Megan Chance's "The Vermilion Sea"

Megan Chance is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of more than twenty novels, including Glamorous Notions, A Dangerous Education, A Splendid Ruin, Bone River, and An Inconvenient Wife. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest.

Here Chance dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Vermilion Sea:

The Vermilion Sea was lot of fun to write. It’s not only historical fiction, but it’s also got a bit of paranormal and some horror thrown in for good measure. Given that it all takes place on a specimen-collecting luxury cruise on the Gulf of California, and there’s nowhere for the guests or the scientists to go once things begin to go horribly wrong, it’s a locked-door story as well.

Since we’re dealing with the realms of the fantastic here, and weird creatures and big weird atmosphere energy, for a director, I’m going to pick Guillermo del Toro, though honestly it would have been fun to see what Alfred Hitchcock would have done with the tension in the book as well.

When I was writing, I had distinct actors in mind. For the main female protagonist, marine biologist Billie McKennan, I pictured British actor Emily Beecham, who starred in the Netflix series 1899 (RIP 1899. I loved you with my whole heart). For the character of James Holloway, the rich benefactor and owner of the cruise ship Eurybia, I pictured Dan Stevens. For his wife, Victorine Coustan Holloway, Blake Lively. For the maid, Maud, who is in tune with all things creepy on the ship, I cast Courtney Eaton, who plays the teen Lottie on the series Yellowjackets, and who has a pretty creepy mien of her own. And for Billie’s ex-husband, Roland Ely, I had in mind Luke Pasqualino, from the BBC’s The Musketeers, but with shorter hair. For James Holloway’s best friend, Oliver, honestly, I had no one particular in mind. Readers (and moviegoers) can fill that role however they imagine.

The Gulf of California would be a wonderful and strange place to set a movie. It would be fun to see this book become one.

Visit Megan Chance's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Splendid Ruin.

The Page 69 Test: A Splendid Ruin.

Q&A with Megan Chance.

The Page 69 Test: A Dangerous Education.

My Book, The Movie: A Dangerous Education.

Writers Read: Megan Chance (February 2023).

Writers Read: Megan Chance (January 2025).

My Book, The Movie: Glamorous Notions.

The Page 69 Test: Glamorous Notions.

--Marshal Zeringue

Laura Jensen Walker's "The Alphabet Sleuths"

Bestselling, award-winning author Laura Jensen Walker is the Agatha and Lefty-nominated author of more than 20 books including Murder Most Sweet, Hope, Faith & a Corpse, and Death of a Flying Nightingale.

A rabid Anglophile since being stationed at an RAF base with the USAF in her twenties, Walker lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and two rescue terriers, where she drinks tea and dreams of England.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Alphabet Sleuths:

“Claire Reynolds hadn’t planned to kill a man that day, but stuff happens.”

In the opening of my mystery featuring four women of a certain age, you meet main character Claire, the C-member of the self-proclaimed Alphabet Girls: Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne. When Claire accidentally kills a man who was strangling retired cop Daphne, the gal pals must get rid of the body—a member of the local crime family—without anyone knowing. Especially the police. After Claire discovers another dead body in their California retirement community, the Alphabet Girls become the Alphabet Sleuths to track down the killer.

While writing this story about four women in a retirement community, naturally, TV’s The Golden Girls came to mind. Widowed Claire in her innocence and naïveté, reminded me of Rose, played so wonderfully by Betty White. Except Claire has a silver pixie cut ala Jamie Lee Curtis.

But Jamie Lee is such a badass I’d cast her in the role of retired cop Daphne.

Claire, I see more as a cross between Annie Potts and Mary Steenburgen.

Barbara, the tucked and plucked beautiful blonde beauty queen and retired actress (and the oldest member of the Alphabet Girls) is Jane Fonda all the way.

That leaves the A-member of the group, Atsuko Kimura. An older Michelle Yeoh would be perfect as Atsuko.

I’m a huge old movie buff, so if I was casting this movie during Hollywood’s Golden Years, these are the actresses I’d pick:

Atsuko – Anna May Wong

Barbara – Lana Turner

Claire – toss-up between Irene Dunne and Greer Garson

Daphne – Barbara Stanwyck or Joan Crawford

Visit Laura Jensen Walker's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Will Shindler's "The Bone Queen"

Will Shindler has spent most of his career working as a broadcast journalist for the BBC. He also spent nearly a decade working on a number of British television dramas, working for both the BBC Drama Series Department, and Talkback Thames Television as a writer and script editor. He has been writing novels since 2020, including the five-book critically acclaimed DI Alex Finn series: The Burning Men, The Killing Choice, The Hunting Ground, The Blood Line, and The Cold Case. He currently combines reading news bulletins for BBC Radio London with his novel writing and has previously worked as a presenter for ITV West, a reporter for BBC Radio Five Live, and as one of the stadium presenters at the 2012 London Olympics. He lives in London.

Here Shindler dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, The Bone Queen:

Before I wrote The Bone Queen, all of my novels were police procedurals. I’d always tried to make them as realistic and gritty as possible, so for this book I deliberately set out to do something different. I wanted to write in a new style, to experiment with a different kind of prose and a looser, more atmospheric form of storytelling. Hopefully the hills of Athelsea Island are a little more evocative than the streets of south London, and the line between reality and fantasy a little more blurred. For that reason, when I think about directors, I’m drawn to perhaps someone like Alfonso Cuarón or Guillermo del Toro - which should give you a sense of the tone I’m aiming for!

The story follows Jenna, a recovering alcoholic, as she searches for her runaway teenage daughter, Chloe. The clues she uncovers suggest Chloe may have travelled to the fictional island of Athelsea (with sincere apologies to the Scilly Islands, which I’ve geographically displaced just off the coast of Cornwall). Jenna is accompanied by her glamorous younger sister, Hattie, who is carrying a significant secret of her own.

With my previous books, I’ve never really given much thought to casting. It’s not that I object to the idea, but I find that once you start picturing specific actors, the characters can lose some of their individuality - something I like to preserve while I’m writing. For the purposes of this exercise, though, The Bone Queen has three major female roles which would require some heavyweight casting….

I briefly considered widening the net and casting non-British actors - Sadie Sink as Chloe, for example, was a tempting idea - but in the end I’ve limited myself to a trio of Brits.

For Jenna, I’d want someone who can combine toughness with real vulnerability, so my choice would be the mighty Suranne Jones. For readers outside the UK who might not be familiar with her work, there’s plenty to discover, but I’d particularly recommend the 2009 drama Unforgiven.

There are no shortage of strong contenders for Chloe, Jenna’s teenage daughter, who becomes obsessed with the legend of the Bone Queen. My pick - provided she’d be willing to dye her hair bright pink - would be Florence Hunt, who played Hyacinth in Netflix’s Bridgerton.

And finally, as Jenna’s younger, unflappable sister Hattie, I’d cast Aimee Lou Wood, best known for Sex Education and countless roles since.

So that’s my dream director and dream cast. My only request is that they invite the writer along for the first day of principal photography!

Follow Will Shindler on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mara Williams's "The Epicenter of Forever"

Mara Williams drafted her first novel in third grade on a spiral notebook—a love story about a golden retriever and the stray dog who admired her from beyond the picket fence. Now she writes about strong, messy women finding their way in the world. Williams is the author of The Truth Is in the Detours and The Epicenter of Forever. When not writing or reading, she can be found enjoying California’s beaches, redwoods, and trails with her husband, three kids, and disobedient dog.

Here Williams dreamcasts an adaptation of The Epicenter of Forever:

I don’t begin my drafting process by fan-casting my characters, so it’s always a struggle to develop a cast once the book is written. The characters feel like real, specific people, and it’s easy to eliminate every option due to one slight dissimilarity or another. However, I do visualize the landscape, scenes, and action in my head, often using mood boards along the way to help capture the aesthetics. This book was easier to cast than some of my others, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to envision anyone else as these characters now that I’ve cast it.

Summary: The Epicenter of Forever is about a woman who returns to the scene of her greatest loss to convince her ailing, estranged mother to come home and seek treatment—but instead falls for a man whose identity is anchored to the place that broke her. It’s about romantic and familial love and about healing all the wounds that hold us back.

Scene: Springtime in Grand Trees, California, a fictional town nestled in the Sierra Nevadas with a mountain lake, a summer camp property, and several groves of Giant Sequoias.

Eden Hawthorne (thirty-something former ballerina turned nonprofit fundraiser): It would be a dream to see Rachel Brosnahan in this role. Her comedic timing is incredible, and she has pitch-perfect chemistry with her co-stars and could really sell a love story.

Caleb Connell (thirty-something single dad and jack of all trades): I see Brandon Sklenar as Caleb. He is an impeccable face cast based on physical description and does the best romantic smolder out there.

Cassie Moreno: (thirty-something marketing executive): America Ferrera would play the loyal and unfiltered best friend so well.

Nicolette Hawthorne: (Eden’s mom, sixty-something painter): I would love to see Andie MacDowell in this role. Her elegance and reserve would be just the right fit. She and Rachel Brosnahan would make a dynamic mom/daughter pairing.

Abby Connell (Caleb’s teen daughter): McKenna Grace has the necessary spunk to play the precocious teen.

Len Hawthorne: (Eden’s dad, sixty-something literature professor): Richard Gere would be my dream cast for this role. He has such a literature-professor vibe, with his white hair and glasses, and would play the role of Eden’s soft-spoken dad so well.

Visit Mara Williams's website.

Q&A with Mara Williams.

The Page 69 Test: The Truth Is in the Detours.

My Book, The Movie: The Truth Is in the Detours.

Writers Read: Mara Williams (August 2025).

--Marshal Zeringue

Robert Dugoni's "Her Cold Justice"

Robert Dugoni is a critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author, reaching over 9 million readers worldwide. He is best known for his Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle. He is also the author of the Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including The 7th Canon, Damage Control, The World Played Chess, and Her Deadly Game. His novel The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell received Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, and Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. The Washington Post named his nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary a Best Book of the Year.

Dugoni's new novel is Her Cold Justice, the first Keera Duggan title.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of the new novel:

I actually had two actresses in mind to play Keera Duggan when I wrote the first book. Caitriona Balfe, who is Irish-born and is great at playing actors torn between family loyalty and personal demons, both of which are in this series in spades. The other is Claire Foy who often plays smart characters with complicated lives. She also looks like how I imagined Keera Duggan.

I would love to see Idris Elba play JP. His English accent would be perfect, he is the right age and he is brilliant.

And for Patsy Duggan I thought of Albert Finney when I wrote the book, but alas he is gone. Then I saw Brendan Gleeson in an Irish movie and thought, perfect. The two others who would be fantastic are Ray Winstone or Kenneth Cranham. Gleeson and Winston have the physiques to be former boxers, as Patsy was when he was younger. All of them have that burning interior which Patsy displays in the courtroom. Smart and tough as nails.

Visit Robert Dugoni's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Wrongful Death.

The Page 69 Test: Bodily Harm.

My Book, The Movie: Bodily Harm.

The Page 69 Test: Murder One.

My Book, The Movie: Murder One.

My Book, The Movie: The Eighth Sister.

The Page 69 Test: The Eighth Sister.

My Book, The Movie: A Cold Trail.

The Page 69 Test: A Cold Trail.

The Page 69 Test: The Last Agent.

My Book, The Movie: The Last Agent.

Q&A with Robert Dugoni.

The Page 69 Test: In Her Tracks.

Writers Read: Robert Dugoni (March 2024).

The Page 69 Test: A Killing on the Hill.

My Book, The Movie: A Killing on the Hill.

The Page 69 Test: Beyond Reasonable Doubt.

My Book, The Movie: Beyond Reasonable Doubt.

Writers Read: Robert Dugoni (October 2024).

--Marshal Zeringue

Laura Carney's "My Father's List"

A writer and magazine copy editor in New York, Laura Carney has been published by the Washington Post, the Associated Press, The Hill, Runner’s World, Good Housekeeping, The Fix, Upworthy, Maria Shriver’s The Sunday Paper, and other places. She has worked as a copy editor in national magazines—primarily women’s—for twenty years, including Vanity Fair, GQ, People, and Good Housekeeping.

Here Carney dreamcasts an adaptation of her memoir, My Father's List: How Living My Dad's Dreams Set Me Free:

My memoir My Father's List: How Living My Dad's Dreams Set Me Free has been optioned for TV and we're still having conversations about it. But when the notion that it might be a movie first came into play, I envisioned Brie Larson playing the role of the newlywed journalist at midlife who lives out the 54 unrealized dreams of her late free-spirited father, who died at the hands of a distracted driver when she was 25. I felt she had the right zaniness, athleticism and depth for the part, and she strikes me as nerdy and intellectual in real life. She also has a certain innocence about her.

As for who might play my dad, I've often felt Jim Carrey would be the right choice, as far as matching my dad's energy. Appearance-wise, someone like Kyle Chandler would be a good fit.

I'm not sure which director I'd like to see do the movie version, but maybe Greta Gerwig?

Oh, and I think Amy Poehler to play my mom and Bill Hader would be a good choice for my husband (though he's expressed he'd prefer Justin Timberlake....because of his amazing dance moves).

Visit Laura Carney's website.

The Page 99 Test: My Father's List.

--Marshal Zeringue

Andromeda Romano-Lax's "What Boys Learn"

Born in Chicago and now a resident of Vancouver Island, Canada, Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and chosen as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year. Her next four novels, The Detour, Behave (an Amazon Book of the Month), Plum Rains (winner of the Sunburst Award), and Annie and the Wolves (a Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of the Year) reflect her diverse interest in the arts, history, science, and technology, as well as her love of travel and her time spent living abroad. Starting with The Deepest Lake (a Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick and Amazon Book of the Month) and continuing with her new novel, What Boys Learn, Romano-Lax has swerved into the world of suspense fiction, although she continues to write historical and speculative fiction as well.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of What Boys Learn:

To play Abby, my single mother character worried about whether her teenage son was involved in the deaths of two schoolmates, I nominate Elizabeth Olsen (Eternity, WandaVision, Avengers, Love & Death). Abby is struggling, stressed-out, and hopefully sympathetic. She also has a brother in prison and secrets in her past. Ideally, the reader will understand most of her choices yet still wonder if they know the whole story. Olsen manages to pack emotional nuances into every performance. She can be charming, sly, sincere, solemn, or murderous. If she won’t play Abby, I am willing to keep writing characters until we hit upon one that excites her. (Kidding, but I really do love Olsen.)

To play Benjamin, I need a young actor who hold his cards close to his chest—an actor who can seem troubled, duplicitous, nonconformist, intelligent, and either guilty or non-guilty. The Stranger Things actors are getting older but I still think one of the youngest, Noah Schnapp, who played Will Byers, could pull it off. If not him, someone like him—better yet if he’s a complete unknown.

Visit Andromeda Romano-Lax's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Spanish Bow.

The Page 69 Test: The Detour.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax (February 2012).

The Page 69 Test: What Boys Learn.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kelli Stanley's "The Reckoning"

A critically-acclaimed, bestselling author of crime fiction, Kelli Stanley is the author of the award-winning Miranda Corbie historical noir series (City of Dragons, City of Secrets, City of Ghosts, City of Sharks), featuring "one of crime's most arresting heroines" (Library Journal), private investigator Miranda Corbie, and set in 1940 San Francisco.

Stanley also writes an award-winning, highly-praised series set in Roman Britain (Nox Dormienda; The Curse-Maker).

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of her newest novel, The Reckoning, a first-in-series mystery-thriller set in Northern California's "Emerald Triangle" in 1985:

With the exception of Miranda Corbie, I generally don’t think about actors while I’m writing—I dream-cast after the book is through! Miranda was an exception because she looked like Rita Hayworth, so obviously only the woman who played Gilda could play Miranda—at least in my head.

So now that The Reckoning is out in the world, I’ve been ruminating on an imaginary movie. There are a lot of talented young actors out there, right now, and of course I’d love to see this book—a very suspenseful, slow-burning thriller about a young woman with severe PTSD who is on the run from the FBI and stumbles into a crime scene and a hunt for a serial killer—actually adapted (I envision something like Shetland except it’s Humboldt County, CA, not the northernmost islands of Great Britain). But for this dream cast, I’m going to dream all the way—and think about who would have played Renata Drake and the main characters in The Reckoning in 1985, the year the story is set!

The story is centered around Renata: a seriously traumatized, 25-year-old young defense attorney who lost her sister to a murderer who couldn’t be prosecuted. Renata wrestles with the anguish and the anger, and, under treatment for her PTSD, writes a fantasy-revenge journal on how, exactly, she would execute her sister’s murderer.

And then she wakes up on a concrete floor staring at his corpse.

She assumes, after an interview, that the FBI are going to figure out that she’s responsible, so she runs to the opposite end of the country and lands in Garberville, California … a tiny town in the heart of the redwoods that is facing its own harrowing crime: a serial killer of young girls. To make matters even more tense, a federal and state paramilitary taskforce surrounds the area, focusing on uprooting every cannabis plant in the Emerald Triangle.

Renata is both vulnerable and resilient, strong and sensitive, unsure, self-doubting and resolute. She’s a complex character in a highly complex situation … so, who in 1985 had the acting chops and was the right age to play her?

Linda Hamilton can certainly portray “tough.” But the heartbreak and survivor’s guilt of trauma and loss? I’m not so sure. On the flip side, Sean Young excelled at unbalanced, off-kilter characters, but could she emote the kind of grit and determination that Renata does? Debra Winger, certainly a brilliant actress, registers as a little too country, a little too Midwest. Renata is from Chicago and grew up in a very urban environment.

So, who’s my pick? One of the two greatest actresses of their generation: Michelle Pfeiffer or Julianne Moore. Michelle would need to darken her blondeness to play Renata—the character is a brunette in contrast with her sister Josie, who was a blonde. And overall, I think Michelle would be the best in the part, because that mixture of vulnerability and strength, of self-doubt and determination to survive, shines through some of her best roles, including Susie Diamond in The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Other parts are a bit easier … for Mike, the newspaper man, I’d go with Kurt Russell. For Eve, the librarian, only Christine Lahti would do. And for the young Martha, I’d pick a very young Winona Ryder (again, with a hair color change). Ian could be Rob Lowe, Chris, maybe Mickey Rourke. The director? Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential).

I’d love to hear reader feedback about these choices … please stay in touch and let me know what you think of the dream cast when you’re done with the book!

Visit Kelli Stanley's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Kelli Stanley & Bertie.

The Page 69 Test: City of Dragons.

The Page 69 Test: City of Secrets.

The Page 69 Test: City of Ghosts.

My Book, The Movie: City of Ghosts.

The Page 69 Test: City of Sharks.

My Book, The Movie: City of Sharks.

Writers Read: Kelli Stanley (March 2018).

The Page 69 Test: The Reckoning.

Writers Read: Kelli Stanley.

--Marshal Zeringue

Madeleine Dunnigan's "Jean"

Madeleine Dunnigan is a writer and screenwriter from London. She was a Jill Davis Fellow on the MFA at New York University. While there she was awarded a GRI Fellowship in Paris.

Here Dunnigan shares some ideas for the director and principal actors in an adaptation of her new novel, Jean:

Jean is a novel set in a hippie, rural English boarding school for boys with ‘problems’. At its heart is Jean: antisocial, violent, with a refugee single-mother, and on a scholarship, Jean is an outcast even among these outcasts. But then he strikes up a friendship with Tom, a wealthier, fee-paying boy at the school. When things turn romantic, it seems as if Jean has finally found a way to transcend the trappings of his former life. Yet inevitably reality comes crashing in, and Jean must find a new way to escape.

From its inception, my novel Jean has had a strong connection with film. When I described it to people, I would often call it ‘an English Call Me By Your Name’. Andre Aciman’s novel was a huge influence; but it was Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation that informed the visual language of my book. The touches, the looks, the way Jean and Tom interact with and within nature. Similarly Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country showed me how to write queerness within a rural setting; and the heartbreaking tenderness that can come out of new love. One of my favourite films of all time is Lynne Ramsay’s Movern Callar: for its sparse dialogue and for its masterful use of music. Jean would be nothing without music. If Guadagnino, Lee or Ramsay wanted to direct the movie of Jean, I would jump for joy.

While the directorial vision for Jean has always been clear to me, actors have been less so. Harris Dickinson’s ability to transform into a troubled teen in Beach Rats makes him a front runner in my mind, but of course now he is too old. And when I think of Tom, I see Josh O’Connor, but, of course, he is also too old. I think of the actors in Skins, or Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name, young actors on the cusp of discovery. My instinct is that Jean and Tom would need to be played by people not yet known…and that these roles would launch them into their starlit and celestial careers!

Visit Madeleine Dunnigan's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jacquelyn Stolos's "Asterwood"

Jacquelyn Stolos grew up in Derry, New Hampshire. She loves tromping through the forest and reading good books.

Asterwood is her first novel for children.

Stolos holds an MFA in fiction from NYU, where she was a Writers in the Public School Fellow. Her short fiction has appeared in Joyland and No Tokens. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

Here Stolos shares her choice for the director of an adaptation of Asterwood:

Asterwood, my first middle grade novel and first foray into fantasy, follows Madelyn, a ten-year-old who discovers an enchanted world through a shimmering rift in the forest behind her New Hampshire home. After learning that she might not be who she's been raised to think she is, Madelyn joins up with The New Hopefuls, a group of rag-tag child activists resisting the social, economic, and downright evil adult forces harming this enchanted forest. While honing the tone of the novel, it was important for me to balance my respect for young readers and their desire and ability to engage with some serious themes with the way a child's perspective sprinkles an iridescent dust of magic and wonder on everything, especially interactions with the natural world. Hayao Miyazaki is the master of this duality, and so, for Asterwood, the movie, I would want to call this animation great out of retirement to direct.

My favorite film moment of all time is the climax of Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro, when Satsuki sprints through the rice paddies around their home at golden hour searching for her missing sister Mei, who has run away after an argument between the girls precipitated by panic about their hospitalized mom's mortality. This is some heavy stuff and, out of respect for the hearts and minds of his young audience, Miyazaki shows these real fears plainly. Still, even in its most heart-wrenching moments, Miyazaki's world radiates beauty and wonder. This golden hour is transcendent. The trees and clouds and sky glow. In Asterwood, Madelyn and her environmentalist friends come up against greed, apathy, defeatism, and self-serving, twisted morality in the adults who are destroying the forest. They must reckon with the complicity of their parents and guardians, the very people who are supposed to care for them, in the decimation of their future. Yikes. Still, magic glimmers through every plant, tree, and fungi in Asterwood. Still, there is friendship and love. There is hope, forgiveness, silliness, and adventure. There are swims in cool woodland streams and campfires under glittering night skies.

And there should be no visual representation of Asterwood without Izzy Burton, who drew the book's fantastic, ethereal cover. I don't know if any author has ever felt more seen upon receiving her cover design--Izzy was able to illustrate the inside of my brain, nailing the Asterwood's unsettling mix of heart and horror with her eerie but twinkly color palette and mastery of light and shadow.

Visit Jacquelyn Stolos's website.

Writers Read: Jacquelyn Stolos.

The Page 69 Test: Asterwood.

--Marshal Zeringue