Walk Through Fire</i>, was pitched as <i>The Craft</i> meets <i>Promising Young Woman</i> and has been called “a searing examination of sexual assault centering teen witches who fight back” by <i>Kirkus Reviews</i> and described as a “bold and compassionate debut” by <i>Booklist</i>.
<br /><br />
Now, you might think that because two films were used as comparative titles, and because I earned an MFA in film directing, I thought about this book as a movie all along. But while, when writing, I did often visualize the book’s scenes almost as if they were film scenes, I rarely considered how I’d approach the book as an actual film.
<br /><br />
Until now! And I have opinions!
<br /><br />
First off is our pink-haired, fearless coven leader and protagonist, Elliott. And this one is easy. Hands down, my dreamcasting would be Jenna Ortega. I love her in <i>Wednesday</i> and loved her in <i>The Fallout</i>. And while Elliott is white in the book, I’d love the movie’s casting to be more expansive by making her Latina or bi-racial. Jenna Ortega would absolutely nail this part.
<br /><br />
Elliott’s dad is also easy. My dreamcasting? Pedro Pascal. We’ve seen him play the dad figure in <i>The Last of Us</i> and <i>Mandalorian</i>, but I want to see him play an actual dad. Right? Right?!?
<br /><br />
For straightlaced Catholic schoolgirl, Madeline, Kiernan Shipka from <i>Sabrina the Teenage Witch</i> would be fantastic. She could really capture Madeline’s outer type-A, prima ballerina persona, as well as her internal fire and fierce strength.
<br /><br />
For private-school socialite Chloe, I’d love to see what Ella Jay Bosco from <i>Birds of Prey</i> would do with the part. I really like her comedic instincts. And because she’s such a talented musician, it would be great if that was somehow leveraged in the movie – let’s make Chloe a songwriter!
<br /><br />
For quiet Oboe player and track-star, Bea, Storm Reid of <i>A Wrinkle in Time</i>, <i>The Last of Us</i>, and <i>Euphoria</i> would do such a superb job. She brings such nuance and strength to her roles and could really capture Bea’s thoughtfulness as well as the many layers that exist under Bea’s seemingly quiet demeanor.
<br /><br />
I think Keiko Agena from <i>Gilmore Girls</i> would be wonderful as Mary, the support group leader. I would definitely buy her as a positive, supportive force in teens’ lives.
<br /><br />
And for Prudence, Elliott’s grandma, I would die of joy if she was played by either Kathy Bates or Dianne Wiest.
<br /><br />
As far as directors go, I would obviously want a female director. There are four who would be absolute dream directors: Emerald Fennell, who directed <i>Promising Young Woman</i>, Greta Gerwig, who directed <i>Barbie</i>, Sarah Polley, who directed <i>Women Talking</i>, and Oliva Wilde, who directed <i>Don’t Worry, Darling</i>.
<br /><br />
Lastly, music is a huge part of the book so I would really want a great soundtrack that makes use of all the 90’s songs Elliott listens to. But there’s one catch: I want all the songs to be performed by women. That obviously means including songs by Tori Amos, Bjork, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, and Alanis Morrisette. But I’d love to hear someone like Karen O do a cover of “Give it Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Sharon Van Etten do a cover of “Come as You Are” by Nirvana. And while this song isn’t mentioned in the book, I really want a gender-flipped female performed version of “Used to Love Her” by Guns N’ Roses. (Also, now that I’ve said that I dare you to get that fictional version of the song out of your head.)
</blockquote>
Visit <a href="https://kimderose.com/" target="_blank">Kim DeRose's website</a>.
<br /><br /><a href="https://writerinterviews.blogspot.com/2023/10/kim-derose.html" target="_blank">
Q&A with Kim DeRose</a>.
<br /><br />
<a href="https://page69test.blogspot.com/2023/10/for-girls-who-walk-through-fire.html" target="_blank">The Page 69 Test: <i>For Girls Who Walk through Fire</i></a>.
<br /><br />
--Marshal ZeringueUnknownnoreply@blogger.com