Mark Pryor grew up in Hertfordshire, England, and now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three young children.Over the years, he has been many things: ski instructor, journalist, personal trainer, and bra folder (he lasted one day: fired for giggling at the ridiculousness of the job. If it's any excuse, he was just nineteen years old.)
His first real career was as a newspaper reporter in Colchester, Essex. There, he covered the police and crime beat for almost two years. He also wrote stories on foreign assignments, including accounts from Northern Ireland while with the British Army, and from Romania where he covered the first-anniversary celebrations of that country's revolution.
Pryor moved to America in 1994, mostly for the weather. He attended journalism school at the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, and then law school at Duke University, graduating with honors and a lot of debt.
He is currently an Assistant District Attorney with the Travis County DA's office.
Here Pryor dreamcasts an adaptation of Dominic: A Hollow Man Novel:
The title character, Dominic, is a special kind of man. Handsome, charming, a lawyer and musician... but he's also a psychopath. He's not your aggressive, murderous, stabby kind, though, he'd much prefer to spin his web of deceit and destruction with no one noticing. After all, he's smart enough to know that normal people will have nothing to do with him if they know who he truly is, so he tries to live his life as an "empath," mimicking feelings and emotions. But when he really needs to, when his life and freedom is threatened, he's more than willing to let his inner psychopath out to play....Visit Mark Pryor's website.
I think it takes a special kind of actor to be able to pull of the likeable (or at least vaguely sympathetic) psychopath, don't you? I didn't really have anyone in mind but, ironically, it was after seeing James Norton play the crime solving vicar in the BBC's Grantchester that I decided he was perfect for the role of Dominic. That's because I'd also seen him in Happy Valley where he plays the bad guy, and so clearly he has the charm, charisma, and range to play a guitar-wielding psychopath. And even having kept my eye out for other options, I have never seen anyone who I think would do a better job. Now we just need to let Mr. Norton know, eh?!
As you might expect of a novel like Dominic, since he's the main narrator he doesn't allow much room for other characters to grow too large. But one who does is the beautiful girl in the green dress, the one character who resists Dominic and sees him for who he is. Saoirse Ronan would be my pick for that role, because she's beautiful but also has the perfect mix of intelligence and mystery about her.
--Marshal Zeringue
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