Amber Brock's "Lady Be Good"

Amber Brock teaches British literature at an all-girls’ school in Atlanta. She holds an MA from the University of Georgia and lives in Smyrna with her husband, also an English teacher, and their three rescue dogs. Her new novel, Lady Be Good, is set in the world of the mischievous, status-obsessed daughter of a hotel magnate and the 1950s electric nightlife of three iconic cities: New York, Miami, and Havana.

Here Brock dreamcats an adaptation of Lady Be Good:

This is a particularly easy exercise for me, since I tend to use actors and actresses as “models” for my characters. I’m careful to avoid letting the people I know inspire my work, so using famous figures is a foolproof way to do that. If Lady Be Good were a movie, this would be the cast:

Kitty Tessler: Emma Stone. She does cool and mischievous better than anyone.

Hen Bancroft (the best friend): Mamie Gummer. Her classic, upper-class look is perfect for Hen.

Max Zillman (the love interest): Jake Johnson. He’s snarky and handsome in an unexpected way.

Nicholas Tessler (Kitty’s father): Stanley Tucci. He would suit Kitty’s “no-nonsense-but-with-a-softer-side” father to a tee.

Andre Polzer (dad’s second-in-command): Vincent D’Onofrio. He’s older now than Andre is in the story, but he has the perfect look for big, bearded Andre.

Sebastian Armenteros (the sexy one): Gael Garcia Bernal. He’s not Cuban, but it’s hard to deny he’s got Sebastian’s sex appeal!

Visit Amber Brock's website.

--Marshal Zeringue