Chris Mooney's "The Secret Friend"

Chris Mooney is the critically acclaimed author of Deviant Ways, World Without End, and Remembering Sarah, which was nominated for the Barry Award and the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Last year he applied the Page 69 Test to his latest novel, The Missing.

Here he suggests actors who might play the main characters in a film adaptation of The Secret Friend, the second novel in his Darby McCormick series:

This is a tough one - and a subject that's under fierce debate in the Mooney household. For The Secret Friend, the next Darby book, there are two major characters - Darby McCormick and Malcolm Fletcher. To play Malcolm Flether, the former FBI profiler who is now on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, my vote would be for Daniel Day Lewis. I think he would bring an entirely new dimension to the character. My wife's vote is for Frank Langella, and while he's a great character actor, my vote remains remains for Daniel Day Lewis. As for Darby McCormick, you would need a strong actress to play her - someone who has a lot of emotional depth. As long as Lindsay Lohan or Jennifer Lopez didn't play her, I'd be a happy camper.

Read more about Chris Mooney and his fiction.

The Page 69 Test: The Missing.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lev Raphael's "The German Money"

Lev Raphael's books include the award-winning Dancing on Tisha B'Av, two novels about Holocaust survivors, Winter Eyes and The German Money, and a collection of Jewish memoirs and essays, Journeys & Arrivals.

Last year he applied the Page 69 Test to Hot Rocks, one of his Nick Hoffman mysteries.

Here he develops some ideas for a film adaptation of The German Money:

My novel The German Money is the story of three adult children of a Holocaust survivor dealing with the surprises of her Will after she dies unexpectedly. It's an intimate family drama interwoven with a mystery,with scenes and dialogue I would love to see on-screen, more than any other of my books. Writing is solitary, of course, but this book brought me a lot of contact with the world: because it was a Jewish Book Council pick, I toured Jewish Book Fairs in the US; the English publisher had me read in London and Glasgow, and the German publisher sent me on a two-week tour of Austria and Germany.

So I'm not surprised that someone's been doggedly been trying to make a movie out of it, and has come close twice to putting together a deal. That means I've had lots of time to think about casting, which also means dreaming of some of my favorite actors. Robert Downey, Jr. would make the perfect lead, playing Paul, a neurotic Jewish man fleeing his past. Rachel Weisz would be luminous as Valerie, the women he loves but abandoned, who's now a successful writer. For Simon, the bisexual screwed-up brother, Justin Kirk would have just the right look and energy, and Laura Linney, one of my favorite actresses, would be ideal as Paul and Simon's beautiful, cold, angry sister. I'm also thinking of how they'd look together, as well as their acting styles. The family friend with a pivotal role would have to be Olympia Dukakis.

And for the director, I'd want John Curran, who did an amazing job with the Andre Dubus stories that made up We Don't Live Here Anymore. Fun to fantasize about, but not as much fun as writing the next book, and the one after that....

Read more about The German Money and Lev Raphael at his website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kate Pepper's "One Cold Night"

Kate Pepper's novels include Five Days in Summer (2004), Seven Minutes to Noon (2005), One Cold Night (2006), and Here She Lies. In April 2007 she applied the Page 69 Test to Here She Lies.

Here she develops some ideas for a film adaptation of One Cold Night:

Whenever I visualize Dave Strauss, the detective whose quest to find his kidnapped teenage sister-in-law and whose love for his wife are at the heart of my thriller One Cold Night, I see Viggo Mortensen: quiet, intense, brooding, intelligent, and sexy. Dave is a man whose greatest attributes include his keen investigative instincts, the self-doubt inspired by a seasoned past, and his ability to deeply love and cherish his wife, Susan. I can see Mortensen embodying this character with conviction and soul.

Susan is played by Diane Lane, but maybe that’s just because I remember the sizzling chemistry between Mortensen and Lane in the 1999 movie A Walk on the Moon. Both these actors are not only gorgeous but have an emotional range along with the ability to play smart down-to-earth characters, and I like that a lot. (I went to graduate school with Diane’s late father, Burt Lane. He was older than the rest of us but he fit in because he was a great guy, completely unpretentious; at the time, he spoke only briefly of his then-nineteen year old daughter who was about to star in a movie called The Cotton Club. That film sank like a stone while Diane rose to stardom. I’ve always wanted to meet her to tell her how proud her dad was of her.)

In the role of Detective Lupe Ramos, I see Rosie Perez, because no one else has the comic grit to simultaneously strut in tight jeans and snap orders in a high-pitched voice like Rosie. Lupe Ramos is both tough and funny; her appearance in a scene guarantees that the plot will propel forward and also supply some needed comic relief … especially when she’s with her partner, Detective Alexei Bruno.

If Robin Williams would be willing to be cast in a supporting role, he’d make a brilliant Bruno, a leather-clad Russian whose English is peppered with malapropisms. On the outside, Lupe and Bruno seem like opposites, but as partners they’re in perfect synch and much sharper than they appear at first glance. They work seamlessly with Dave in pursuit of a kidnapper who may also be a long-sought killer.

And to play Lisa Bailey, Susan’s fourteen-year-old sister whose abduction sparks the story into action and leads to the revelation of a long-held family secret that nearly wrecks Dave and Susan’s marriage, give me Evan Rachel Wood. Wood embodies the mix of feistiness and sweet innocence that helps Lisa survive her ordeal, and like Lisa, Wood sings like an angel.

Last but not least, among the lead players is not a person but a place that is the main setting for One Cold Night: Dumbo, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass. This gritty waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn, directly across from lower Manhattan, once inspired Walt Whitman to write his poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and now straddles a haunting sense of history in its cobblestone streets and nineteenth century warehouses, with the high-rises and galleries that mark its recent gentrification. The heart of the neighborhood was recently given landmark status to preserve its historic nature, and so no matter how long it takes this movie to get made, the neighborhood that is one of the story’s main characters will be waiting, mostly intact, to supply the sense of atmospheric mystery it lends this thriller in spades. Dumbo is where Dave and Susan live, where Susan has her handmade-chocolate shop, where Lisa vanishes, and where Dave begins his search for her on what becomes the longest, coldest night of all their lives.

Read excerpts and learn more about the author and her work at Kate Pepper's website and her blog.

The Page 69 Test: Here She Lies.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bill Cameron's "Lost Dog"

Bill Cameron is the author of Lost Dog and stories and poems.

Here he develops some ideas for actors should Lost Dog be adapted for the big screen:

Way back when I first started writing Lost Dog, I was already visualizing the movie version. As each new character materialized on the page, the casting director in my mind was on the job. The brooding, yet smart-assed form of John Cusack would be Peter. Dennis Farina as crusty Skin Kadash. Gillian Anderson as perky Ruby Jane (yes, I confess to a deep and abiding Scully crush). Jake was a tricky one, and while I never settled on a specific choice, any of the boy toys from Beverly Hills 90210 had the inside track.

Those are the main folks, and I confess to never having cast the support roles, though secretly I dreamed of being Jake’s first male victim, a fellow who dies before the start of the action and only appears in a photograph late in the novel. Yeah, a bit part, but then I can’t act my way out of a speeding ticket.

The nature of publishing being what it is, so much time passed between my initial concepts and the actual appearance of Lost Dog as a book that my thoughts have had to change as a matter of necessity. Let’s face it, actors age even if characters on the page don’t. Much as I still adore Cusack and Anderson, I fear they’ve aged past Peter and Ruby Jane. Alas. If I could still have them in the mid-90s, ... But no.

So I’m looking now to fresh fish. After much rumination, I realized that the perfect choice already had practice as an on-screen couple: John Krasinski and Mandy Moore. Okay, so it didn’t go so well for them with License to Wed, but I’m a man who believes in second chances. John, Mandy? What do you say? You in?

Dennis Farina could still do Skin, though I’ve recently found myself taken with John C. Reilly. He’s got a quirky presence on screen, plus amazing range. And for Detective Mulvaney I’ve settled on Emma Thompson. I don’t even care if she loses the English accent for the role; she’s Mulvaney.

And for Jake now that the 90210 Boy Toys are getting their first face lifts? Haley Joel Osment, of course. Not only is he the perfect age and more than capable of projecting darkly creepy, but he sees dead people. In Lost Dog he’ll get to make some of his own.

Read an excerpt from Lost Dog and visit Bill Cameron's website where you can view a video trailer for the novel.

The Page 69 Test: Lost Dog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lilith Saintcrow's "Dante Valentine series"

Lilith Saintcrow is the author of five novels in the "Dante Valentine series" as well as other books.

If the Dante Valentine series is adapted for the movies, here are Saintcrow's ideas about the principal cast members:

Since I'm a very visual writer, I usually do play the game with myself -- "who would I cast in my books?"

For the Valentine series, some of it is simple. I would love Fairuza Balk or Rachel Weisz as Dante, since both have that edge of competence. I would also, if I'm dreaming, like Cate Blanchett for the role, since Dante isn't traditionally pretty.

For Japhrimel, I would pick Karl Urban. There's a scene in The Bourne Supremacy where Karl, as the bad guy, shoots Bourne -- and that, right there, is Japh. He's also got the correct eyebrows. Though I would love to see what Adrien Brody would do with the part. Christian Bale would be pretty to look at, but if push came to shove it would be Brody. He just has the talent to play a demon, you know.

Other parts include: Kate Beckinsale as Gabriele Spocarelli, Tilda Swinton as Lucifer (the ONLY choice!) and Jason Statham as Jace. Giovanni Ribisi would be my first choice for Eddie, and as Santino? Brad Dourif. No question.

Can you tell I'm a film buff too?

The Dante Valentine series opens with Working For The Devil and closes with the fifth and final volume, To Hell and Back.

Learn more about the author and her books at Lilith Saintcrow's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Patricia Gussin's "Twisted Justice"

Patricia Gussin is the author of Shadow of Death, which was nominated for Best First Novel in the Thriller Awards sponsored by International Thriller Writers, and the recently released Twisted Justice.

Here she develops some ideas for actors and director should Twisted Justice be adapted for the movies:

The heart wrenching drama of Kramer vs. Kramer and the violent scenario of The War of the Roses bracket the domestic deception and betrayal that explode onto the scene in Twisted Justice. No one ever really knows what goes on in another’s marriage and in Twisted Justice what appears on the surface to be the ideal family, in the blink of an eye implodes, spiraling out of control toward devastation.

The perfect lives of Laura, a surgeon mother – Steve, a television news anchor father – and their five great kids – disintegrate into a nightmare when Steve’s sexy co-anchor is murdered. Both Laura and Steve are successful professionals and dedicated parents. Each in their own way. Each motivated by their own agenda. Each with dark secrets they are desperate to protect. But how does Steve react when Laura is accused of killing Kim?

The part of Laura would best be played by a mom-actress. A great choice because she is a dedicated mother and such a versatile leading actress is Gwyneth Paltrow. At the crux of the drama in Twisted Justice is a mother’s worst fear. Separation from her children is a visceral emotion for any mother, an emotion that would surely evoke genuine empathy from a woman who loves her children as much as Gwyneth Paltrow does.

Steve turns out to be the character everybody loves to hate. He has his reasons, and because Twisted Justice is a mystery, they cannot be revealed here. Steve’s character could be played very well by Kevin Costner. He’s handsome, egotistical, yet insecure and vulnerable. It is Steve who sets off the downward spiral and tangled web of intrigue as he turns on Laura in the worst imaginable way when she is charged with Kim’s murder.

As Laura’s fight for freedom dissolves into a bitter battle, pitting husband against wife, five innocent children are caught in the crossfire. Fourteen year old, Mike; eleven year old Kevin; ten year old identical twins, Natalie and Nicole; and the most victimized of them all, eight year old Patrick. Five casting opportunities open to young actors and actresses to play the children. It is difficult to imagine the pain that these kids go though as their parents’ betrayals and deceptions plunge them into a world of mortal danger.

The action is fast paced in Twisted Justice. The emotional stakes are high. And just as in real life, justice can be twisted, but it is seldom ever thwarted.

The last question: Who could best direct Twisted Justice? Steven Spielberg, of course.

Visit Patricia Gussin's website and view the Twisted Justice trailer.

The Page 69 Test: Shadow of Death.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sandra Parshall's "Disturbing the Dead"

Sandra Parshall is the author of The Heat of the Moon, winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel of 2006, and Disturbing the Dead, which came out in March 2007 to favorable reviews.

Should Disturbing the Dead ever be adapted for the movies, here are Parshall's thoughts -- with a little help from her friends -- about who might star in and direct the picture:

I’m probably a rarity in that I have difficulty picturing actors playing my characters – with one exception. Meryl Streep would be a natural to play Judith, Rachel’s mother in The Heat of the Moon.

I often clip photos of models from catalogs to inspire me when I begin writing new characters, but along the way my mental images diverge from those in the photos, and the pictures are discarded. “Casting” my second book, Disturbing the Dead, with models proved impossible because many of the characters are Melungeon – mixed race with dark skin and hair and, in a few cases, blue eyes.

Some of my friends have no trouble naming actors to play my characters, and their choices remind me that writing long, detailed descriptions of the people in a novel is a waste of time, because regardless of what I write, every reader will see the characters in his or her own way.

Gigi Pandian suggested Adam Beach for the role of Tom Bridger. My immediate reaction was, “He’s much too short!” I also think his features aren’t sharp enough. Tom is part Cherokee and looks it. Beach doesn’t have an angular Cherokee face. (I agree with Gigi, though, that he’s cute.)

Kim Striker thought Joe Lando could play Tom – and my immediate reaction to this suggestion was, “He’s much too old!” I looked Lando up on the internet, and sure enough, he’s more than 10 years older than Tom. I appreciate Kim’s comment on her choice, though, because it tells me I did a good job of presenting the character: “He has the same quiet competence, self-confidence and vulnerability I see in Tom.”

Kim nominated Kimberly Williams-Paisley from the Father of the Bride films and TV’s According to Jim to play Rachel Goddard, my young veterinarian heroine, because the actress has “an energy and enthusiasm I associate with Rachel” as well as the right physical appearance. True enough, but I could also accept Michelle Williams, suggested by Carol Baier, in the role.

Who would I want to direct the movie of Disturbing the Dead? No contest: the Coen brothers. With them in charge, I could be sure the book’s brooding, rather gothic tone would be conveyed whole to the screen. To tell you the truth, though, if anyone made a film of one of my books I would have no expectations. A book is a book and a movie is a movie, and any similarity between the two is purely coincidental.

Learn more about the author and her writing at Sandra Parshall's website.

The Page 69 Test: Disturbing the Dead.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kristy Kiernan's "Catching Genius"

In March 2007 Kristy Kiernan applied the Page 69 Test to Catching Genius, her debut novel.

Here she develops some ideas for actors and director should the book be adapted for the movies:

When I go to a baby shower I know that when they pass me a roll of toilet paper I'm supposed to tear off however many squares I think will go around the mommy-to-be's belly. It's an expected party-game, and I know how to play it.

In much the same way, when I attend a book club function, I know that as soon as someone says "movie" I'm going to be asked to cast Catching Genius. Though it's an expected game, I haven't gotten nearly as good at it as I have the whole toilet paper/pregnant belly game.

The truth is I didn't have actors in mind when I wrote the book. I envisioned sisters Connie and Estella, their mother June, the men in their lives, Luke, Tate, and Paul, and Connie's sons, Gib and Carson as wholly original beings. But after so many conversations about who readers thought should play my characters, I admit that I have finally given it some serious thought.

For Connie, a mix of resentment and love on the edge of a dangerous boiling point, I like the idea of Robin Wright Penn. There's a lot of depth there that could be easy to overlook because of her beauty, just like Connie.

For Estella, the damaged math genius who made her own life the way she wanted it (or thought she did), come on, who else but Jodie Foster? That scary intelligence mixed with vulnerability? Perfect! Plus she has the right hair for it.

June, fiercely loving, but demanding and occasionally unsympathetic, with a shocking story about her past that she kept from her own daughters, I struggle with. I think Glenn Close comes, well, close, but I keep seeing Jane Seymour tilting her head, June's quasi-haughty move, just so and think she might be perfect.

Luke, perpetual man-boy, whose infidelity pushes Connie over the edge, has a lot of contenders in Hollywood, but there must be a sad quality there, too, a history that he can't escape, no matter how much money he has, or how many baristas he fools around with. Possibly Rob Lowe?

Paul, Estella's love, tall, rangy, gentle. Smells like wood shavings and varnish, dances with Estella standing on his feet so she doesn't have to touch the grout lines. He's lovely, isn't he? I'm thinking Anthony Edwards.

And Tate, oh, all the women do love Tate. He's got problems, there's no question there, but he knows what they are, he knows where they came from, and once in a while he even owns up to them. Plus he brings fresh seafood over all the time and can build a bonfire. We need someone a little rough around the edges, someone with calluses on his hands who might take off to the woods for three days with nothing but a pocketknife. Luke Wilson has a quiet strength I like for Tate.

Gib, the troubled teenaged son of Connie, infuriated with his father, uncertain of his mother, jealous of his younger brother. He's a good kid, but what's going to become of him? I think Jason Dolley, star of a series on the Disney channel, would be an interesting choice.

And sweet Carson, concerned about everyone around him, into jazz clarinet and composing, unaware that he's a little prodigy. Nathan Gamble from Babel has just the right look, the right voice.

And the director? Please, does anyone do dysfunctional better than Jodie Foster? Watch Home For The Holidays before you suggest another director. She is exquisitely talented and does sibling relationships beautifully.

Read an excerpt from Catching Genius.

Curious about the inspiration for Catching Genius? Read Kiernan's backstory.

Visit Kristy Kiernan's website. Her new novel, Matters of Faith, comes out in August 2008.

The Page 69 Test: Catching Genius.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sarah Langan's "The Missing"

Sarah Langan received her MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University. She studied with Michael Cunningham, Nicholas Christopher, Helen Schulman, and Maureen Howard, among others, all of whom have been instrumental to her work. She is currently a master's candidate in environmental medicine at NYU.

Earlier this year Langan applied the Page 69 Test to The Keeper, her first novel.

Here she develops a few ideas about the cast and crew for a film adaptation of her new novel, The Missing:

I’d love for The Missing to be made into a movie, mostly because it would get more people to read the book. Also, I would become a rich and famous bizillionaire, and replace all my teeth with gold!

For directors, and we’re talking crazy mad dream here, I love Marty (in my dreams, I call him Marty) Scorsese. He’d handle the violence in the book with honesty, so that it never got campy or gleeful. Also, he understands intelligent women. His actresses fight the camera until it sees things their way, while lesser directors are happy to fill the screen with pretty (boring) smiles. Under his direction, Meg and Fenstad Wintrob’s love would be poignant, and Lois’ bitterness sympathetic.

For screenwriters, I love Brent Hanley (Frailty). He understands that horror comes from within, and his stories engage with the world. I’m also pretty thrilled with Ido Mizrahy and David Meyer -- the guys currently working on a screenplay (well, up until the strike) for The Keeper.

As for actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman would make a great Fenstad. I think he’d bring a quiet turmoil to the role. Fenstad Wintrob is the town psychiatrist in The Missing. While he madly loves his wife Meg, their marriage is unraveling. A year previous to the opening of the novel, she engaged in a short affair, which she regrets. Still, she remains unfulfilled, and he’s miserable, because he can’t figure out why she can’t enjoy life now that their nest is empty, and they’ve finally got time to themselves. Actually, Donald Sutherland thirty years ago would have been perfect. Then again, when is Donald Sutherland NOT perfect?

I wrote Meg’s character with Nicole Kidman in mind, mostly because Kidman is so frigging cool. But Maria Bello, Vera Farmiga, Linda Fiorentino, Rachel Griffiths, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Téa Leoni all have that same smart, type A sexiness that I envisioned for my heroine. She’s comfortable in her own skin, and accustomed to being in charge. Her weakness is her inability to be vulnerable, which I think is a nice twist, and more common than often gets written about.

Lois Larkin is the hero-turned-villain, and probably the most fun to imagine casting. Upon being dumped by her boyfriend of seven years for her best friend, and losing her job, Lois’ personality takes a turn toward the dark side, and her carnal appetites are unleashed. She’s gorgeous, wounded, angry, and infected with a virus that allows her to read other peoples’ thoughts. I like Angelina Jolie for the role. She’s great in everything she does. Or Rita Hayworth — she would have been amazing! Also, I can only imagine the crazy stuff Rita put up with, while living with Orson. I like to imagine she was the genius behind the genius all those years.

Learn more about The Missing at Sarah Langan's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Keeper.

--Marshal Zeringue

Penni Russon's "Undine"

Tasmania-born Penni Russon is the author of The Undine trilogy, published by Random House in Australian and Greenwillow in the US, a series of magical books set in Hobart’s streets and the surrounding bush and seascapes.

Here she shares some ideas about film adaptations of the novels:

When I first imagined Undine as a movie (which was as I was writing the book!) I pictured it as a live action, but my four year old has recently fallen deeply in love with anime – films like My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Whisper of the Heart. When I started watching these with Frederique I definitely thought that it would be a great way to make Undine into a film. The dialogue in Totoro is some of the best I've ever heard in a film, the spirit of childhood is so perfectly captured. I think the Tasmanian landscape would be inspirational to a film-maker and Tasmania and Japan have a special relationship, maybe because we both know what it's like to see your country as fractured into islands – an image of Australia that 'mainlanders' don't share.

So without further ado, here's the cast list, bearing in mind that because its animation, age doesn't matter so much!

Undine: Emilie de Ravin

Trout: Richard Wilson

Lou: Rachel Griffiths

Prospero: Sam Neill

Richard: Hmm … someone from an Aussie soap probably (but I don't watch soaps). But someone young and smooth.

Jasper: An undiscovered, yet brilliant, yet balanced and happy in himself child actor

Max: Audrey Tatou

Grunt: Heath Ledger

I've mostly chosen Australians with international starpower because I want the movie to make LOTS of money. But Trout is a local, the first time I saw Richard Wilson on an ABC Kids show called Out There I knew he was Trout, he has the right blend of geeky and funny and vulnerable and self-possessed. Heath Ledger is exactly the kind of Australian boy I was picturing Grunt to be. I love Emilie as Clare in Lost, I love that she can look little and breakable but powerful and resilient too – her facial features are just right for Undine, so the illustrators should model Undine on her. Rachel Griffiths looks nothing like Lou but she would make a great Lou, she's got the energy and the shades of darkness Lou needs. Audrey Tatou would give Max an air of mystery (and not just because she has an accent!). I chose Sam Neill for Prospero just because I'd like to meet him. But I think he'd be great.

The music by the way, would be mostly supplied by The Waifs. But Kate Rusby's song 'Who Now Will Sing Me Lullabies?' is Undine's song in Drift.

It feels very naughty and fun playing this game! Now I should go and do something sensible. Sigh.

Learn more about the author and her novels at Penni Russon's website and her blog, Eglantine's Cake.

The Page 69 Test: Penni Russon's Breathe.

--Marshal Zeringue