R. E. Stearns's "Barbary Station"

R. E. Stearns wrote her first story on an Apple IIe computer and still kind of misses green text on a black screen. She went on to annoy all of her teachers by reading books while they lectured. Eventually she read and wrote enough to earn a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Florida. She is hoping for an honorary doctorate. When not writing or working, R. E. Stearns reads, plays PC games, and references internet memes in meatspace. She recently moved to Denver, CO with her husband/computer engineer and a cat.

Here Stearns dreamcasts an adaptation of her debut novel, Barbary Station:

People keep talking about how cinematic Barbary Station is, but I never thought about it that way while I was writing it. When I'm thinking of how characters look I reference images of non-celebrities, like pictures I stumble across on Instagram while I'm looking for something else, or hair models for cosmetology students. It reminds me that I'm writing about people who have neither the time nor the money for professional physical training.

Of course, one point-of-view character would rather be running than walking in any given situation (that's Iridian,) so somebody like Dominique Tipper, Florence Faivre, or Freema Agyeman could play her easily. It helps that we already know from Sense8 that Ms. Agyeman doesn't mind kissing women on screen.

Casting Iridian's girlfriend Adda would be harder. She's curvy in a different way than Hollywood prefers. Assuming they could be convinced to put on weight: Jennifer Lawrence (I know, everybody's tired of her, but she's the right size), Ashley Benson, or Lena Dunham. This probably shows that I know nothing about casting! But it's fun to imagine our heroines wearing much more makeup than they usually do.

Visit R. E. Stearns's website and Twitter perch.

Writers Read: R. E. Stearns.

--Marshal Zeringue