Kathleen Rooney's "For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs"

Kathleen Rooney is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press and the author of Live Nude Girl.

Here she shares her view on the biggest casting decision should her latest book, For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs, be adapted for the big screen:

The movie of my book would be animated. Since it is a collection of 11 individual essays, I am the only character who appears in each one. I would like to be played by Lisa Simpson. Her essential optimism—often misunderstood, often comically disappointed—makes her perfect for the role.

Visit Kathleen Rooney's website.

The Page 99 Test: For You, for You I Am Trilling These Songs.

--Marshal Zeringue

Matt Beynon Rees' “The Fourth Assassin”

Matt Beynon Rees is the author of the acclaimed series of novels featuring Palestinian detective Omar Yussef: The Collaborator of Bethlehem, which won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger award, A Grave in Gaza, The Samaritan's Secret, and the newly released The Fourth Assassin.

In 2007 he shared some thoughts on who might play his main character in an adaptation of The Collaborator of Bethlehem. Here he revisits the issue:

I didn’t need to think of an actor. Not until I’d finished my book. Then the thinking really started.

The Palestinian detective hero of my books, Omar Yussef, is based on a real Palestinian friend of mine who lives in the Dehaisha Refugee Camp on the edge of Bethlehem in the West Bank. I had no problem visualizing him when I wrote about Omar, because I saw him most days. We spent a lot of time together and, with a gentleman as frequently cantankerous as my real-life chum, believe me, I got the full tour.

Then came publication of the first of my Palestinian crime novels, The Collaborator of Bethlehem. The estimable Marshal Zeringue invited me to write a post for this blog. Instead of having a famous actor always in mind, I had to run through potential candidates.

My wife insisted Pacino was just right for Omar. But I preferred the quiet, gentle Swiss actor Bruno Ganz – who proved he could do cantankerous when he played Hitler a few years ago in Downfall.

At the Leipzig Book Fair last year, my Berlin-based film agent chatted with me about some negotiations with a German tv channel which wanted to make a series based on Omar. As we talked, crowds of local kids dressed in “Manga” costume milled about (apparently this is some Japanese animation thing that has cult dressing-up status among people young enough to make me feel very old.) He asked if I had an actor in
mind for Omar. I mentioned Ganz.

“No, it won’t work,” Roland said.

“Why not?” I asked, as I was bumped from behind by some German kid dressed up as a vampire samurai.

“He’s not Arab. It really ought to be an Arab. But it’s difficult to find an Arab actor who’s well-known enough to carry a production and also speaks German.”

“So Pacino’s out too, I guess.”

“Well, movies are different from tv,” he said, “and if it sold in America, things might be different, too.”

I think they might be different now that The Fourth Assassin has been released. In this new installment of my Palestinian series, Omar comes to New York for a UN conference, only to uncover an assassination plot. The suspect: his own son.

I’d guess the New York setting might make the series seem just that little bit less dauntingly foreign – without betraying its core and making it into just another American detective story.

Which leaves me free to name names.

So here it is: Tony Shalhoub. He showed great dramatic range in The Siege, which was written by Lawrence Wright, a journalist colleague of mine who later won a Pulitzer for The Looming Tower, a nonfiction account of the story behind the 9/11 terrorists. Shalhoub had a nice cameo in 1408, an otherwise typically over the top Stephen King thing. I don’t really watch tv, but I gather Monk is great.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: Tony Shalhoub’s an Arab. He’s descended from Lebanese immigrants.

I hope that’s good enough. I mean, don’t make me find an actor big enough to carry a Hollywood movie who’s actually Palestinian…

The Page 69 Test: The Fourth Assassin.

Visit Matt Beynon Rees' website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jessica Verday's "The Hollow"

Jessica Verday wrote the first draft of her debut novel, The Hollow, by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. She likes: things that smell nice, rainy nights, old books, cemeteries, Johnny Cash, zombie movies, L.J. Smith books, abandoned buildings, trains, and snow. She is currently hand-writing the continuation of Abbey and Caspian’s story from her home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Here she shares her preferences for the actors in an adaptation of The Hollow:

For my two main characters, I picture Abbey being played by Alexis Bledel and Caspian being played by either Tom Felton or Gaspard Ulliel.

For Nikolas I've pictured mostly Johnny Cash or Michael Caine.

As far as the rest of the cast, they are still part of my imagination although I think I'd like to hear my readers' thoughts.

Watch the video trailer for The Hollow, and learn more about the book and author at Jessica Verday's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Hope Tarr's "Twelve Nights"

Hope Tarr is the award-winning author of a dozen books (and counting) including Twelve Nights (Harlequin, December 2009).

Here she shares some thoughts about the major cast in a cinematic adaptation of Twelve Nights:

Ah, the thought of seeing one’s humble novel played out upon the Silver Screen, what writer hasn’t fantasized about that glittering, fantastical moment, including bringing one’s fictional hero (and sometimes heroine) to life by casting honest to goodness actors to play their parts?

Callum Fraser, the hero of my Scottish Medieval Blaze, Twelve Nights, is the classic romance hero, a raven-haired warrior and rogue with abs of steel, and a sexy, penetrating gaze that can see straight through to a woman’s soul, not to mention her…unmentionables. Who better to serve as a role model-cum-muse than the “Dark Knight” himself, multi-talented actor, Christian Bale?

His most un-heroic mommy-shoving episode aside, Bale is hands-down “hawt” not to mention one of the few child actors in Hollywood (Empire of the Sun) to ace consistent box office wonder-dom as a grown-up.

For my heroine, Alys, several possibilities pop to mind, including me in a blond wig. Okay, only kidding…sort of.

Nubile young blondes aren’t exactly in short supply in Tinsel Town, not now, not ever, so casting my petite, blue-eyed, golden-haired heroine comes off as something of a cakewalk. Still, I’m especially keen on Kristen Bell. Slender and slight, the about to turn thirty-year-old has the right physicality for sure. Though she played the self-absorbed TV star bitch goddess in Forgetting Sarah Marshall with admirable aplomb, her upcoming performance in When in Rome reveals a softer, more vulnerable side very much in line with Alys’s gentle if ultimately courageous personality.

As for secondary characters, I keep seeing Nicole Kidman as Brianna MacLeod, Alys’s friend and the heroine of the prequel, Bound to Please. Kidman movies are, admittedly, a hit or miss for me—Australia, really, what was she thinking? Still, roles such as depressive author, Virginia Woolf in The Hours reveal that the tall red-haired Aussie has wracked up sufficient maturity and yes, gravitas to pull off the part of my alpha female laird.

Christian, Kristen, Nicole, the ball’s in your court, babes. Have your “people” contact my “people” and let’s get this party started. Or check out my web site and, as they say, make me an offer. ;)

Look for Hope Tarr's The Tutor in August 2010 and her novella, “Tomorrow’s Destiny” in a Harlequin Victorian Christmas anthology with bestselling authors, Betina Krahn and Jacquie D’Alessandro coming December 2010. In the meantime, please visit her website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kelli Stanley’s "City of Dragons"

Kelli Stanley is the author of the critically acclaimed Nox Dormienda, which won the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery and was nominated for a Macavity Award. She lives in San Francisco, California.

Here she shares some ideas about director and principal cast for a big screen adaptation of her new novel, City of Dragons:

First, I want to thank Marshal for letting my imagination run wild in the fields of celluloid! I loved dreaming about film adaptations for Nox Dormienda, my first novel, and am thrilled to be back!

City of Dragons is a PI series set in 1940 San Francisco, a reimagining of noir with the censorship gloves off and a femme fatale in the driver’s seat. And period pieces are almost as tough as my protagonist.

Miranda Corbie is a PI, ex-Spanish Civil War nurse and former escort. She’s a rich, complex character, and City of Dragons is really her book—and her movie. I’m also adamant about trying to capture the truth of the era … to not get lost in the fog of nostalgia but to show both the beauty and the ugliness of the past.

After all, you scratch 2010 and underneath—covered up with a veneer of social progress and respectability—is 1940, with all the concomitant human problems that still plague us: poverty, crime, racism, sexism, ignorance.

But—and this is important—I don’t see it as “neo-noir.” I envision the film almost with a post-war neo-realism vibe, mixed with some expressionistic camera movement—Otto Preminger, maybe, or Charles Vidor or Jacques Tourneur or Nicholas Ray.

So … it’s tricky. I don’t want a director who thinks of noir as a pastiche, as something to mimic. I want a director who understands organically what the genre and style were, and understands what I’ve tried to do with the book.

Originally I thought I’d dream up two casts—one contemporary, one from the ‘40s. Then I realized that City of Dragons would not have been able to have been made in 1940—at least not as a faithful adaptation. So let’s stick with directors and actors that could really bring 1940 San Francisco to life seventy years later.

My dream directors for the project? Curtis Hanson and Clint Eastwood. They’re both great, mature cinephiles who can coax jaw-dropping performances from actors, and neither one of them relies on special effects to construct a film.

As for Miranda … well, if you could picture Rita Hayworth as Gilda, except much tougher and more cynical, that might give you an idea of what she’s like. She’s 33 but looks younger, about 5’7”, auburn hair, brown eyes. She’s a beautiful woman, and she uses it. She has to—it’s her bread and butter. She’s a broken idealist, and that is the most cynical condition in the world.

A number of top actresses could bring different gifts to the role, different nuances to her character. Angelina Jolie can do beauty that’s tough, hard and yet vulnerable. Kate Winslet, too. Charlize Theron and Catherine Zeta-Jones would also bring unique charisma to Miranda.

Of course I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Hollywood will come knocking, and we’ll see an A-list production of City of Dragons—a big screen Miranda and 1940 San Francisco in all her sinful splendor. My film agents are working on it—after all, it’s the stuff that dreams are made of.

Read an excerpt from City of Dragons, and learn more about the novel and author at Kelli Stanley's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: Nox Dormienda.

The Page 69 Test: City of Dragons.

--Marshal Zeringue

Alexandra Diaz's "Of All the Stupid Things"

Alexandra Diaz grew up in a bilingual Spanish/English-speaking family in various parts of the US and now spends her time between Bath, England, Santa Fe, NM, and the rest of the world. She graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English and Communications from Lake Forest College and then went on to be awarded an MA by the prestigious Writing for Young People course at England's Bath Spa University.

Here she shares some casting ideas about a big screen adaptation of her new novel, Of All the Stupid Things:

While writing my YA novel, Of All the Stupid Things, I always saw the character’s actions and expressions as if it was a fuzzy film. I know the individual’s physical characteristics, but with the exception of Tara, I didn’t have an actual picture in my head that adequately represented the characters.

Because of that, it was interesting and fun to go through my mental library of actors I had seen in films who might work to represent the characters from my book. Despite their blurry faces, they feel like real people. I can’t assure these actors are the best people for the task, but this is my fantasy movie world and the result of the assignment amused me nonetheless.

I once saw a teenage girl playing soccer, her short blond hair in a ponytail. As soon as I saw her I thought, that’s Tara! So from then on every time I visualized Tara, it was with this girl’s face. Ideally I would like that soccer girl to play Tara, but if I have to go with an actor, Keira Knightley in Bend it Like Beckham would work. She is, however, nothing like I envisioned Tara to look like.

Even though Pinkie’s ethnicity is technically Italian, I think America Ferrera would do the role well. Ferrera is a beautiful full-figured woman and that is a must for anyone playing Pinkie. I only wish there were more actors like her in Hollywood.

I thought Whitney Blaire would be difficult because she is much more than a pretty rich kid so I wanted an actor who could reflect that. Take away the leather, and Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer immediately came to mind. Eliza Dushku has a presence that is more than just a pretty face.

As for Brent, I think it goes without saying that a young Johnny Depp with shoulder length hair would do the role perfectly. He’s sexy and suave and it’s easy to see why Tara would be with him even if he had messed around with others.

Riley is a hard one to cast, or at least I can’t think of anyone that is just right. I’m going with a younger Lucy Liu at the moment. Although I never mention it, Riley could be Chinese. At least I always got the feeling she wasn’t “white.”

While David is not a heartthrob, he has his boyish cuteness and innocence. Joshua Jackson when he first played Charlie in The Mighty Ducks had that, complete with the bowl haircut.

Add all this up with the directing talents of Gurinder Chadha, and we’d have an amusing film. Don’t know if it would work (even if we could make the cast younger), but it would be fun nonetheless. And that’s all that matters!

Learn more about the book and author at Alexandra Diaz's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Julie Hyzy's White House Chef mysteries

Julie Hyzy's White House Chef mysteries include Eggsecutive Orders (January 2010), Hail to the Chef (December 2008), and State of the Onion (January 2008).

Here she shares her idea on who might play her characters in a big screen adaptation of the novels:

Wherever I go, readers ask when my White House Chef books will be turned into a movie. My answer is always “Soon, I hope!” but so far Hollywood hasn’t come calling. But when it does, I know there won’t be any difficulty casting it. Readers always ask me who I would choose if I had the final say. Although I know I would definitely not have the final say if my WHChef books ever made it to the big screen, the question is so much fun that I can’t resist participating.

First of all, a little intro: The White House Chef Mysteries feature Olivia (Ollie) Paras who feeds the First Family and saves the world in her spare time See, Hollywood? I already have my tagline!

In the opening scene of State of the Onion, Ollie is returning to the White House with a commemorative frying pan meant to be a gift for Henry, her boss who’s retiring. Just as she makes it through security at the front gate, she spies a man running across the north lawn. Secret Service agents are in hot pursuit and snipers on the roof are taking aim. When the intruder manages to dodge the agents, he veers in Ollie’s direction. She does what any red-blooded American would do in that situation: She conks him in the head with the frying pan. That act of bravery (which angers the Secret Service to no end) thrusts Ollie into the midst of an international conspiracy and gets her “noticed” by an assassin known as The Chameleon.

In order to get this movie up and running, I first need to cast Ollie. She’s petite (very short) and dark haired. From the start I’ve envisioned America Ferrera in the lead role. Not only does she have a great name for a White House-based story, she’s got a great sense of humor and a lot of pluck. Personally, I think she’s perfect. For Ollie’s boyfriend, Tom Mackenzie, I see Mark Salling. You probably know Mark from Glee -- he plays Puck. The actor is a bit older than his high-school age character. He's 27. Mind you, as a Secret Service agent, he’d have to lose that Mohawk!

Our villain, The Chameleon, would be best portrayed by Paul Bettany. That actor is amazing in every role he inhabits, whether it’s Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight’s Tale, or the albino in The Da Vinci Code. Granted, he may be a bit too tall for this role, but this is my dream cast, so he’s in.

I see Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Riker) as Henry, the retiring chef, Ann Morgan Guilbert (Millie from The Dick Van Dyke Show) as nosy neighbor Mrs. Wentworth, and Daniel Davis (Niles from The Nanny) as persnickety Peter Everett Sargeant, III. I can’t have a White House without a Commander in Chief, so I’d bring Bruce Greenwood and JoBeth Williams on board as President and Mrs. Campbell. Rounding out the kitchen staff would be Ellen Page as Cyan (she would have to dye her hair red), and David Hyde Pierce as Bucky.

I can see it already. And as I envision all these great actors in their new roles, I can’t wait to write the next book. But even as I do, I still wait for “The Call.” With this eclectic mix of stars, I know audiences would flock to see the film. Are you listening, Hollywood?

Learn more about the author and her work at Julie Hyzy's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eileen Cook's "Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood"

Eileen Cook’s first book, a romantic comedy titled Unpredictable, was released in February 2008. Her next book, a young adult novel, What Would Emma Do, was released in December 2008. Her latest, Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, came out at the end of 2009.

Here she shares some thoughts on a dream cast for an adaptation of Getting Revenge:

I’ve been asked before who I would like to star in a movie based on my book and I stink at it. I come up with one name and then change my mind and then spend hours on IMDb trying to figure out a better plan B. I base my problem on casting my movie/book on three issues:

1. As I write, I don’t have specific actors in mind. I suspect this is because the characters are unformed when I start the project. I am one of those people who writes my way into a story.

2. When I think of teen movies I get stuck in the movies I knew growing up so I end up wanting to cast Molly Ringwald, who has to be in her 40’s now and likely isn’t doing a lot of teen revenge movies.

3. I start thinking of actors I would like to meet rather than who would be good for a particular role/character. For example, I want to meet Colin Firth. The fact that there is not role for him in the movie just makes me want to tack an additional chapter onto the book so I can make it work.

These issues make me think I should leave the casting to the professionals and stick to the writing and hope they at least invite me to the swanky parties.

However, I do have a love of classic movies and since you didn’t say the actors had to be living, I’m going to go that route. The main character in Getting Revenge is Helen. She should be smart, with a lot of moxie, so the role will go to a young Katherine Hepburn. Lauren, the villain of my book, needs to be the school elite. gorgeous, but with a touch of cruelty. For this role I’m going to choose a high school version of Bette Davis. The love interest of the book is easy. Christopher has that easy charm and a sense of humor. He has a killer half smile that melts your knees. A teenage Cary Grant should do perfectly!

I’d love to hear who readers of the book think should be in the movie.

Watch the Getting Revenge trailer, and learn more about the author and her books at Eileen Cook’s website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Joyce and Jim Lavene's "Ghastly Glass"

Joyce and Jim Lavene are really two people who write together, not just one disguising herself with two names. They live in North Carolina (southern USA) with their family that is too terrified to eat dinner at their home because they kill people for a living (sometimes with poison).

Here they play casting director for a film adaptation of their Renaissance Faire Mystery series:

Ghastly Glass is the second book in our Renaissance Faire Mystery series (Wicked Weaves is the first). The stories revolve around an associate history professor from South Carolina whose passion is visiting the Ren Faire in Myrtle Beach (no, there isn’t really one at the old Air Force base). She happens upon murder mysteries while indulging her passion and working on her doctorate in Renaissance crafts.

We have to admit that, yes; we do see Jessie Morton, our Renaissance Faire sleuth, as a younger Meg Ryan. She’s got that flyaway hair and can be a little useless though she always ends up doing the right thing in the end. She’s pretty and smart though she can be a little thick sometimes. We see her as a normal type person who gets caught up in weird things that happen.

Really, He-Man (cartoon, not Dolph Lundgren) would be the perfect Chase Manhattan (named by his rich parents for their favorite financial institution). He’s kind, considerate, large, strong, just, gorgeous and sexy. He’s the bailiff for Renaissance Faire Village and Marketplace. He’s actually a constable and has some police training but mostly he uses stocks and squishy vegetables to administer justice to bad guys. He’s Jessie’s boyfriend and a perfect foil for her.

Other characters we consciously placed in the series are André the Giant from The Princess Bride (might be hard to get him now). He plays the Grim Reaper in Ghastly Glass (which is set at Halloween). We liked him so much that we put him in the next book, Deadly Daggers, too. Great character!

We’d love to see Stiller and Meara (20 years ago) play King Harold and Queen Olivia at the Village. And Tim (the toolman) Allen would be great right now as the Village glass smith.

As far as producers/directors, we don’t know much about them but we know movies we enjoy that would be like filming one of the Renaissance Faire books – The Princess Bride (Mandy Patinkin would be a fantastic Black Knight), Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (We’re sure we could find somewhere to put Kevin and Mary Elizabeth), January Man, and Night at the Museum. Maybe we could get all of these talented people to work together!

So that’s our summary of how we think you could make Ghastly Glass into a movie. It could be filmed at any Ren Faire in the world, though we’d prefer England, if possible. We think it would be fairly low budget since storybook characters, animals and monks come pretty cheap these days. If anyone is interested in the project, please contact our agent who is always hoping we’ll make some money for her one day.

View the Ghastly Glass trailer, and learn more about the authors and their work at Joyce and Jim Lavene's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Erica Spindler's "Breakneck"

Erica Spindler is the New York Times bestselling author of over two dozen novels, including Last Known Victim, Copycat, Killer Takes All, See Jane Die, Dead Run and Bone Cold.

Here she shares some casting ideas about a big screen adaptation of 2009's Breakneck:

Breakneck, starring Meryl Streep as Detective Kitt Lundgren and Sandra Bullock as Detective M.C. Riggio- partners on the hunt for a killer more heartless and elusive than any monster they have faced before.

Portraying strong women with delicate balance and humanity, these actors’ toughness and vulnerability are equally believable. While I’m writing, I do form pictures of the characters in my mind, but those images are also of my own creation, blank identities that are shaped as the story develops. These two are nearly exact profiles of what I pictured.

MC is strapped with plenty of the emotional drama in Breakneck, and Sandra Bullock is brilliant for the role. Her strength is palpable, yet hints at a raw nerve just below the surface. MC’s partner, Kitt, has earned her wisdom through mistakes, her tenacity by losing everything and building it back again with sheer will. With her soft yet formidable presence, Meryl Streep is a great match.

As the body count rises, one kill hits MC close to home. Her young cousin Sam Mariano (Shia LaBeouf- love his youthful charm and earnest sincerity) decides to enlist himself as a junior sleuth in the investigation . While Sam is able to persuade the jittery Zoe- spooked by the recent killings targeting coeds like herself- into offering some insight into the case, the two may be more of a liability than any help. Hayden Panettiere could certainly deliver the stubbornness of spirit that Zoe puts on the table.

At the heart of this fast-paced thriller is the relationship between two headstrong women as they struggle to balance their dual roles, to learn to trust, and to walk the fine line between upholding the law — and taking it into their own hands. As M.C.’s life is ripped at the seams and Kitt fights to rebuild her marriage, a murderer is on the verge of striking again.

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough pull in Hollywood to have booked these actors for Breakneck’s video trailer (view at www.ericaspindler.com/videos ). But you can read the smash hit before it ever goes on screen -- Breakneck is available for order now and in stores February 2nd.

Read an excerpt from Breakneck, and learn more about the book and author at Erica Spindler's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue