Carol Snow's "Just Like Me, Only Better"

Carol Snow, a former contributor to Salon.com, lives in California with her family where she writes books for teens as well as for adults.

Here she shares some casting ideas for a film adaptation of her new novel, Just Like Me, Only Better:

Just Like Me, Only Better tells the story of a struggling suburban single mother and substitute teacher (yes, I overdid on the s’s) named Veronica Czaplicki who gets hired to be a celebrity double for an imploding young Hollywood starlet named Haley Rush. In her job, Veronica must deal with Haley’s controlling manager, Jay Sharpie. Fake dates with Haley’s ex, B-list hunk Brady Ellis, sweeten the deal. And so, on to the casting.

Veronica/Haley: Since Veronica and Haley are supposed to look so much alike, one actress could play both roles, but I’ve always found that technique distracting. Parent Trap, anyone? I’d encourage the studio to cast two similar-looking actresses. The studio would completely ignore my advice and do whatever the hell they please.

Publishers Weekly described Haley as a cross between Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus. Kudos to the reviewer: I had both of them in mind when I wrote the book. Lindsay Lohan even has that Parent Trap split-role experience. Of course, there are way too many problems with casting Lohan. No manager in his right mind would let her play a role that emphasized her instability. Even if she did agree to the part, the insurance would be prohibitive. And, c’mon. Do you really think she’d show up?

Miley Cyrus wouldn't work either, at least not now; she’s far too young. Also, she takes herself way too seriously. And she can’t actually, like, act. And so, the role of Veronica and/or Haley goes to … Amanda Bynes (and another actress who looks like Amanda Bynes). She can sing. She can act. She’s got that wholesome girl-next-door thing going on. And even though she’s been in the spotlight so long that she should be on her third stint in rehab (at least), she seems remarkably sane.

Jay Sharpie: Sometimes the most obvious choice is the most effective. I’d give the role of Haley’s manager to Kevin Connolly, the guy who plays Vince Chase’s manager, Eric, on Entourage.

Brady Ellis: How hard can it be to cast a minimally talented pretty boy? Not very. In the first draft of the book, Brady was named Brody. It wasn’t until I came across Brody Jenner in a magazine that I realized my subconscious had already cast him.

Learn more about the book and author at Carol Snow's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Edward M. Lerner's "InterstellarNet: Origins"

For thirty years, Edward M. Lerner toiled in the vineyards of high tech. Then, suitably intoxicated, he began writing science fiction full-time. He writes both near-future, Earth-based techno-thrillers (like Fools’ Experiments and Small Miracles) and -- as with his latest novel, InterstellarNet: Origins -- more traditional spacefaring adventures.

Here he explains some casting challenges for a cinematic adaptation of InterstellarNet: Origins, as well his choice of a couple of stars with significant sci fi credits for the lead roles:

InterstellarNet: Origins, as its cover suggests, starts with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence -- a quest that succeeds. Contemplating I: O as a movie, it’s hard not to think, almost immediately, of the few well-done SETI movies. There’s Contact, starring Jodie Foster as a radio astronomer. There’s The Arrival, starring Charlie Sheen as a radio astronomer. Hmm ... the opening of I: O needs male and female scientist leads. Okay, I can’t help casting Sheen as the hero, Dean Matthews, and Foster as the heroine, Bridget Satterswaithe.

But InterstellarNet: Origins the movie rapidly part ways with those earlier films. Earth stays in contact with the aliens who have reached out across the light-years -- and light speed being a limit, those exchanges last years. Even with our nearest neighbors (native to Alpha Centauri), the round-trip radio delay approaches a decade. And so, the first, tentative message swaps gradually transform into a robust interstellar internet over which information -- science, technology, and culture -- is traded. And so, I: O became a family saga. Dean and Bridget marry, and by the end of the story, their children and grandchildren are the ones immersed in alien plots. What can we say about casting them? Starting from Sheen and Foster, if we know nothing else, we can assume the rest of the clan is very attractive.

Arguably the most interesting characters aren’t human -- nor, exactly, are they alien. The way to circumvent the light-speed limit is to download artificial intelligences, AIs, possessed of delegated authority. But other species’ technologies are potentially incredibly valuable. What is to prevent the aliens’ AIs from becoming victims -- or being criminal masterminds? As archetypes for alien AIs interacting with humans within an ever-expanding network, I can’t help but think of Max Headroom, the Hal 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey), Colossus (The Forbin Project), and SkyNet (The Terminator) – with virtual-reality appearances animated with a bit of Gollum or the Navi from Avatar.

Learn more about the author and his work at his website Edward M. Lerner, perpetrator of science fiction and techno-thrillers, and blog SF and Nonsense.

The Page 99 Test: Small Miracles.

The Page 69 Test: Fools’ Experiments.

The Page 69 Test: InterstellarNet: Origins.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mark Terry's "The Fallen"

Mark Terry is the author of three Derek Stillwater novels, The Devil's Pitchfork, The Serpent's Kiss, and The Fallen, as well as two standalone novels, Dirty Deeds and Dancing in the Dark. In addition, he is the author of Catfish Guru, a collection of mystery novellas, numerous short stories and literally hundreds of magazine and trade journal articles.

Here he shares some guidance for casting a big screen adaptation of his series:

My new book, The Fallen, is the third to feature Homeland Security troubleshooter Dr. Derek Stillwater. He’s a PhD in microbiology and biochemistry, an expert on biological and chemical terrorism, and a former Special Forces bio/chem weapons expert. What sets him apart—I think and am told—from the typical action hero are his neuroses: he’s superstitious, wears a St. Sebastian’s medal, a four-leaf clover, and ju-ju beads. He’s a hypochondriac who believes he’ll end up killed by a chemical or biological weapon. He was raised by missionary physicians in various countries around the world, and he is very, very good at what he does, although he’s not very good at coloring inside the lines. Various critics have compared Derek favorably to Jason Bourne and to 24’s Jack Bauer, which is fair enough.

So who should play him in the film? (And no, no film in the works—yet. But we’ve had many, many nibbles, including from George Clooney’s production company and Will Smith’s production company).

What, Jack Black or Whoopi Goldberg’s not available? Hmmm. Well, I think Clooney would be awesome, even if his action films to-date have been so-so. Will Smith? Yeah, interesting. He could do it. So could Matt Damon or Kiefer Sutherland, although the role would probably overlap just a bit with their own very successful franchises. And frankly, for the first Derek Stillwater novel, The Devil's Pitchfork, I would have loved to see Matt Damon play Derek Stillwater and Ben Affleck play the bad guy terrorist, Richard Coffee (who is also in The Fallen). Or for that matter, vice versa, Affleck as Derek and Damon as the bad guy. We don’t get to see Matt Damon play villains very often.

But if I were suddenly given the chance to cast a Derek Stillwater film and Clooney and Damon and Sutherland weren’t available … my top choice would be Nicolas Cage. Cage did a somewhat similar character in The Rock with Sean Connery, playing FBI expert in biological and chemical weapons Dr. Stanley Goodspeed. Goodspeed had some similar neuroses and vulnerabilities to Derek, although Derek, as an agent and soldier, is significantly more competent. But Cage would be just about right to bring that slightly off-center aspect to life.

Now, about Whoopi Goldberg…

Read chapters 1-6 of The Fallen, and learn more about the book and author at Mark Terry's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Fallen.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jenny Gardiner's "Winging It"

Jenny Gardiner is the author of the novel Sleeping with Ward Cleaver. Her writing has appeared in Ladies Home Journal, the Washington Post, and NPR’s Day to Day, and she has a column of humorous slice-of-life essays that runs in the Charlottesville, VA Daily Progress. Gardiner lives in central Virginia with her husband, three kids, two dogs, one cat, and one gregarious parrot.

Here she explains some casting ideas for a big screen adaptation of her new book, Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me:

Well, it might be a little tricky, what with the parrot in the starring role. That said, Hollywood works magic all the time, so I'm sure it could be done. Besides which, Winging It features my African gray parrot, Graycie, but it's her story intertwined with my family's story, so it's not as if it would be 120 minutes of talking bird.

I haven't given a whole lot of thought to this book in movie form--funny, as I did very much with my first book, the novel Sleeping with Ward Cleaver. In this one it's more personal, as I'd be casting my family, which seems a bit surreal. If we went by looks, well, hmm, I was told in my skinnier days frequently that I looked like Courtney Thorne-Smith, so that might be useful casting. But personality-wise, I'd have to go with someone more known for their humor. I've always felt an affinity toward Bonnie Hunt--I think she and I are soul-sisters in our approach to life, parenting, humor in general--based of course purely on what I've seen of her in interviews and in movies.

For my husband, it's so hard to say. Maybe he'd like Andrew Shue since they both have strong soccer backgrounds. In his heydey he sort of had that look. Hmmm, how about Colin Firth? He always seems to have that capacity to stretch from character to character, so I could see him playing a dad-type...

For the kids, I have NO idea, but I would ask that they don't pick smarmy child actors. Those are just the worst! I loved how the casting was done for, say, Juno, just normal, down-to-earth. So whoever did the casting for that has my vote.

For that matter, for directing, I'd like someone very down-t0-earth. Penny Marshall maybe? Wait, Ive got it--Nora Ephron. I'D LOVE to be part of anything with which she's affiliated. I think she's so damned talented, so savvy, so funny, and has that capacity for vulnerability that's really important. I'd hand it all over to her and let her have at it!

Watch a video of Gardiner discussing Winging It and another of Graycie performing, and learn more about the book and author at Jenny Gardiner's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: Sleeping with Ward Cleaver.

Writers Read: Jenny Gardiner.

The Page 99 Test: Winging It.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jennifer Stevenson's "Trash Sex Magic"

Jennifer Stevenson is the author of four books that only look like they’re way too much about sex. She is a founding member of Book View Cafe, speed roller skater, swimmer, horsewoman, crow fancier, and messy gardener.

Here she shares some thoughts on casting a big screen adaptation of her acclaimed novel Trash Sex Magic:

Trash Sex Magic, my book--the movie, ooo, I love this question.

I started writing Trash Sex Magic (Small Beer Press) in 1986 while I was on jury duty. The book took eighteen years to become fit to publish, so my ideal cast progressed a lot over that time.

Hero Alexander Caebeau was modeled after a guy I saw in 1986 on the Chicago El, but I didn’t even get his name, let alone a photo. The rapper Obie Trice has the look, as does Lupe Fiasco, but they’d need to put on about a hundred and fifty pounds each. Ditto male model Tyson Beckford. Also, Alexander is just plain blacker than these guys. Sadly, the darker the skin, the less likely you will see a great black male actor in the movies. If I could use a time machine, I’d vote for a young Forest Whitaker, who can carry off the sexy+big thing with the right amount of gentleness.

Originally I had Tommy Lee Jones in mind for King Gowdy, after I saw him in Coal Miner’s Daughter, for his cowlick, his blue-collar air of being nicer than he is smart, and for the way he wears a pair of work boots as if he could waltz in them.

Sissy Spacek was going to be Raedawn Somershoe, the main star and King’s white-trash sex-magician childhood sweetheart. She won this role in my book for her work in 3 Women. The way her personality flipped over in the middle—crazywow. Plus her country girl look and voice. That made me want to cast her in both roles—as Raedawn and as her equally trashy, sexy, magical mother, Gelia Somershoe.

James Earl Jones is my all-time favorite for Ernest Brown, Gelia’s main squeeze. The voice, oy! I could see the tramp Gelia coming back to that voice no matter how far she strayed—to the voice and to his air of quiet authority.

Time passed. Luckily, Raedawn is a younger-looking version of her mother, so now I could bump Sissy up to Gelia's role, much meatier and nastier but equally sexy.

Tommy Lee Jones got muuuch sexier over the next 18 years so I had no problem recasting him as Cracker Coombs, the older man who initiates Raedawn into the softer side of her job as sex priestess to the local yakshi (a tree-shaped god of sexual energy). Patrick Swayze took on King's role, ‘cuz of that broken nose and his afterthought haircut.

I wavered terribly over recasting Rae. I wanted an actress who looks like somebody punched her in the face once upon a time. Courtney Love? Joan Jett? Or if you could imagine Scarlett Johansson with a slightly broken nose. Yeah, Iris has that slut look I need for Rae—sort of “I’m not coming on to you, this is how my face grew—no, just kidding, I really am coming on to you.”

Visit Jennifer Stevenson's website, blog, and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue

Win Blevins' "Stone Song"

Win Blevins' many books include the novel Stone Song (which won the Spur award and the Mountains and Plains Booksellers award for fiction), three volumes of informal history, a volume of natural history, and a dictionary. He has also sold several screenplays and countless short stories and magazine and newspaper articles.

Here he shares a few thoughts on casting cinematic adaptations of his work:

If they make my book into a movie, they can use anyone they damn well please. One book was extraordinarily close to being made, directed by John Milius, with Clint Eastwood, got into pre-production and two months from shoot date and delayed. Never happened. Have been hired to write seven screenplays, nothing happened. Writing for movies is iffy enough--writing for particular actors approaches madness.

Visit Win Blevins' website and the blog for his alter ego, author Caleb Fox.

The Page 69 Test: Caleb Fox's Zadayi Red.

--Marshal Zeringue

J.T. Ellison's "The Cold Room"

J.T. Ellison is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Taylor Jackson series, including All the Pretty Girls, 14, Judas Kiss, and The Cold Room. She was named “Best Mystery/Thriller Writer of 2008” by the Nashville Scene.

Here she sketches out some casting options for a big screen version of The Cold Room:

I normally shy away from giving detailed ideas of who I think would be a good actor or actress to play my characters would they get made into a movie, because I don’t like to put someone in the mind of the reader before they have a chance to decide on their own.

But my wonderful readers have lots of ideas about who should play homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson, and FBI Profiler John Baldwin. Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Blake Lively are all favorite contenders, though I’d have to throw Amanda Righetti into the mix as well – she’s got the exact profile I imagine for Taylor. And Baldwin is always a clean-cut up Hugh Jackman, or Thomas Gibson, though Baldwin’s green eyes are one of his commanding features, so I’m not sure the perfect actor has been picked for him yet. I’ll throw a new thought out there… Depending on how he ages, Chace Crawford wouldn’t be a bad choice.

The Cold Room has a couple of new characters in it, namely Renn McKenzie, Taylor’s new partner, and James “Memphis” Highsmythe, the Viscount Dulsie, and Detective Inspector for New Scotland Yard. McKenzie is hard – he’s serious, and not everything he seems on the surface. Someone like Leonardo DiCaprio would be a good fit.

Memphis, on the other hand, leaps off the page at people. I based him on a very psychical version of Daniel Craig and features of Trevor Donovan, but my editor, with no reservations whatsoever, immediately saw him as Simon Baker. We’re both big fans of The Mentalist, and ever since she said that, I haven’t been able to get Baker out of my head when I’m writing Memphis.

So there you have it. An Aussie to play an upper-class Brit. I bet he could pull it off!

Learn more about the book and author at J.T. Ellison's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: the Taylor Jackson series.

The Page 69 Test: The Cold Room.

--Marshal Zeringue

Fiona Jayde's "Cold Victory"

Fiona Jayde is "is an author of kickass, action packed, steamy romances, possesses a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and blue belt in Aikido, a web developer, scared to death of heights, loves jazz piano, can bench-press about 20 pounds — with effort, was taught English by Nora Roberts and Growing Pains, and when not plotting murder and mayhem enjoys steamy romance novels, sexy spy thrillers, murky mysteries and movies where things frequently blow up."

Here she shares some casting ideas for an adaptation of her novella, Cold Victory:

I rarely associate the characters I see in my head with people already in existence. Perhaps this is because I don't write "visually" but instead focus on the inner core of the character and layer in visual cues later during revisions.

However, in my recent release Cold Victory, my lead hero - Commander Galen Stark - came to me in a very specific form -based on the wrestler turned actor John Cena. That's right - the WWE star who's recently been starring in all these macho movies. (And while I love macho movies where things blow up, I can't say I saw any of his... Yet.)

Somehow, when I saw Stark in my head, he looked like John Cena. Huge strong body, strong hero's jaw, low brusque voice, commanding presence, graceful despite the bulky muscles. And there's muscles. Plenty of em. I saw a video of Cena talking about his girlfriend with his face just glowing, and I knew I had Stark right there - big tough guy with a soft spot for the heroine.

As far as my heroine - Zoya Scott - I can't say I had an actress in mind. This is typically my MO - I see the characters in my head, but rarely do they resemble anyone. If I were to cast Zoya - a hotshot pilot with a feminine side - I'd ask for Katee Sackhoff.

Perhaps some would argue she would be typecast - having already played a hot shot pilot in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. And perhaps I'm biased, since I know she'd do the hotshot pilot role incredibly well. But in addition to the badass chick qualities, Katee Sackhoff has shown an incredible range of emotions - from love to hate, betrayal and redemption - which would be perfect for Zoya. She'd have to dye her hair red, but those are just logistics.

It would be interesting to see these two paired together - both of them kickass in their own way, as actors and as the roles they would play.

Read an excerpt from Cold Victory, watch the trailer, and learn more about the author and her work at Fiona Jayde's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

John Dobbyn's "Frame Up"

John F. Dobbyn is a Professor of Law at Villanova Law School and the author of numerous legal books and short fiction. A native of Boston, he received his J.D. from Boston College Law School and LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He practiced law at Burns & Levinson in Boston before going into teaching.

Here he shares some casting ideas for the two leads in adaptations of his Devlin and Knight legal thrillers, Neon Dragon and Frame Up:

My two primary characters are both criminal trial attorneys who were unwillingly thrown together in the first novel, Neon Dragon, and developed such a bond that by the end of that adventure in the inner-not-so-sanctum of the Boston Chinese tong they left their Boston firm and formed a two person partnership. The second novel takes them into the midst of a collision between the Boston mafia and a Russian organized crime group over stolen and forged art.

Michael is twenty-seven years old. He is a former prosecutor turned defense counsel who keeps to a true path on behalf of his clients, his profession, his partner, and himself - even when he has to bluff and lie to do it. He epitomizes John Wayne's definition of "courage." It is "being scared to death, and saddling up anyway."

The closest resemblance to type casting that I can come, knowing Michael inside and out, is my favorite Boston actor, Matt Damon.

Lex Devlin is a bit more problematical. He starts in Neon Dragon having been dragged through some rough years, losing his wife of forty years and being the unwitting target of a syndicate that blackens his good name and honor with unresolved and untrue charges of jury fixing. He is in his seventies and built like a solid block. He is the worst nightmare of prosecuting attorneys and the Angel of Death to young law associates until Michael ventures forth to rescue his reputation, and a more human bond is cemented in Neon Dragon. My choice for casting is hands down the late, great Spencer Tracy. I'm hard put to believe there will ever be another Lex Devlin or Spencer Tracy.

Learn more about the books and author at John Dobbyn's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Craig McDonald's "Print the Legend"

Craig McDonald's debut novel Head Games, was selected as a 2008 Edgar nominee for Best First Novel by an American Author. It is followed by Toros & Torsos and the newly released Print the Legend.

Here he explains which actors--and director--might be best suited to bring his characters to life on the big screen:

Like many novelists, I’ve had my intoxicating near-brushes with film adaptation.

Based solely on its description in a Publishers Lunch announcement, my debut novel, Head Games, attracted quite a bit of film interest. My own secret choice to play my continuing character Hector Lassiter in that novel, bizarrely enough, asked my publisher for a look at the novel. My vision of Hector Lassiter almost came to me.

Like most novelists who get Hollywood nibbles, my chance to have my first-choice actor portray my ongoing character didn’t bite firmly enough to be reeled in.

Print the Legend, my third novel, again features crime novelist Hector Lassiter, who is popularly known as the “man who lives what he writes and writes what he lives.”

Print the Legend explores the death of Ernest Hemingway in Ketchum, Idaho, in the summer of 1961, and raises questions regarding the possibility that Hem’s death was something other than an act of suicide. The novel also explores J. Edgar Hoover’s crazed and too-often destructive surveillance of key American writers, including not just Hemingway, but Carl Sandburg, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner and Dorothy Parker, among many others.

Hector Lassiter has centered two previous novels, both of which dropped Hector on to famous film sets: Head Games found Hector visiting the set of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil. Toros & Torsos placed Hector on the set of The Lady From Shanghai. Because my novels tend to spread over decades and to dart in and out of time, they present certain challenges in casting. In Toros & Toros, we variously encounter 35-, 37-, 47-, 59- and 61-year-old Hector.

Print the Legend, on the other hand, is set largely in the mid-to-late 1960s. Hector’s age ranges from 65 to 72 through this novel. I’ve long established that Hector bears a strong resemblance to actor William Holden; Hector has a kind of Old Hollywood panache. As Holden is no longer available, my own choice to portray the Hector of Print the Legend would probably be Harrison Ford…a man of the right vintage, but still a physically imposing and vital masculine presence.

Print the Legend positions Hector between two formidable female foils. One is aspiring young fiction writer Hannah Paulson, an unhappily married, Scottish immigrant who is also nine-months pregnant. The other is Papa’s widow: the profane, alcoholic, sharp and salty tongued Mary Hemingway. Print the Legend might be the one of my novels that could actually present a potential acting role for Meryl Streep: she has the look, and the talent, to evoke all of the bombastic, alcoholic, larger-than-life, infuriating — and ultimately tragic — facets of Papa’s last wife.

Hannah is probably the most-challenging role to cast. She retains her Scottish accent; she is blond, pretty and has some very dark undertones. The woman I keep finding my mind returning to is the British actress Sophia Myles.

For the role of Donovan Creedy, rogue and racist FBI agent/paperback thriller writer — Hector’s bête noire and a character inspired by Watergate Plumber E. Howard Hunt — I favor John Hurt.

Head Games I have always have envisioned as a Robert Rodriguez-directed film (Sam Peckinpah being, well, very dead). Toros & Torsos I’ve privately imagined as a Guillermo del Toro film.

Print the Legend I’d love to see interpreted by director Alan Rudolph, whose film The Moderns partly inspired Toros & Torsos and whose blurring of art and reality informs all of the my novels published to-date, but none perhaps so strongly as Print the Legend.

Odds of any of this happening?

Damned near zero.

But as Hemingway wrote at the end of The Sun Also Rises, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”

Read more about Print the Legend, and learn more about the author and his work at Craig McDonald's website, blog, and Crimespace page.

Read "The Story Behind the Story: Print the Legend, by Craig McDonald," at The Rap Sheet.

The Page 69 Test: Toros & Torsos.

The Page 69 Test: Head Games.

The Page 69 Test: Print the Legend.

--Marshal Zeringue