Paula Munier's "The Night Woods"

Paula Munier is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Mercy Carr mysteries. A Borrowing of Bones, the first in the series, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and named the Dogwise Book of the Year. Blind Search also won a Dogwise Award. The Hiding Place and The Wedding Plot both appeared on several “Best Of” lists. Home at Night, the fifth book in the series, was inspired by her volunteer work as a Natural Resources Steward of New Hampshire. Along with her love of nature, Munier credits the hero dogs of Mission K9 Rescue, her own rescue dogs, and a deep affection for New England as her series’ major influences. A literary agent by day, she’s also written three popular books on writing: Plot Perfect, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings, and Writing with Quiet Hands, as well as Happier Every Day and the memoir Fixing Freddie: The True Story of a Boy, a Mom, and a Very, Very Bad Beagle.

Here Munier dreamcasts an adaptation of the sixth Mercy Carr mystery, The Night Woods:

The Night Woods is my own humble homage to Homer’s The Odyssey—complete with wild boar, lethal storms, and loyal dogs. Given that, it would be great fun to make a movie version directed by Ang Lee, who directed two of my favorite films of all time: Sense and Sensibility and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lee is as adept at directing classic female- centered stories as he is action-driven tales. He’s also known for directing women—from Michelle Yeoh to Emma Thompson.

The Night Woods is action-driven, but key to the series is my heroine Mercy Carr’s extended family, not only her husband and the dogs, but also most notably her mother and grandmother and the two young women she’s taken under her wing, her teenage cousin Tandie and the young mother Amy. In The Night Woods, my heroine Mercy Carr is heavily pregnant, and the women of the family gather around her like a female energy field. I can picture Rose Leslie as Mercy, with Carolyn Hennesy as her chic mother and Meryl Streep as her warm-hearted veterinarian grandmother. Millie Bobby Brown would make a great Amy, with T.J. McGibbon as Tandie. A powerhouse of strong women, just like Mercy et al.

Visit Paula Munier's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Paula Munier & Bear.

My Book, The Movie: A Borrowing of Bones.

The Page 69 Test: A Borrowing of Bones.

My Book, The Movie: Blind Search.

The Page 69 Test: Blind Search.

My Book, The Movie: The Hiding Place.

The Page 69 Test: The Hiding Place.

Q&A with Paula Munier.

My Book, The Movie: The Wedding Plot.

The Page 69 Test: The Wedding Plot.

My Book, The Movie: Home at Night.

The Page 69 Test: Home at Night.

--Marshal Zeringue