Jason Gurley's "Eleanor"

Jason Gurley is the author of the novels Greatfall, The Man Who Ended the World, and the ongoing Movement series. His bestselling self-published novel Eleanor was acquired by Crown Publishing in the U.S., HarperCollins in the U.K., Editora Rocco in Brazil, Arunas in Turkey, and Heyne Verlag in Germany. His short fiction has appeared in Lightspeed Magazine and numerous anthologies, among them Loosed Upon the World and Help Fund My Robot Army!!! from editor John Joseph Adams. Gurley lives and writes in Oregon.

Here Gurley dreamcasts an adaptation of his novel, Eleanor:

If I were in charge of casting a film adaptation of Eleanor, I’d have to take my cues from the nature of the book itself. The novel plays fast and loose with the concept of time, and I’d dive into that wholeheartedly, and select my cast mostly from years gone by—with a twist.

Eleanor, the novel’s protagonist, is seen at several ages, but predominantly as a teenager. She’s quiet, strong-willed, carrying her entire broken family upon her back. For this part, I’d leap back in time to the late 1970s, shortly after Taxi Driver, and cast Jodie Foster in the role.

Eleanor’s mother, Agnes, is a heartbroken, grieving woman who has forsaken her family to indulge her sadness. She’s drunk, angry, embittered; it all stems from the great losses she’s experienced. For this part, I’d rewind time a little less far, and cast Jodie Foster from the early 2000s—think Panic Room Foster.

You might already have spotted a trend here. In fact, the titular Eleanor of my novel was named for Eleanor Arroway, the heroine of Carl Sagan’s Contact—who, of course, Jodie Foster portrayed in the film adaptation. I suppose I’ve always thought of Ms. Foster as a sort of soulmate for this character. So it seems quite natural to me to bend time, just a bit, to place her in each of the novel’s major roles.

In the novel, Eleanor is named for her grandmother, Agnes’s mother. This Eleanor despairs of ever being able to make choices for herself. She’s unexpectedly found herself in motherhood, married to an older man, and once again pregnant. In her late twenties, she makes a dire choice that informs much of the novel that follows. For this, I’d leap backward in time to cast the Jodie Foster of the early 1990s—Silence of the Lambs Foster.

The novel spends some time with Agnes’s twin daughters, Eleanor and Esmerelda, when they are children of six. For these roles I take my inspiration from Robert Zemeckis, who in Contact cast Jena Malone as the young Jodie Foster. Malone wasn’t acting at age six, but I’m suspending that bit of reality here. For both parts, Jena Malone, circa 1990 or so.

Eleanor’s father, Paul, plays an important role as she grows up and begins her timeless journey toward her family’s redemption. He’s in his early forties for these scenes, and is a failed architect who sells real estate in a dwindling market; he and his wife have divorced in the wake of family tragedy. To bring Paul to life, I’d select Matthew McConaughey—and hey, trendspotters: McConaughey played Palmer Joss in Contact, so we’re keeping this trend alive.

As her family collapses around her, Eleanor has only one real friend, a boy her age named Jack. He loves her dearly, and would do anything for her—and does, many times. He comes from a similarly disrupted home, and knows what Eleanor’s going through. For this part, I have to break the trend; Jodie Foster can’t play it, and there are no male youngsters in Contact. Tye Sheridan, so good in Mud and The Tree of Life, would probably be my choice. Might have to rewind time a few years to get the character’s age right, but Sheridan’s a perfect Jack.

Visit Jason Gurley's website.

The Page 69 Test: Eleanor.

--Marshal Zeringue

James D. Stein's "L.A. Math"

James D. Stein is emeritus professor in the Department of Mathematics at California State University, Long Beach.

His books include Cosmic Numbers and How Math Explains the World.

Here Stein dreamcasts an adaptation of his new story collection, L.A. Math: Romance, Crime, and Mathematics in the City of Angels:

There are three main characters in the book: Freddy Carmichael, Lisa Carmichael, and Pete Lennox. The narrator of the stories is Freddy, a private investigator recently separated from his wife Lisa, who decides to relocate to Los Angeles. He takes up residence in a guesthouse in Brentwood, which is owned by Pete, who has a surprising ability to apply mathematics to the situations Freddy encounters.

All of the characters are in their late 20s or early 30s. I don't pay as much attention to movies and TV as I used to, so I'm going to describe people who played in TV shows in the past, and ask the reader of this blog (or the director and producer of the movie) to “fill in” contemporary actors who would parallel the ones I suggest.

The easiest is Lisa Kudrow, who could play Lisa Carmichael in the same way that she played the quirky Phoebe in Friends. I like Jim Hutton, who played Ellery Queen in the TV series of the same name, for Freddy Carmichael. From roughly the same era, take Jack Klugman, who played the sportswriter Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple, and regress his age to the late 20s or early 30s, and you have an excellent Pete Lennox.

Learn more about L.A. Math at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 69 Test: L.A. Math.

Writers Read: James D. Stein.

--Marshal Zeringue

David Wellington's "The Cyclops Initiative"

David Wellington is an author of horror, fantasy, and thriller novels. His zombie novels Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet form a complete trilogy. He has also written a series of vampire novels including Thirteen Bullets, Ninety-Nine Coffins, Vampire Zero, Twenty-Three Hours, and 32 Fangs. His werewolf series comprises Frostbite and Overwinter.

In 2013 Wellington introduced Afghanistan veteran Jim Chapel in the novel, Chimera, which was later followed by The Hydra Protocol.

Here Wellington dreamcasts an adaptation of the new Jim Chapel novel, The Cyclops Initiative:

“What would you like to have a director do with your book?” I have a stock answer whenever anybody asks me this question, which is that I don’t know but I’d be excited to see what they came up with. I’m not of the opinion that movies should scrupulously follow a book’s content. Where’s the fun in that? Any movie is going to be an interpretation of the source material, so why not make it an interesting interpretation?

Of course you’re going to run into fans who just want to see their favorite story made into some kind of visual artifact. Which is understandable, I suppose, but it just seems so boring. So if someone were to ask me “Who do you want to play Jim Chapel in the movie?” I think I would have to say: John Boyega.

Let’s break this down. Jim Chapel in The Cyclops Initiative is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He lost an arm over there (and got a spiffy new robotic replacement). He’s a special forces vet just easing into middle age, a quiet, brooding fellow who is still able to jump into action when the need arises but who is learning to be more thoughtful and compassionate as he ages. He’s a real hero.

Oh, and Chapel’s a white guy. I think he specifically says as much in the book, but, yeah, we all knew he was white, no point in pretending otherwise now. Astute readers, or at least those with functional short term memory, will recall I picked John Boyega. Who is black. Oh, and too young, and he has both arms, and… sure.

He’s also utterly charming. Did you see that star fighters movie thing? I think you probably saw it by now. Boyega is a solid actor who brings energy and enthusiasm to his role as leading spaceman, but the thing that came across the most for me from that performance was: he’s a nice guy. His character is literally defined by the fact that he was a soldier who chose to be nice. And that’s exactly what I was trying to do with Jim Chapel.

So, John Boyega. Absolutely.

I will admit that I would enjoy the furor. The Twitter comments from people who don’t realize how foolish they sound as they sputter and whine. But then, I’m not a nice guy. I just write about one in the books.

John Boyega as Captain Jim Chapel, all the way. Ooh, and Daisy Ridley can have a part, too (if you’ve read the book, you know which part, and that she’d be perfect, but no spoilers here). If we got them both that would sell one hell of a lot of tickets. And it would be fun.

It’s entertainment, right? Isn’t it supposed to be fun? People are so afraid to take chances these days. In fact, hell with it. Daisy Ridley as Jim Chapel. And all the other characters can be CGI hippos. Directors of the world, I am waiting. You can do what you like with my book! Just please, try to make it fun!

Learn more about the book and author at David Wellington's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Hydra Protocol.

The Page 69 Test: Positive.

--Marshal Zeringue

Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith's Vampire Empire series

Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith are a married couple who have written together for nearly two decades. Their credits include novels such as the Vampire Empire series (Pyr Books) and the Crown & Key trilogy (Del Rey).

Their new novel is The Geomancer.

Here the Griffiths dreamcast an adaptation of the Vampire Empire series:

Our readers have debated a lot over who should play the characters in a Vampire Empire movie from the time the original trilogy was published. There are some perfect actors who are too old, or would be by the time a film project got off the ground. But here are suggestions for actors if the movie was going in front of the camera today. Some of these characters don’t actually appear in the newest book The Geomancer, but this is a cast for the series as a whole.

Greyfriar/Gareth: Tom Mison

Adele: Freida Pinto

General Anhalt: Oded Fehr

Mamoru: Ken Watanabe

Simon: Asa Butterfield

Cesare: Douglas Booth

Flay: Eva Green

Senator Clark: Hugh Jackman

Captain Hariri: Alexander Siddig

Sir Godfrey Randolph: Tom Wilkinson

Nzingu: Lupita Nyono’o

Lord Kelvin: Tom Hiddleston

It would be a very expensive movie, we fear. But the ComicCon panel would be awesome!

Learn more about the book and authors at Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Geomancer.

Writer's Read: Susan Griffith.

Writer's Read: Clay Griffith.

--Marshal Zeringue

Martine Bailey's "A Taste for Nightshade"

Martine Bailey’s A Taste for Nightshade, the follow-up to An Appetite for Violets, is a gastronomic mystery set in England, Australia and New Zealand in the 1790s. It is a thrilling historical novel that combines recipes, mystery and a dark struggle between two desperate women. Bailey lives in Chester, England and as an amateur cook, won the Merchant Gourmet Recipe Challenge and was a former UK Dessert Champion.

Here Bailey dreamcasts an adaptation of A Taste for Nightshade:

In my dream version I’d like to resurrect Alfred Hitchcock to direct my novel. I'm picturing the atmospheric sets he used for Rebecca and the way Hitch used food to drive his plots . I’ll never forget the illuminated glass of poisoned milk in Suspicion, or Marion Crane picking over her last sandwich in Psycho.

My flame-haired confidence trickster Mary is a talented cook, impersonator, and born survivor. I’d give her role to Myanna Buring, Edna in Downton Abbey and star of Banished and Ripper Street. Mary’s timid mistress is Grace Moore, warm-hearted and vulnerable Anna Maxwell-Martin (Death Comes to Pemberley, Bleak House). While writing I pictured Grace’s weak but handsome husband as a young James Fox. The other male lead is escaped convict Will, to be played by The Last Kingdom's Ragnar, Tobias Santelmann.

The main location is Delafosse Hall, based on a house in North Wales with forgotten tunnels, decaying summerhouse, tales of hopeless love and ghostly hauntings. My dark mystery also takes the reader to London’s Golden Square, the convict camps of Sydney, Australia, and Maori settlements of New Zealand.

The food needs to be highly crafted, from aphrodisiacs and poisons, to a tiny sugar four-poster bed for a wedding cake and a miniature baby and cradle. When writing the book I studied sugarwork with TV food historian Ivan Day, who created the food for Death Comes to Pemberley.

I’m sure Hitchcock would conjure the twisting staircases of Delafosse Hall, the snowbound winter rides, flickering candlelight and create edge-of-the-seat moments from the twists and revelations.

Visit Martine Bailey's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: An Appetite for Violets.

The Page 69 Test: An Appetite for Violets.

--Marshal Zeringue

Rachael Ball's "The Inflatable Woman"

Rachael Ball is a cartoonist and a teacher. The Inflatable Woman, her first graphic novel, was a Guardian Best Graphic Book of 2015.

Here Ball dreamcasts an adaptation of the novel:

Who would play the lead role?

That's a hard one since it's a cartoon book so I guess if I was lucky enough for it to be made into a film it would probably be animated. If it was live action the only person that springs to mind is Susan Calman (brilliant comedian). I'm not saying this because she's short! She's also a lot prettier than Iris in my book. But I've seen her perform a few times and she manages to combine humour and human frailty really well. Also there's an ending to one of her stage shows which is very similar to the ending of my book. I seriously cannot remember if I saw her act before I wrote the end of my book! Whatever! Hope she doesn't mind being such an inspiration!

Director: Would have to be Jane Campion or David Lynch. Bit different but they'd both be edgy with dark bits!

Visit Rachael Ball's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Inflatable Woman.

Writers Read: Rachael Ball.

--Marshal Zeringue

Robin Epstein's "HEAR"

Robin Epstein is a writer, runner, professor and astronaut* (*in her own mind). Beginning her career as a comic and television writer, Epstein was lucky enough to become head writer and on-air sidekick for a teen girl game show called Clued In, where she was known as "Guru Robin," an embarrassing nickname she's unable to shake. Her young adult novel, God Is In the Pancakes, was an official selection of the 2012 New York State Reading Association (NYSRA) Charlotte Award Master List. She's written for the New York Times, Marie Claire, Glamour, as well as other publications. A contributor to This American Life on NPR, she also writes video games and books for TV shows on the Disney Channel. Epstein attended Princeton University, got her MFA from Columbia University, and teaches at NYU.

Here Epstein dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, HEAR:

Early in the writing of HEAR (when it was originally called E.S.P.U.), I saw a brilliant young actress in a film called Winter’s Bone, and I was certain this young woman would make the perfect Kass, my heroine. That turned out to be a 19-year-old Jennifer Lawrence, and apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought she had some acting chops!

Since JLaw might actually be too old for the role (unusual since I generally find her too young for the parts she now plays), I’d love to see Elle Fanning star as Kass. For the four other young leads, I’d suggest Utkarsh Ambudkar for the sly and sexy Pankaj, Selena Gomez or Kiernan Shipka as the brooding, tarot card reading Mara, Ansel Elgort as the troubled, tech-savant Dan, and Evan Bird for the hot and dangerous Alex.

For Uncle Brian, the professor and leader of the HEAR lab, though I make him a man in his 80s in the book, in the film version I’ll age him down and would be very happy to give that part to Benedict Cumberbatch.

Visit Robin Epstein's website.

The Page 69 Test: HEAR.

--Marshal Zeringue

Larry D. Sweazy's "A Thousand Falling Crows"

Larry D. Sweazy's novels include Escape from Hangtown, See Also Murder: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery, Vengeance at Sundown, The Gila Wars, The Coyote Tracker, The Devil's Bones, The Cougar's Prey, The Badger's Revenge, The Scorpion Trail, and The Rattlesnake Season. He won the WWA (Western Writers of America) Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005 and for Best Paperback Original in 2013. He also won the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for books the Josiah Wolfe series. He was nominated for a Derringer award in 2007 (for the short story "See Also Murder"), and was a finalist in the Best Books of Indiana literary competition in 2010. Sweazy was awarded the Best Books in Indiana in 2011 for The Scorpion Trail. And in 2013, he received the inaugural Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year for The Coyote Tracker, presented by the AWA (Academy of Western Artists). Sweazy has published over sixty nonfiction articles and short stories, which have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; The Adventure of the Missing Detective: And 25 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories!; Boys' Life; Hardboiled; Amazon Shorts, and several other publications and anthologies.

Here Sweazy dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, A Thousand Falling Crows:

A man in his mid-sixties who loses his right arm, and yes, he’s right-handed, in a shootout with Bonnie and Clyde might be a hard sell in Hollywood these days. My books tend to be more character-driven than plot-driven, and if there’s an explosion of any kind, it’s because it’s necessary, not for effect.

What makes this book an even bigger challenge is that a large part of the cast is Hispanic, Mexicans in 1933 Texas. I really think a grumbly Nick Nolte would make a great Sonny Burton, the Texas Ranger who faces down the famous duo and suffers the consequences of the encounter. Sonny wrestles with his own mortality, with depression, anger bordering on rage, and then finds a reason to keep living by helping a friend find his missing daughter. It’s a challenging journey for Sonny. I think it would be the perfect role for Nolte, who I have been a fan of since watching the original miniseries, Rich Man, Poor Man on television more years ago than I want to count.

I think the role of Aldo Hernandez, a janitor who asks Sonny to help him find his missing daughter, would be a natural fit for Benicio de Toro, even though when I was writing the novel I saw the character as a little older. His daughter, Carmen, might be a challenge and a game changer for someone like Selena Gomez if she were interested in tackling a tough acting role. She would have to balance the love/hate relationship with the Clever Clever Boys, Eddie and Tió, the twins she runs off with, along with her own fears about life, religion, and growing up in the Great Depression. I’m at a loss for Eddie and Tió. Those role would be a challenge for a casting director, but I hope a great unknown would walk in and make them the role of a lifetime.

This is a fun exercise. I never try to cast my characters when I am writing my books, though I usually have a clear vision of them and ultimately of the production values in the movie in my mind. I could see this as a black and white movie as I was influenced heavily by the photographs of Dorothea Lange. The faces she captured in the Dust Bowl, during the Great Depression, are truly the faces of A Thousand Falling Crows.

Learn more about the book and author at Larry D. Sweazy's website and blog.

Coffee with a Canine: Larry D. Sweazy & Brodi and Sunny (April 2013).

The Page 69 Test: A Thousand Falling Crows.

Writers Read: Larry D. Sweazy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Michael Cobley's "Ancestral Machines"

Michael Cobley was born in Leicester, England, and has lived in Glasgow, Scotland, for most of his life. He has studied engineering, been a DJ and has an abiding interest in democratic politics.

His books include the Shadowkings dark fantasy trilogy, and Iron Mosaic, a short story collection. Seeds of Earth and The Orphaned Worlds, books one and two of the Humanity’s Fire sequence, are his first full-length foray into space opera.

Here Cobley dreamcasts an adaptation of Ancestral Machines, the latest Humanity's Fire novel:

My next book is called Ancestral Machines and one of the main characters is a smuggler captain called Brannan Pyke, a scallywag chancer of Irish extraction, a self-centred charmer who also has a good side, sort of. And I've just recently found out that the actor who plays Hook in the TV series, Once Upon A Time, is Irishman Colin O'Donoghue, and having now heard him speak with his own voice I know and am utterly convinced that he should be the one to play Pyke in Ancestral Machines The Movie, no question.

Dervla is Pyke's 2nd-in-command and not-quite girlfriend, also of Irish extraction, and I reckon that Mallory Jansen, the Australian actress from Galavant, would be perfect as a strong willed woman who absolutely won't stand for Pyke's off the cuff, back-of-the-envelope plans.

Samantha Brock is an officer in the Earthsphere military, and Zoe Saldana would be a fantastic choice to play her, another strong character trying to salvage something from the chaos.

Director? My first choice would be Josh Whedon for his ability to choreograph actor ensembles, and for his brilliant ear for dialogue; but if he wasnt available, I'd go for David Goyer and/or Peter Hoar, who both worked on the series, Da Vinci's Demons.

Visit Michael Cobley's website.

The Page 69 Test: Ancestral Machines.

--Marshal Zeringue

Elizabeth Heiter's "Seized"

Elizabeth Heiter likes her suspense to feature strong heroines, chilling villains, psychological twists, and a little bit (or a lot!) of romance. Her research has taken her into the minds of serial killers, through murder investigations, and onto the FBI Academy’s shooting range.

Here Heiter dreamcasts an adaptation of her newest novel, Seized:

Seized, the third book in my Profiler series, follows FBI profiler Evelyn Baine as she travels to a remote area of Montana for a routine prison interview. The trip turns anything but routine when fellow agent Jen Martinez insists Evelyn check out a local cult of survivalists, insisting there’s something more going on with the group, and convinced the FBI is overlooking a serious threat. When they arrive at the compound, the agents are taken hostage and Evelyn soon realizes Jen was right. She needs to get the information to the outside world, but if the FBI breaches the compound, Evelyn will be the first casualty. If they don’t, the group may unleash an attack that will leave the entire country shattered.

If Seized were to be made into a movie, here’s my dream cast:

FBI profiler Evelyn Baine: The young, biracial agent finds herself trapped inside a cult filled with anti-federalist white supremacists, but that doesn’t stop her from nosing around, trying to collect information for the FBI. If anyone can pull off the strong, determined heroine, it’s Thandie Newton (and she happens to look almost exactly the way I imagine Evelyn!).

FBI Hostage Rescue Team agent Kyle "Mac" McKenzie: He’s an operator on the FBI’s only full-time tactical response unit, so when agents are taken hostage inside a dangerous cult with a stockpile of weaponry, Mac and his team are called in. Surrounding the compound, waiting for the call to action – and hoping that if he does get to go inside, he’ll find love interest Evelyn Baine still alive – I picture Hugh Jackman playing Mac. Imagine him in Wolverine mode (only replace the metal claws with an FBI-issued sub-machine gun), but keep a little of the actor’s Aussie charm, because Mac is a definite charmer!

FBI agent Jen Martinez: When Jen thinks she’s onto something with a case, she’s persistent. No matter how many times her supervisor warns her to stay away from this cult, she’s convinced they’re a bigger threat than anyone realizes, and she’s not going to let them get away with anything on her watch. I imagine her as Cameron Diaz. Diaz is a little young, but could definitely play Martinez with the sort of spunk and determination needed to push her way onto the property of a cult of survivalists!

FBI profiler Greg Ibsen: He’s Evelyn’s mentor at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and when the cult takes hostages, he’s called in to provide a profile for the FBI and help develop strategies on how to defuse the situation. When he initially arrives, he has no idea his partner is inside the compound with Jen. I imagine Greg a bit like Edward Norton, who could pull of Greg’s mix of professional FBI profiler, dedicated family man, and over-protective mentor.

Visit Elizabeth Heiter's website.

My Book, The Movie: Vanished.

The Page 69 Test: Vanished.

The Page 69 Test: Seized.

--Marshal Zeringue